Are Ceramic Brakes a must for the 430

Well outside of giving up a lot of money when you need to replace the ceramic brakes, I'd say no. That is unless you are planning to track the car. Out of 466 (well 465/ Monday will be 466), not single one had ceramic brakes, and I have no intention of ever buying a car with them.

 

The ceramic brakes are more for track/race duty, and thus are overkill for street use. Plus, replacement rotors are much more expensive. Sure, they have a certain cool factor, but even the steel ones can perform flawlessly on the track with the right pads installed. In the end, it's your money and it will be your car. Get what YOU think will make you happy and meet your needs

 

IMHO color is the most important thing if you get the wrong one you’ll always regret it.

 

They look super cool, but not required at all. They are so-so for normal street driving and cost a fortune to service, although those prices are coming down with more and more cars out there with them.

 

I have been lead to believe the carbon brakes will last “forever” on a street car
I had a Porsche 996 4S with them and the discs were hardly worn at all at 45K miles & several track days when I sold it.

 

I got mine for the looks. I like it when the brakes fill up the wheel. But definitely not critical at all.


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I was told by 2 different Ferrari Service Managers and 2 different Indy shops that with normal street driving I would likely not even ever have to change the pads while I own it and that the rotors should last 2 sets of pads.
CCB was on the F430 I bought so I did some asking before purchasing the car.
Also no Brake dust with CCB...so there’s that.


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Joe - I had carbon-ceramic on my 2008 and just loved them. The initial bite was good and they filled out the wheel barrels better. when I bought the car (6,000) miles the pads were hardly worn. After a year driving it (street use), they had hardly worn. And as David said, you should never have to replace them with street driving.

BTW - Where is the 2008 located? Didn't know if it was from the dealer in Michigan or not. (Don't worry, I'm not going to buy it! Just bought a 458).

Tony

 

Once you have ceramics you will always have them - you probably will never have to replace them

 

I do not believe CCB are a must. In fact, I would argue that they have significant drawbacks such as cost and they typically squeak. It is true that they can last a long time but if you drive aggressively or track the vehicle they will wear out faster than what you will like. If you plan to put limited miles on the car, I believe that steel brakes should also last for a really long time. CCB maintenance costs can be significant as pads and rotors are pricey.
For me, the big plus of CCBs is the looks and the performance - they work really good. No dust is also nice.
If I had the choice, CCB or steel brakes would not be the driver of my decision. Color, condition, options would take precedence. All equal, I would buy the one with steel brakes and save the $. Both of my Ferraris had CCB standard, so I did not have a choice.


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ccb was a must for me. at least with color there may be a gradient that could work for you. my opinion is ccb is an option that is more than just braking.

 

Also keep in mind that they stop poorly in cold. When I first got the Scud I thought something was wrong. I later realized that they need to be very hot to grip well. Pros: less
Dust, cool factor, superior track stopping,
Long life span. Cons: cold stopping power sucks, cost.

Steel wears faster but grips better in normal conditions and maintanence is something to consider. It may be cheaper to operate but if you’re replacing pads every few years then it can still cost a lot.


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In effect the ceramic brakes are going to be a better buy of using on the street, they dont wear and you will get the extra back when you sell the car on. On top of which you would have the steel brake replacement costs.

 

Steel all the way. Ceramics are way too expensive to replace and while it´s true that they can last a long time they can also easily chip or develop lots of pitting. My CCB:s have 70% left at 30k miles but the chipping and pitting is more then what´s tolerable according to Ferrari standards so the dealer would probably knock that off the trade in price and make a remark of it in the PPI. They look perfectly normal though.

Swapped mine for a complete GiroDisc-kit without regrets.

 

I found the iron brakes woefully inadequate on the F430 if using anywhere near it's potential performance. Ten or so minutes of fast road driving or a couple of stops fron 150+ and they are heat soaked.

The other benefit is handling - a CCB and lightweight wheel equipped F430 feels like a different car to an iron brake/standard wheel car. The suspension response is so much faster and the feedback more detailed, and the ride quality over poor surfaces is night and day. This is not an exaggeration - I have owned both configurations.

 

P.s. keep ALL cleaning products away from CCBs

 

Personally I would not buy a sports car these days without CCB. They look great, perform great, no brake dust and will last the life of the car if you don’t track it. The only thing that is expensive is rotors themselves, which should not have to be replaced unless you use the car for hard track duty.

 

I'm amazed no one has mentioned unsprung weight ? To me the reduced weight is as much a benefit as the better braking .

 

While I have argued for the last 20 years (on here and elsewhere) about the benefits of reducing weight on the corners, I think that 99% of drivers cannot tell the difference. If I had to bet I'd say that less than 30% of the 430's made had ceramic brakes, and you will rarely see someone say I wish I had ceramic brakes even on this forum. So for OP (and I am only answering that question), I would not pay 10k for a car that you do not like the color as much, and has a feature that you will probably not even notice. But test this by driving both, the way you drive. Me, I rarely get the chance to do 150mph, if I'm lucky I can hit 75 at times.

 

Same here. I test drove a '08 w/standard CCB and couldn't tell the difference from my '06 without it. I have absolutely zero complaints with my iron brakes. They work great! I never track any of my cars and very rarely go over 90 mph on the highway. I would say the vast majority of Ferrari owners rarely push their cars even remotely hard in the real world. I think this is more of a cosmetic thing and bragging rights more than anything else. Personally, if the dealer gave a good deal on a car with CBB, then fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't stretch myself another $10K to get it. For me, there are other factors which are much more important like color.

 

I think it's also important to note that in 2008 CCB were standard on all Ferraris going forward. For regular street use other then the minimal wear factor and no brake dust steel will perform as well as anything. I think Ferrari has been moving twards an overall easier car to maintain and the brakes are a small part of that though the performance side surely played a part as well.

Pretty much all modern cars are virtually fluid changes for both annual and major services and visual inspections and Ferrari now gives you 7 years of maintainance free with your purchase of a new car. I can say that I doubt they would do such a thing if they had to do engine out services or perform major disassembly of components to replace belts or other internal parts for regular maintenance.

Personally I'm not afraid of any car that has CCB, and am well aware of the cost issues. Honestly the cost will continue to come down since we are seeing far more cars with them. One thing to note is to be ever cautious of chipping the rotor. And if you do chip it replacement should be a priority so always have the available funds to replace a rotor. There are a lot of folks that are for and against them but one thing is for sure, don't purchase solely because the car has them as it's not that important.

 

CCM's on 430's where bigger than the stock iron brakes. So better performance, and if street driving, unlikely to need replacement. Personally like the fact that they don't rust, either....I HATE seeing rusty brakes...yes I know first time you hit the brakes when driving all rust is gone again, but just looks cheap.