CS Ceramic Brake Rotor mileage/wear/issues update

Why ask if no problems? Just curious.

 

It's not irrational to confirm the accuracy of your data.

 

Or for that matter learn if possible how often others who regularly make full use of their CS are getting in terms of mileage out of their rotors.

 

Would also be useful for those thinking about them as an option for the F430, especially if you intend to track one.

 

At the close of the season I have 12000 kms (7500 miles) on the car of which 7500/8000 kms (approx 5000 miles) of track. I have been through 7 sets of tyres and 5 complete sets of pads. One rear disc was replaced under warranty due to "a defect and/or damage" - not that I had noticed anything in particular.

The discs themselves are as new. Was speaking to a person at the factory yesterday who added that the in-house testers are very confident that one should not have to change discs. I certainly hope so!

For the past year I have been a "Testing Partner" (this is a customer who reports on a monthly basis about the car - good and bad) so they have paid particular attention to my car, as they consider it to be the one that gets driven the hardest amongst their testing Partners. All I can say, is that notwithstanding the outrageous price of pads, I have never experienced a car that brakes like the CS and keeps on braking with no fade, warp or problem whatsoever. The hotter the brakes get the better they perform.

Rgds

Peter

 

Perfectly valid question, especially in light of how much trouble Porsche has had with similar technology. Great to hear the the disks are holding up! Forza.

 

chalstrad - you're going through a set of pads every 1,250 miles? is that a correct deduction from your data? front and rears?

what are people paying for pads? i've heard about $1500 per axle - is this correct?

doody.

 

Is this a Ferrari factory program? First I've ever heard of it. When you quoted your mileage in kms I thought you must be in Europe.

Interesting. The Porsche PCCB premature damage and failure was attributed to excessive heat, and I understand the 997 has much improved cooling.

Gary

 

Fronts wear faster than rears, but at the very beginning I went through a set of rears very quickly as I was not comfortable enough at the time to turn off the ASR and with it on when the car "looses" traction the rear brakes are applied....

Also the early pads had their "wear" sensors placed at a very shallow point in the pad - this has since been corrected. So in the early days we were changing pads "unnecessarily" but Ferrari preferred it that way as we were in "uncharted" territory and mine was also the first car delivered in France.

Bear in mind that the only road miles I do are those to and from race tracks, so my real usage is almost exclusively on tracks.

In Europe, the price of pads has been significantly revised down. We are now at 880 euros per axle plus VAT and labour. Still expensive but a whole lot less than before.

Rgds

 

"Testing Partners" is a factory programme whereby they choose a few select customers to do the analysis. With the CS, the idea was to have the track nut on the one hand and the regular road user on the other.

I live in the US but keep and use the CS in Europe - where i lived for a number of years before coming home to the US.

My understanding of the PCCB system is that Porsche were concerned about the braking inefficiency of carbon when cold and as a result their system was designed with a far greater ratio of ceramic in it and that the flip side was that the ceramic did not "deal" with the heat that well. Both the ferrari and porsche systems are made by brembo, but are quite different. As a matter of fact if you look at a Ferrari CCM disc and at a Porsche PCCB one there is a visual difference in the "texture" of the disc.

 

not to hijack the thread, but are you sure the discs are both made by brembo? i thought the PCCBs were manufactured by someone else...

doody.

 

That's what I understood also...different sources. Just word of mouth, tho.

Gary

 

Porsche's PCCB discs were developped and are made by SGL Carbon.

http://www.sglcarbon.com/sgl_t/brakedisc/index.html

 

Looks like you are correct!!

My apologies to Brembo, then who have made a truly exceptional product that is completely trouble free!!

Thanks for the correction!

 

ChalStrad,

When did Ferrari change the position of the sensor? Or did they move it?

This is very interesting about the ceramics. I have been thinking of ordering them on my F430. It is good to hear the wear has not been very high. What is the wear like from the other gentleman doing the testing that drives on the road more than the track? Is his car a Stradale as well?

Thank you to all that have provided the info.

 

The sensors were moved deeper into the pads end"03 / early '04 as i recall.

None of the CSs (or Enzos) that I "play" with have experienced any issues with discs so far. To give you an idea, there are at least 4 CSs with 12000kms + each and a couple of Enzos with 15 000 kms + all hard miles or kms(!) The CS that is doing the road testing now does more track than road - although he was clocked at 310 km/h last week with a Police Officer in the passenger seat on a "public" highway (not in the US!!!) - so at least we know that a CS will "clear" 300 km/h!!

One of our enzo buddies has officially (computer download confirmed) done 349 km/h, 362 km/h and 373 km/h (which is 233 MILES PER HOUR!!!)

 

233mph!!!!!!!! What vehicle was this done in, and was it on a track or public roads!! That so insane, i like it!!!!!

 

pretty sure that speed was accomplished in an "Enzo". Afterall, very few other cars on this earth are capable of such velocities Whether is was done on a track or a public road, that's anybody's guess, since it IS Europe he's referencing But, the mention of it being computer recorded, again, I'm fairly certain this was done at a track. And to think, I've never been over 150mph!

 

I've been doing 170mph, but I can't imagine what another 60mph would feel like! Unreal!

/Peter

 

An Enzo buddy is by definition an Enzo owner! It is a yellow Enzo and it was on a public road. The highest speed attained is registered on the car's computer. It is the actual speed and not the speedometer indicated speed.

 

Whoops, didnt catch the "Enzo buddy" reference! Gosh i feel stupid!