Ceramic brakes - are they worth it?

[obi_waynne]

Do you think that ceramic brakes are worth it? Does anyone know if they last substatially longer than conventional disks?

What would you say are the advantages of having Ceramic brakes then?

 

[pgarner]

have heard that they are fade free which is a good point but the bad ive heard if that they wear away quicker

 

[obi_waynne]

They wear away quicker! These things cost 200 times as much as non ceramic. I was hoping they would last the life the life of the car considering what they cost.

 

[pgarner]

dont think so but would check up as ie only heard this from one or 2 sources everyone seemes just to say how good they are at stopping

 

[Prince]

I don't know the good points, but I do know they cost so bl***y much that I will never afford them! They seem to cost more than my car!

 

[obi_waynne]

I think some of the EBC pads are now using ceramic technology - cost around £50-70. I guess the official Audi or Bentley pads are just extortionatly overpriced.

 

[pgarner]

ok done a quick bit of searching and the discs are supposed to last the life of the car.

alot of the pads, even as standard, are using a part ceramic pad

 

[obi_waynne]

Thats not too bad then if it lasts for the life of the car.

I noticed that a lot of companies are moving away from Asbestos and using ceramic in their pads. It is still quite a recent development.

Now, next question, ceramic is usually smooth and shiny, so how does this provide a better friction surface for the brakes?

 

[HDi fun]

I've had problems with EBC pads in the past, pad material de-laminating etc.

 

[pgarner]

Now, next question, ceramic is usually smooth and shiny, so how does this provide a better friction surface for the brakes?

i suppose when you look at a cast disc it smooth as well once its been used for a while. i think it must be because they can cope with all the extra heat and disparate it quicker as well without warping like a metal disc would do

 

[HDi fun]

Is warping really an issue on road cars? The more usual cause (I'm told anyway) of uneven braking and wheel vibration/shuddering is when pad material gets unevenly transferred to the disc, causing hot spots and high spots.

It's hard to prove this without an IR camera, anyone got access to one?

 

[pgarner]

not got one close to hand:blink1:
i was thinking about when you put new discs on. they could be warped during the bedding in session.
ive also heard of the discs not sitting perfectly flush when changed which passes the feeling onto the steering and wear the pads and discs quicker

 

[HDi fun]

If the hubs are not cleaned up thoroughly when mounting the discs then that can cause LF vibration

 

[obi_waynne]

I had an Astra with warped disks and they wobbled like crazy when the brakes went on. Pretty scary - soon got that one fixed.

 

[RobBentley]

Was googling this and I know its an old threat but I had to comment... I had the shock of my life when I came to replace the RS4 disks... Audi quoted for the Ceramic ones initially (mine has the standard Brembos, not ceramic!)... and it was £3500 + VAT for a front pair!!! After nearly being sick, the service guy eventually said, oh no wait - you've got the standard ones. Thats £600 + VAT, and my heart quickly retreated from my stomach.

 

[old-git]

That's still a lot of money for a pair of discs! With asbestos not being used in pads anymore discs are wearing out faster so even more expense.

£720 for a pair of discs? I thought just over £220 for the front pair for my Blazer was more than enough for 2 slabs of steel.

 

[HDi fun]

just had new pads and discs all round, BMW OEM fitment Jurid (Honeywell Friction). £320 total invoice. I'm happy with that.

 

[thexav]

Ceramics are supposed to last a lifetime though.

 

[HDi fun]

Ceramic brake rotors are really not necessary on road cars. Asbestos has been absent from brake friction materials for over 20 years. Hence the fact that many makers now use semi-metallic pads. This does increase rotor wear, it's quite common to replace rotors every second pad change. But the rotors have become ever cheaper in real terms.

One thing that asbestos did very badly was wet braking. OG will recall the almost zero braking effect experienced after driving through a small ford (a stream across the road, not a Ford branded car ).

 

[SLEEPER]

The main advantage of ceramic is that like carbon they are not adversley affected by heat so , if stopping quickly is the only criteria they are a must.

But since it isnt and ££s always come into it , unless you have money to burn it is pretty much a wste of time on the road.

 

[pgarner]

Was googling this and I know its an old threat but I had to comment... I had the shock of my life when I came to replace the RS4 disks... Audi quoted for the Ceramic ones initially (mine has the standard Brembos, not ceramic!)... and it was £3500 + VAT for a front pair!!! After nearly being sick, the service guy eventually said, oh no wait - you've got the standard ones. Thats £600 + VAT, and my heart quickly retreated from my stomach.

yup theres a few selling the RS4 and R8 ceramic packages for the 06-10 VAG cars. shame they cost around £10 in total for the fronts

 

[obi_waynne]

yup theres a few selling the RS4 and R8 ceramic packages for the 06-10 VAG cars. shame they cost around £10 in total for the fronts

I'm sure you don't mean £10! What would a set of these cost though? £10k eek!

Set of R8 full disk kit runs out at nearly £13,000 on ebay at the moment!

I was hoping the cost of these would come down a bit by now.

 

[claymore]

I know how much mine would cost.

 

[old-git]

I think that I will stick to plain old steel for the moment.

 

[obi_waynne]

How long do they last though? Ceramic must be pretty tough and hard wearing?

 

[claymore]

they should last about 70,000 mils.

 

[obi_waynne]

Quite a saving then over 10 years !!!!

 

[obi_waynne]

Are the benefits ceramic brakes offer worth the cost?

 

[claymore]

To buy the brakes on my car would be £20.000, so I hope never to need to replace them