Liviu Marcus
How Do Brakes Work
So to understand how carbon ceramics superior to regular steel brakes, you need to first understand how brakes work. So, as you put your feet on the brake pedal, a hydraulic system pushes a liquid against the brake pads with the help of pistons, which then sandwich your car’s brake disc from both sides.
Why Do You Need an Upgrade?
So, you must be wondering why you need to upgrade to carbon ceramics, as they are mostly a 5 to 10 grand option on most sports cars and SUVs. Well, Steel has two major issues under extreme scenarios that make it impractical to use in performance vehicles for its brake discs.
Disc Wear
The first is the increased wear of steel discs under frequent braking. This is caused by increased temperatures, which cause the steel discs to wear off much easier than their rivals.
Stopping Distance
The second reason is that it does not do very well in dissipating heat in the air, which causes steel discs to form a thin layer of gases on its surface, which reduces the friction between the pads and the discs under action.
This results in increased stopping distances and wear on the brake discs
Carbon Ceramic Brake Discs
Carbon ceramic brake discs were first used in Concord Planes in 1979 to increase the lifetime of brake discs from 600 landings to 3000 of them. In cars, it was initially introduced in sports cars, but now you can also find them as an option in decent SUVs and other performance vehicles.
Carbon ceramic brake discs almost solve both of the issues related to steel discs. The carbon-ceramic disc has almost minimal disc wear even under heavy usage; hence; stays strong for a good amount of time.
Carbon ceramic brakes also offer the predictable braking behavior of a car, even under frequent braking. Such a condition is mostly seen on racetracks, where cars have to excessively brake on each turn at considerably high speeds, under these conditions, carbon ceramics were a must-have for the car to have constant braking power. Some heavy vehicles also tend to prefer carbon ceramics, even on a public road, as due to their increased weight, frequent braking can lead to increased stopping distances on steel discs.
Conclusion
So, if you are going for a sports car, a sports SUV, or a crossover, going for carbon ceramics is the more sensible choice. But if you are going with a lighter vehicle that will not be used on a track, steel brakes will be just fine for them.
