Carbon Ceramic Brakes Worth the cost?
Discussion
Hi there
I'm about to buy an Audi R8 V10 and wondered if anyone has any experiance and knowledge of Carbon Ceramic Brakes?
If anyone has real life experiance of using these types of brakes in an everyday scenario (Non TrackDay use) then would you share your experiances on here please?
Many thanks
I'm about to buy an Audi R8 V10 and wondered if anyone has any experiance and knowledge of Carbon Ceramic Brakes?
If anyone has real life experiance of using these types of brakes in an everyday scenario (Non TrackDay use) then would you share your experiances on here please?
Many thanks
Edited by Topboy on Tuesday 22 December 11:07
_rubinho_ said:
Worst "I'm going to buy an R8 V10" thread ever? 
Seriously, surely bragging rights alone mean that Carbon Ceramics are a must on the spec sheet!
Damn it...thought i had got away with that and been subtle 
Seriously, surely bragging rights alone mean that Carbon Ceramics are a must on the spec sheet!


On a serious note I'm trying to way up the Pro's and Con's and if they are worth it for everyday use

Old man had two 430's, one before and after Ceramics became standard fitment, otherwise identical spec. Never driven on track.
Steel brakes had better feel, more progressive, still stopped very well. On the 430 though, the pads were quite short lived.
Ceramics feel a bit over servoed and thus a bit grabby at low speed but with the side effect that they're quicker to respond when you stand on them and thus 'feel' more powerful, although in reality your braking is limited by the tyres, not the brakes. One thing worth noting is that the ride feels better damped and lighter footed, presumably because of lower unsprung mass.
Given the choice, they're not worth the 8 grand they were as an option, but both Dad and I prefer them overall, despite being a bit annoying in traffic.
Steel brakes had better feel, more progressive, still stopped very well. On the 430 though, the pads were quite short lived.
Ceramics feel a bit over servoed and thus a bit grabby at low speed but with the side effect that they're quicker to respond when you stand on them and thus 'feel' more powerful, although in reality your braking is limited by the tyres, not the brakes. One thing worth noting is that the ride feels better damped and lighter footed, presumably because of lower unsprung mass.
Given the choice, they're not worth the 8 grand they were as an option, but both Dad and I prefer them overall, despite being a bit annoying in traffic.
I've yet to drive a modern car on road that I felt didn't have good enough standard brakes - if you can lock the wheels at will, do you need more? For cars that spend a lot of time on track or driving styles that are doing lots and lots of emergency stops, I can see that fade-resistant carbon ceramics may be useful.
Of course, resale value may be reduced by not specifying the carbon ceramics...
Of course, resale value may be reduced by not specifying the carbon ceramics...
mat205125 said:
What are the warranty conditions? The tick box on the options sheet will be a fraction of the replacement cost when they wear out. I heard stories of over £20k for a set of 911 GT3 discs and pads for the 996, and questionable real world lifespans when used on the track.
Well the car purchase is a second hand vehicle direct from Audi UK and it does not have Carbon Ceramic Brakes on it currently.The dealer has quoted me £10K for them as a Audi dealer fit part so I can I guess the replacement cost would be £10K, however I thought the life span on the rotors were supposed to be lifetime with only a need to replace the pads, therefore I can't imagine that I would need to replace the whole system once installed
Topboy said:
_rubinho_ said:
Worst "I'm going to buy an R8 V10" thread ever? 
Seriously, surely bragging rights alone mean that Carbon Ceramics are a must on the spec sheet!
Damn it...thought i had got away with that and been subtle 
Seriously, surely bragging rights alone mean that Carbon Ceramics are a must on the spec sheet!


On a serious note I'm trying to way up the Pro's and Con's and if they are worth it for everyday use

I suspect they'd be quite dodgy on the road until you got them up to a suitable temperature. In the kind of weather we're having now they'd probably be next to useless but I doubt it's really R8 V10 conditions out there anyway and there'd be a strong preference for something altogether more sensible!

Topboy said:
The dealer has quoted me £10K for them as a Audi dealer fit part so I can I guess the replacement cost would be £10K, however I thought the life span on the rotors were supposed to be lifetime with only a need to replace the pads, therefore I can't imagine that I would need to replace the whole system once installed
Don't bother. Definitely not worth 10 grand.I have them on the Challenge Stradale and is the first car I've owned with these type of brakes - probably unsurprisingly they are far better than standard discs/pads and even startling compared to the "Big Brake" pack I had on a prior Lotus Exige S - throw on the anchors and the car stops effortlessly.
Costwise, the discs are expensive (given that the CS's come from the Enzo) if something goes wrong, but the pads are said to last 75k with normal use.
One other plus, outside of performance, is that they are very clean brakes - no brake dust
Costwise, the discs are expensive (given that the CS's come from the Enzo) if something goes wrong, but the pads are said to last 75k with normal use.
One other plus, outside of performance, is that they are very clean brakes - no brake dust

_rubinho_ said:
I doubt it's really R8 V10 conditions out there anyway and there'd be a strong preference for something altogether more sensible! 
What do you mean...this is perfect weather for a quattro V10...well is was yesterday when i took it out for a test run...however we do not have any snow up here
duggan said:
I have them on the Challenge Stradale and is the first car I've owned with these type of brakes - probably unsurprisingly they are far better than standard discs/pads and even startling compared to the "Big Brake" pack I had on a prior Lotus Exige S - throw on the anchors and the car stops effortlessly.
Costwise, the discs are expensive (given that the CS's come from the Enzo) if something goes wrong, but the pads are said to last 75k with normal use.
One other plus, outside of performance, is that they are very clean brakes - no brake dust
I find it interesting that you've experienced better performance - were you unable to lock the wheels in the previous cars? If not, is it not more the ABS and EBD-style software that improves the performance rather than the brake material? Of course, if the standard brakes fade in a single stop, then there's a big problem with the brakes anyway.Costwise, the discs are expensive (given that the CS's come from the Enzo) if something goes wrong, but the pads are said to last 75k with normal use.
One other plus, outside of performance, is that they are very clean brakes - no brake dust

The Wookie said:
_rubinho_ said:
I suspect they'd be quite dodgy on the road until you got them up to a suitable temperature.
Nah, they're fine from stone cold on road cars, mainly because they've got masses of servo assistanceThey're as good as steel brakes from stone cold
ETA - I've certainly not picked up any noticable warm up period on the road anyway, and I have plenty of experience with steel racing brakes and more extreme pad compounds on the road which do need a few stops to get going.
ETA - I've certainly not picked up any noticable warm up period on the road anyway, and I have plenty of experience with steel racing brakes and more extreme pad compounds on the road which do need a few stops to get going.
Edited by The Wookie on Tuesday 22 December 11:39
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