Brembo Spa Bearing Witness To The High-Tech Engineering And Manufacturing Process
It can be hard to know which brake system is best for your car-and your driving needs. Some say the O.E. system is the best engineered since it was designed from ground up for a specific application. Others say that big-brake upgrades are best since they're not a mass-production cost-compromised design manufactured to meet higher performance goals that don't necessarily match up with yours.
Granted, there have been plenty of braking-distance tests and racetrack testing to evaluate brake fade and at-the-limit performance, but the reality is most drivers almost never subject brakes to those types of conditions. The reported numbers tell so little about a brake system in general, failing to indicate anything about dynamic braking, which is what we use all day.
Case in point: Our recently departed long-term Porsche Carrera 4S had the original 911 Turbo brakes replaced with PCCB brakes. Even though both systems' absolute braking distances were the same, the pedal feel was totally different under dynamic braking on the street. Translating these things into quantitative values or conveying the driving sensation is nearly impossible unless you actually drive the car for comparison.
To help with this conundrum, I decided to get the story from the brake engineers. Not just any brake engineer, though, I went all the way to Curno, Italy, to talk to the people of Brembo SpA and tour their factory. Who better to help than Brembo, which has a long history as a race, O.E., industrial and aftermarket supplier for anything brake related. Currently, Brembo has the largest share of the big-brake-upgrade market. Its vertically integrated manufacturing also lends to its reputation as Brembo covers all aspects of its products, from an ingot state to the final delivered package, with almost no outsourcing. Obviously, these guys could show me a thing or two about brake system engineering.
Currently, Brembo owns five foundries and factories within the Milano/Bergamo area. Only some of its less performance-oriented and industrial applications are produced in Asia and the Americas. Manufacturing is kept primarily in Italy in the interest of maintaining quality over having the lowest price point. Worldwide, the company constitutes 3,900 employees in 14 countries, with 18 plants and sales offices. Brembo North America is actually structured as a part of Brembo Racing even though it services the performance aftermarket along with NASCAR and IRL.
The company's myriad facets results in the Brembo name meaning different things to different enthusiasts. Some think of Brembo as a manufacturer of aftermarket big-brake upgrades. Others see it as the O.E. supplier for high-end performance braking systems on the world's top performance cars. While to race enthusiasts, Brembo is the name they see on F1 or WRC brake calipers. My visit to Brembo gave me first-hand knowledge of its various brake technologies and let me see how they transferred from one side of the business to the other.
The evolution of Brembo's brake technology begins at the racetrack. The products seen on O.E. vehicles and performance aftermarket upgrades are a specialized result of trickle-down technology and experience gained from racing. The group of engineers under the Brembo Racing Division continually tour with teams to provide assistance and product support. In the case of F1, there are at least three engineers who tour with the teams, one of whom is strictly dedicated to the Ferrari team.
The development of F1 brake systems is handled on an individual basis from team to team. Although three off-the-shelf pads and two rotor types are available, teams with larger budgets garner more attention and development of track-type specific components. Ferrari has something like 20 pad options.
In the Racing R&D center, static and dynamic tests are performed on each component. Static testing involves all aspects where the rotor is not actually rotating. Billet aluminum calipers are cycle tested for deformation from the force of the pads pushing against the rotor, brake torque and exaggerated hydraulic forces. Complete brake systems are mocked up in a test bench from the two unboosted master cylinders all the way to the calipers to test cycled hydraulic loads, piston response and roll back or drag. All components are rigged in correct spatial positions so that all pressure losses from tubing and position are simulated. Even brake-line stiffness and pedal-box deflection are tested and measured.