More Mercedes-Benz Vehicles to Feature Safer Ceramic Brakes
Brakes: they're the most important safety feature on a car. The ability to effectively avoid an accident is often times taken for granted and even ignored in the buying process. While people depend on reliable braking systems so much, more often than not styling, color choices, convenience features and price are the deciding factors.
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| Fitted to Ferraris, Porsches, and a limited run of Mercedes-Benz AMG cars, ceramic brakes are the new wave of top tier stopping power. (Photo: DaimlerChrysler) |
Anti-lock (ABS) systems have changed the way we drive for the most part. Who pumps their brakes anymore during panic stops? Now, for the majority of North America drivers that own a car with ABS, it's a matter of holding fast to the brake pedal until the car brings itself to a full stop.
But there's more to braking than sophisticated ABS systems. In the previous three years a new kind of technology has become popular among high performance cars, improving stopping distances, braking power, durability and fade. Fitted to Ferraris, Porsches, and a limited run of Mercedes-Benz AMG cars, ceramic brakes are the new wave of top tier stopping power.
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| In a quest to bring ceramic brake technology to more users, Brembo, a world-wide leader in brake design and construction, has teamed up with DaimlerChrysler. (Photo: Brembo) |
But like with any new high-end product, despite their improved performance the cost of production and fitting is astronomical. At an average price of $10,000 to equip a car, application is limited to the highest performing sports cars on the market. In a quest to bring this safety technology to more users, Brembo, a world-wide leader in brake design and construction, has teamed up with DaimlerChrysler. Each company has taken a 50 percent stake in the proposed joint venture, with the final deal to be signed on January 22nd, 2004.
Much of the development on these new brakes will take place in Italy at Brembo's science and technology lab known as "Kilometro Rosso" (the Red Kilometer). Annual ceramic brake production is expected to reach up to 15,000 units, with applications being made to a greater variety of Mercedes-Benz products, as well as to DaimlerChrysler affiliates.