The Corvette ZR-1, any number of Ferraris, a and choice selection of the finest automobiles from Italy, Germany and elsewhere - these are fine company, and soon more affordable sports cars could be joining these ranks, at least in terms of brakes. Brembo has this week announced the purchase of the other half of its BCBS joint venture with Daimler for the manufacture of carbon-ceramic brakes, potentially doubling its ability to build the high-tech stoppers.
In the automotive industry, volume is often everything. The more of an item that can be built, the more the raw materials, replacement parts and complete assemblies become affordable for wide-scale applications. “Carbon ceramic discs technology is now ready to be applied on a wider scale, after the intense development performed with Daimler. The product is part of Brembo core-business and Daimler will remain an important customer, for this as well as other products, after contributing with its know-how to the development of this very innovative material," said Alberto Bombassei, Chairman of Brembo.
The €9 million ($11.4 million) is already planned to lead directly to a new product next year, "with features suitable for wider scale applications," according to the company's press release. How much wider-scale, and therefore how much more affordable, the carbon-ceramic technology will become isn't yet clear, but it's time to start keeping an eye out for more ordinary Mercedes and Corvette models - already BCBS partners - with the option of the high-tech discs.
Carbon fiber as a body panel material has experienced a similar progression from ultra-elite to relatively affordable thanks to wider mass-market appeal and use, and is still undergoing the transition. Since both brakes and body panels are built around the underlying high-quality carbon material, though in different forms, there's also a possibility that the firms involved at the base level of manufacturing will begin to expand capacity and therefore help to bring prices down overall.