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Plug and play carbon ceramic rotors without big brake upgrade?
- Thread starter Leon Eng
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- brake rotors brakes rotors
You'll be hard-pressed to find CC rotors in standard sizes as they are usually designed for big brake kits, plus not very cost-effective for your intended purpose.
If you want range and performance, light-weight 19 inch wheels with aero covers and low rolling resistance tires is your better bet. If you already have that then look for weight reduction elsewhere.
If you want range and performance, light-weight 19 inch wheels with aero covers and low rolling resistance tires is your better bet. If you already have that then look for weight reduction elsewhere.
Aggmeister2010
Active Member
@dwdb is correct - and to expand, unless you're doing HPDEs with your 1st Gen Model S, there's really no advantage. And you're not doing HPDEs with your 1st Gen S because the battery will overheat on lap 2.
If you're looking for a fun and functional upgrade, get the BBK. It looks good, and will extend your time before brake fade (along with high temp fluid). I have a 410mm BBK on my 1st Gen S mainly because I used to autocross it for fun and figured 'why the hell not' and the factory brakes looked so tiny behind 21" wheels.
IMO, if you're going to spend the money either way, a BBK is a better use of money than carbon rotors that will absolutely have to be custom made.
If you're looking for a fun and functional upgrade, get the BBK. It looks good, and will extend your time before brake fade (along with high temp fluid). I have a 410mm BBK on my 1st Gen S mainly because I used to autocross it for fun and figured 'why the hell not' and the factory brakes looked so tiny behind 21" wheels.
IMO, if you're going to spend the money either way, a BBK is a better use of money than carbon rotors that will absolutely have to be custom made.
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Your range isn't going to improve any at all with CCBs, don't fall for that hype. Get CCBs because you do a lot of high speed braking / want better handling. Get lightweight 2 piece rotors because you want to help your handling / better brake performance over multiple stops and save a ton over CCB. Get upgraded brake pads if you just want slightly better braking.
Thanks for the input guys. I will still likely manufacture my own set of CCBs and post my findings here. Since there hasn't really been anyone that did this before, and seeing how Tesla has their "track package" with CCBs, might as well give this a try.
I'll post my findings and results for 0-60, 0-100, and Wh/mi here!
I'll post my findings and results for 0-60, 0-100, and Wh/mi here!
Aggmeister2010
Active Member
I hate to say, I think you're about to spend a lot of money on something with very, very minimal gains given the rest of the car. The track pack does use carbon ceramic rotors, but they are also significantly larger (410mm vs 355mm) with larger calipers as well (6 pot vs 4 pot).
By spending a small fortune on custom 355mm CC rotors, you might reduce your fade a bit, but on a road course you'll overheat your battery before you melt your brakes - so that doesn't help much. And at the drag strip, you'll have enough time to cool OEM brakes between runs.
The change in weight will be there, and that might give you small improvements in wh/mi, but IMO it's not worth the cost by a long shot. But if you're committed to it anyway, good luck!
By spending a small fortune on custom 355mm CC rotors, you might reduce your fade a bit, but on a road course you'll overheat your battery before you melt your brakes - so that doesn't help much. And at the drag strip, you'll have enough time to cool OEM brakes between runs.
The change in weight will be there, and that might give you small improvements in wh/mi, but IMO it's not worth the cost by a long shot. But if you're committed to it anyway, good luck!
+1 lightweight metal rotors would do 90% of what he wants to do and save him...well, save him about what half the car's value is if he manufactures them himself.
This is not necessarily a bad idea! But what's your expectation for better "performance"?
If "performance" means stopping distance or decel, that's ABS and really nothing to do with brake hardware, so just go get wider/stickier tires.
If "performance" means brake thermal performance, then beyond some thermal limit just smaller/lighter rotors will do worse, not better. But you might not get there (depends how you drive).
Unplugged does a factory-size-replacement of carbon ceramic for Iron with a pretty huge weight saving but on the 21+ MS/MX. I don't think these would fit Raven or older models, at least without heavy mods.
Two-piece rotors with Al-hats will give you pretty decent weight savings (not as much as carbon) but are obviously much cheaper. Range improvements might be minimal due to all the weight savings coming from near the rotating center...
Other posts are right though, for "energy-conservation", pound-for-pound savings in rotating mass are worth much more coming from the wheels and tires. Don't waste your money/time unless you look there first.
But yeah, if you went weels/tires/brakes, for sure you could have a pretty huge weight saving at the wheel-ends, and it's all unsprung AND rotating (double-win). If you did all these together, the improvements also in ride quality, turn-in, etc., should be pretty substantial!
They're slightly bigger but use the factory calipers with a 10mm standoff I believe it is. This is what I use specifically on the plaid, and they work great. You can tell instantly that the mechanical limit of stopping is transferred to the tire/traction, even at high speeds.Unplugged does a factory-size-replacement of carbon ceramic for Iron with a pretty huge weight saving but on the 21+ MS/MX. I don't think these would fit Raven or older models, at least without heavy mods.
