Carbon-ceramic discs meet the needs of those who seek, for their vehicle, uncompromising excellence: excellence in performance and driving comfort, excellence in the aesthetics of the vehicle and in safety.
When you are behind the wheel of one of the most luxurious and powerful cars in the world, every detail, every component, has been engineered to offer an unparalleled driving experience. But there is one element that not only ensures exceptional performance but also represents a true status symbol: Brembo carbon-ceramic discs.
These discs are not just an advanced technological product; they are the result of years of research and innovation, a perfect blend between motorsport expertise and collaboration with the most prestigious manufacturers of sports cars. Brembo carbon-ceramic discs not only enhance your car’s performance but turn every braking action into a work of art, a symbol of excellence and prestige that only a few can afford.
The story of carbon-ceramic discs is the story of a product that didn’t exist, the story of a technology that allows drivers to get close to F1-level performance, the story of a solution that only Brembo could develop by combining its racing world experience and partnerships with the most prestigious sports car manufacturers.
Carbon discs have long been used on Formula 1 cars, due to their exceptional characteristics, among which stand out the high coefficient of friction, which remains constant even under extreme usage conditions, and extraordinary lightness. On road cars, however, they are unusable because they do not begin to perform their braking action until they reach high temperature. To function properly they must be very hot, which is fine on track, but not in normal road use.
Their history begins at the start of the 2000s, when Brembo carbon racing discs, together with lightweight aluminum calipers, already dominated Motorsport. They are one of the defining elements of the most important motorsport championships such as F1, WEC and MotoGP. Brembo’s goal was to bring this racing technology to the road, an operation anything but simple. It required a massive research and development effort to find solutions to some weaknesses of carbon discs when used outside of competition, such as the low cold friction coefficient and high wear, as well as to overcome the high production cost of racing units, heavily affected by the extremely long manufacturing cycle.
The solution was identified in the Ceramic Composite Material (a silicon carbide matrix reinforced with bundles of carbon fiber) which solves all the main issues of carbon and preserves its advantages of exceptional lightness, excellent braking efficiency under all usage conditions, performance consistency (no fading effect), and near-unlimited lifespan. Brembo thus patented the process that reduces manufacturing time to just a few days and immediately achieved a great result.
From the moment they were introduced to the market in 2002, these discs revolutionized the disc brake sector, becoming mandatory equipment for top-tier "luxury" segment cars.
It’s not just a matter of superior performance and lightness; it’s a matter of style, of status, of belonging to an elite that recognizes and appreciates the best of the best. Not only do they represent cutting-edge technologies and top performance, but they are also considered true works of art.
As stated in the motivation for the 2004 Compasso d’Oro award, the leading prize for industrial design: "If it weren’t a brake, it would be a sculpture worthy of any modern art museum." An industrial champion and a work of art.
Starting from the very first application, the legendary Ferrari Enzo, CCM discs are fitted as standard or offered as an option by all major global manufacturers of high-performance luxury cars. When chosen by customers for their cars, they are not merely selecting a component for the vehicle, but choosing to be part of a story of innovation, excellence, and a passion for perfection.
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Since 2009, Brembo has created a joint venture with the German company SGL and quickly established itself as the global leader in the carbon-ceramic disc sector, both in terms of production volume and technological level of the products. Today, BSCCB (Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic Brakes) offers the automotive industry this type of disc in two versions marked by the acronyms CCM and CCB, used by many leading manufacturers of ultra-high-performance vehicles.
Carbon-ceramic discs are made from a composite material whose ceramic matrix is based on silicon and silicon carbide with extremely high hardness, reinforced by the presence of a myriad of carbon fibers, with length and diameter carefully selected. These fibers provide the disc with the necessary mechanical strength and elasticity. Essentially, the disc largely combines the extraordinary properties of carbon/carbon composites with those of ceramics.
The production process, which takes several days, is not simple and requires highly advanced specific technology. The fibers, of the correct diameter, are cut to impart the required length and then inserted into a steel mold, mixed with a phenolic resin acting as a binder. This creates a “preform” that reproduces the geometry and dimensions of the disc. It is then subjected to carbonization at 900 °C, a process that causes the polymerization of the resin used as a matrix and, in the case of CCB, the sublimation of the core. Then comes the impregnation with silicon and a “baking” in high vacuum at 1700 °C which leads to the formation of silicon carbide (this phase is known as siliconization). The disc thus produced is then subjected to necessary mechanical machining, which, given the extremely high hardness of the material, is carried out using diamond tools.
The material obtained at the end of this production process is a high-hardness composite (which ensures outstanding wear resistance), resistant to thermal shock and with stable characteristics even at high temperatures. Compared to cast iron discs, Brembo carbon-ceramic discs weigh approximately half, which is a major advantage, being an unsprung and rotating mass. In road use, their lifespan is around 150,000 km. Carbon-ceramic brakes perform flawlessly even at 600 – 750 °C and withstand without issues initial peaks close to 1000 °C. Their high coefficient of friction, which remains constant across a very wide temperature range, ensures extraordinary performance.