Bimmerfest 2015 sponsored by ESS Tuning at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on May 23, 2015. This years event included a full course track day.
Official Brembo Dealers:
EVENT COVERAGE
Porsche’s 911 (997) GT3 and Turbo are platforms engineered specifically for high performance use, which also have unique brake demands. (Example: 450 horsepower for a 3.8 GT3 RS and 500 horsepower for a 4.0 GT3 RS)
The Brembo OE brakes equipped on the specific Porsche 997 GT3 & Turbo models are a sophisticated design for an OE application. The Porsche Brembo OE brakes utilize 6-piston aluminum fixed monobloc calipers front and 4-piston aluminum fixed monobloc calipers rear. The brake discs are heavy duty 380 x 34 mm ventilated front and 350 x 28 mm rear brake discs. While 997 GT3 and Turbo brakes physically look similar, their piston configuration and brake balance are tuned for the specific chassis. The GT3 places more of the brake balance towards the rear, while the Turbo is more demanding on the front brakes due to the AWD (All Wheel Drive) system and electronic aids.
The Porsche 911 GT3 OE brakes use a wide annulus (radial depth) front and rear for maximum pad swept area (this makes a significant difference in thermal capacity and pad life). The OE pads are also 18.5 mm thick front and rear which is comparable to most high performance aftermarket calipers.
There are certain limitations with the OE components on any high performance application as they are designed specifically for the car manufacturers to their requirements of comfort, wear rates in various road environments, cost, and serviceability.
As the braking system’s primary function is to dissipate heat, Brembo uses purpose-designed discs in order to increase the fade resistance and thermal capacity of the system. These Brembo Racing discs are directionally ventilated for enhanced cooling and slotted for better performance and continuously refreshing the pad surface. Brembo 2-piece discs are made up of a proprietary advanced cast-iron alloy which offers an exceptional coefficient of friction and resistance to thermal shock and fatigue.
The same Brembo Racing discs trusted every weekend in professional motorsports are also utilized in the Brembo Performance program (GT, GT|R, & Race Systems).
997 GT3 with Brembo Racing Type III rear discs. Installed by BBi Autosport. Photo Credit : Jerry Truong / BBi
Falken 997 GT3R at 2015 Nurburgring 24 equipped with TY3 Brembo discs. Photo Credit : Falken Motorsports
PACKAGES INCLUDE:
FRONT BREMBO 2-PIECE DISC OPTIONS: 911 GT3 OE IRON OR PCCB EQUIPPED
MSRP COMPLETE AXLE SET W/PADS: $2,495.00*
*FRONT SYSTEM INCLUDES PADS
911 GT3 Front disc specifications:
– 380 x 34 disc – Lightweight
– TY3 face type
– 20 mm air-gap (wide air-gap for overall brake disc weight reduction)
– 72 vane ventilation
– 21 lbs – disc ring
– 23 lbs – complete 2-piece disc assembly
– Compatible with 911 GT3 and Turbo (997) Models
911 GT3 Front “High Thermal” disc specifications:
– 380 x 34 disc – High Thermal
– TY3 or TY5 “Endurance” face type available.
– 17 mm air-gap (narrow air-gap for the brake disc to have extra thermal capacity and durability under higher brake demand conditions)
– 72 vane ventilation
– 23 lbs – disc ring
– 24.5 lbs – complete 2-piece disc assembly
– Compatible with 911 GT3 and Turbo (997) Models
REAR BREMBO 2-PIECE DISC OPTIONS: 911 GT3 OE IRON or PCCB EQUIPPED
MSRP COMPLETE AXLE SET: $1,895.00
911 GT3 Rear “High Thermal” disc specifications:
– 350 x 28 disc – High Thermal
– TY3 slot type
– 16 mm air-gap
– 72 vane ventilation
– 14.5 lbs – disc ring.
– 16 lbs – complete 2-piece disc assembly
– Compatible with 911 GT3 and Turbo (997) Models
– Integrates into factory parking brake
PORSCHE 911 GT3 (997.2) OEM DISC WEIGHTS – FOR REFERENCE:
– Front, 380 x 34: 24.1 lbs
– Rear, 350 x 28: 20.7 lbs
PORSCHE 911 GT3 (997.1) OEM DISC WEIGHTS – FOR REFERENCE:
– Front, 350 x 34: 26.4 lbs
– Rear, 350 x 28: 21.9 lbs
PORSCHE 911 Turbo (997) OEM DISC WEIGHTS – FOR REFERENCE:
– Front, 350 x 34: 25.6 lbs
– Rear, 350 x 28: 21.9
997 GT3 with Brembo Racing Type V Front discs. Installed by BBi Autosport. Photo Credit : Jerry Truong / BBi
Porsche factory run 997 GT3-R Hybrid at Petit Le-Mans. Photo : James Boone
“At Olsen Motorsports we only use the best, most reliable components on the market. Brembo has come to the table with a complete package that has changed the way we think about brakes. With the many options in friction we are able to put together track specific brake packages to get the last bit of pace out of the many chassis’ s that we work with to stay consistent, competitive, and up front on track. The longevity and consistency of the product is amazing, and that coupled with the accessibility, knowledge, and support of the factory, Brembo is now the only brand that we offer to our customers”.
Tim Olsen, owner of Olsen Motorsports
“Ok, here‘s a factual event that happened to us, it was very eye opening to me at the time, I thought “this cannot be possible”, but it was because we did a back to back test later that morning and sure enough, it fixed the problem (this was at a Sebring test in February, the weather was mid 70’s to low 80’s). The driver complained of poor threshold feel, we replaced the pads thinking they had lost their friction potential, still the same result. So then we changed rotors (thinking “this is insane but what the hell”), and on the second lap the driver called in saying “I can brake properly now”. I learned a lot that day, to never be closed minded about things that otherwise seem obvious.
Brembo rotors, combined with the correct pads, allow the driver to decelerate the car harder and more controllably because the materials are properly compatible – this is not case with other rotors and pads and we know this because we did back to back tests, the drivers response and the data proved it”
Craig Watkins, former Engineer of Flying Lizard Motorsports for 10+ years
“Although often overlooked, the ability to stop is really the most important aspect of sports car racing. As a driver, I have been trusting Brembo products to slow me down for the majority of my career. I am very demanding of the brake system on my race cars. I need stability at the initial brake application, and the ability to modulate smoothly off the brake pedal is essential for optimizing corner speeds. Having Brembo components installed on the car always gives me the confidence to push the limits throughout the brake zones.”
” In fact, it was Brembo products on the Brumos Racing Porsche that helped us make that final charge for the 2011 Rolex Series Championship. A qualifying issue in the final race placed us at the back of the grid, and it wouldn’t have been possible to make our way up to the front without maximizing stopping capacity.”
Andrew Davis, 2011 Grand-Am Rolex GT champion with Brumos Racing.
Brumos 997 Grand-Am Cup at Daytona 24 hour. Photo : James Boone
Congratulations to Belgian Team WRT (Drivers:Christopher Mies, Nico Müller, Edward Sandström and Laurens Vanthoor) for winning the 2015 Nurburgring 24 hour race. This is also the inaugural debut and first win of the new 2015+ spec Audi R8 LMS at the Nurburgring 24 hour event. This is the second consecutive time in 2 years that Audi Sport have won the 24 hour race at Nurburgring with the Audi R8 LMS platform. Audi Sport Team WRT completed an overall of 156 laps to win the tough 24 hour race which featured very close racing. With only a 40 second gap to second place, this year featured the closest finish ever for the 24 hour event.
2015 NBR 24 hour winner – Audi R8 LMS by Team WRT. Photo Credit : Audi Sport
At the end of the 2015 24 hour race, 3 out of the top 5 and 6 out of the top 10 overall were equipped with Brembo Racing brakes. The winning Belgian Team WRT Audi R8 LMS was also equipped with Brembo Racing RB340 endurance racing pads. Audi Sport equips Brembo Racing brake systems and Brembo RB340 pads on all 2015+ spec Audi R8 LMS cars.
Bentley Continental GT3 running for the first time at Nurburgring 24. Photo Credit: Team HTP Motorsport.
The Brembo RB340 material offers excellent wear resistance, high initial bite, stable friction levels (the performance does not degrade as much at elevated temperatures) and good modulation in a wide range of conditions. Brembo’s RB340 material is unique in construction as the optimal performance of the material is dictated by the energy of the brake system, not specifically the braking surface running temperature. This also means the material performance can be stable in a wide temperature range. The combination of wear resistance and a high initial attack means the driver does not need to use as much pedal effort to achieve the optimum stopping power and potentially fewer brake pad / disc changes in an endurance race.
Photo Credit: Aston Martin Racing
The 24 hour endurance event which has been running since 1970 and is one of the most important races that car manufacturers running FIA GT3 based cars (which is increasingly becoming the global platform for GT racing) focus on. Many teams, car manufacturers (Examples: Audi, AMG, Porsche, Subaru, Hyundai) and technical suppliers even have facilities near the Nurburgring for extensive testing of professional racing and production based cars. The 2015 24 hour endurance event had over 150 entries which included factory supported FIA GT3 spec cars as well as privateer teams running cars such as the BMW E46 M3, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Opel Astras and Volkswagen GTi which all race on the same circuit in separate classes.
2015 Nurburgring 24 – SP3T Class winning Subaru WRX STI NBR equipped with Brembo brakes. Photo Credit: Subaru Global
The Nurburgring circuit is very difficult, fast, unforgiving and over 15 miles in length to complete one lap. 2015 featured several mandatory “slower speed zones” for driver and spectator safety as the modern GT3 specification cars are just as fast, if not faster than previous years in which they can easily hit 300 km/h plus on the straightaways. The reduced speed sections meant that teams could potentially add more down force and focus on overall grip versus overall top speed. With more down force comes the ability for higher braking performance. The 24 hour race always features changing grip levels on the track, slow & fast blind corners, rain, black ice and very fast straightaways which end in long as well as heavy brake zones. With the addition of “slow zones”, sudden traffic build up was a major factor as well especially at night-time. Brakes must offer a high level of performance, control, be consistent and have low wear (fewer pad changes in an endurance race means less time lost in the pits).
Falken Motorsport GT3-R with Brembo Type 3 discs. Photo Credit : Falken Motorsport
5th place finishing Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3. Photo Credit : Black Falcon Racing Team
The Nurburgring circuit and the 24 hour race in Germany is regarded as one of the most demanding events in the world on teams, equipment, and drivers. It is the event where the latest and most cutting edge professional GT sports car technology is showcased.
Race Technologies, the Brembo Official Partner was invited to the launch of the Scion iA and iM event. This special industry-only event paid homage to car enthusiasts and their love to car enthusiasts and their love of car culture, showcasing customized Scions, project cars, exotics and classics, along side like-minded individuals who live and breathe cars.
Took place at the Toyota Headquarters in Torrance, CA.
Even Partners: TRD, GReddy, Brembo, FiveAxis, Tein, LTMW, Bulletproof, Hankook, Rays, Sparco, KW Suspension, Mackin, Team Associated, and more
HOW DISC FACE TYPES (SLOT / GROOVE TYPES) AFFECT BRAKE PERFORMANCE:
Brake discs are one of the major brake tuning options which a professional race team has at their disposal at any typical race weekend. There are many subtle changes that can be made to a brake disc casting or configuration which can drastically influence braking characteristics. A brake disc’s face type (slot / groove pattern) is one of those changes, and can influence many braking characteristics.
Some of them are:
Brembo Racing Type III Discs installed on GMG Twin Turbo Audi R8
There are also many variables which are considered when engineering a brake disc face type. Changing some of these variables can drastically influence the overall performance of the brake disc. Some (of the many) variables which are taken into consideration for brake disc slot design are:
Audi R8 LMS with Brembo 370 mm Type 1 racing discs in the front. Photo: James Boone
Brembo and Brembo Racing primarily offer 4 different brake disc face patterns based on the application, intended use, driver preference, and other technical requirements of the application or chassis.
Drilled: drilled brake discs are suitable for a wide range of applications, operating temperatures and driving environments (especially wet weather).
Brembo drilled disc assembly
Type I: Brembo “8 straight – slot” face type with an emphasis on stable brake feel and improve resilience against thermal cracking.
Brembo Type 1 “8 slot” disc assembly
Type III (aggressive face type): motorsport developed face type with an emphasis on high initial response while maintaining a smooth pedal release.
Brembo Type III Disc assembly
Type V (Endurance face type): motorsport developed face type with marginally less initial response compared to the type III face type. The Brembo Racing type V face type was also designed to have lower pad and disc wear for certain long distance endurance races (mostly 10, 12 and 24 hour races).
Brembo Type V Disc assembly
UPDATE: the car was recovered whole.
The car was most likely taken around for a joy ride but ditched without any damage.
***** STOLEN (Please Help)*****
This is why we can’t have nice things.
May 8th, “I would like to take this opportunity to express a sincere “THANK YOU” to everyone who shared this post and helped me on getting the car back. Million thanks to my colleague for staying overnight searching these parts on Craigslist and all 86 related forums, Race Technologies for making this post and countless support. All my friends from 86 cup Garrett Tokuno Ted Park Julio Gorgé Mike Kang Marlon R Tecson Derek Dicker Van Nguyen for sharing this post to the community. My homies Gary Yeung driving all day/night in the Bay Area looking for the car. Like I said, there is a cash reward to those who can find me the car. Whether car is in one piece or just a barebone chassis, I still want it back in my garage! – Simon”
PLEASE HELP AND SHARE THIS POST. The car community is extremely strong, so we should be able to recover Simon’s (the owners) car/parts. Also there’s a cash reward with no questions asked.
Stolen in the Bay Area at around 4 a.m. on Monday (5/4/15) in Burlingame, CA (Simon was in the Bay Area participating in the 86 Cup).
Here’s the parts list:
If you have information regarding this car, please contact the owner: simon@renn-spec.com or text/call (626) 215-3231. Thank you for your support/help.
Brembo Offers 3 Types of Carbon Based Discs:
Original Equipment Carbon Ceramic Material (CCM):
CCM discs supplied for the OEM are designed to offer significant weight savings over typical cast iron OEM discs while offering outstanding performance and very long life under typical street use. However, OEM CCM discs have limitations for serious performance driving and dedicated track use.
Carbon ceramic offers significant weight savings over typical cast iron OEM discs
OEM CCM discs do not wear in the same way as cast iron discs. The life on CCM discs is determined by the loss of disc mass as the material oxidizes. This cannot be verified by simply measuring the overall disc thickness like traditional iron discs. Each disc assembly is weighed after assembly and then the minimum allowable weight is permanently etched into the bell. In order to check the weight after use, a cleaning procedure must be performed before checking the weight.
An exhaustive on-road and on-track test program is needed during vehicle development in order to manage airflow to the discs in order to provide enough cooling to achieve satisfactory component life. Oxidation increases rapidly with temperature and it is for this reason that extended high temperature use such as experienced on the race track dramatically reduces the discs life.
OEM carbon ceramic (CCM)
OEM CCM discs are designed to be used with very specific brake pad materials. While there are other pad materials supplied on the market by various pad manufacturers claiming to be “CCM friendly”, there is currently no established validation process for such materials. Pad materials developed for cast iron brake discs will have considerably different results when used on CCM if the various factors are not considered. Pads used with CCM discs also have much greater surface area than would be present in a similar performing cast-iron system which somewhat offsets the weight savings of the disc.
Brembo Racing IndyCar carbon racing discs & pads
Brembo Racing Carbon-Carbon:
Brembo carbon-carbon materials are used in the top levels of professional motorsports in such racing categories as open wheel (i.e. Formula 1 and IndyCar) and sportscar racing (i.e. LeMans and LMP1) amongst others. The latest motorsport carbon-carbon discs offer stable performance over a wide temperature range, are extremely lightweight, and are highly wear resistant.
Brembo F1 carbon-carbon disc
While many companies market high performance and racing carbon materials, there are only a few manufacturers who sell carbon-carbon brake materials to the top levels of professional motorsports. These are: Brembo, Carbone Industrie, and Hitco (a subsidiary of the Brembo SGL Group). Brembo supplied over 60% of the Formula 1 field in 2014 and is the sole supplier for IndyCar, Along with supplying brake systems to both factory run Porsche and Audi LMP1 efforts in the FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship) for 2015. It is quite normal for an LMP1 car racing at the 24 hours of LeMans to finish the endurance race without any disc or pad change.
Side profile of a carbon-carbon disc.
Racing carbon-carbon systems differ from other brake systems in that they utilize a pad that is also made of carbon-carbon material very similar to the disc material. There are specific carbon-carbon formulations for the disc and pads that can be chosen to suit the system to the needs of the racing series, car, track, or driver.
Wear occurs in a carbon-carbon system both through material thickness reduction, as well as by oxidation. During a braking event, the temperatures reached in a carbon-carbon system can be well in excess of those seen in a racing cast-iron system, but the airflow management must be such that the temperatures are brought down significantly to avoid excessive oxidation. Racing carbon-carbon systems do not work well at low temperatures, and are for motorsports use only.
Brembo CCM-R discs.
Brembo CCM-R:
Brembo created the CCM-R material by applying the knowledge gained through developing and supplying carbon-based brake materials for both OEM road use and racing applications. Brembo CCM-R discs are sized and cross-drilled similar to the OEM CCM material discs, however, the base material, production process and construction is more in-line with Brembo carbon-carbon racing discs. CCM-R discs were developed with high-performance and racing use in mind.
Debut of CCM-R for the Nissan GT-R (R35)
Brembo CCM-R material comparisons to CCM:
CCM-R discs and pads are delivered pre-bedded with a specific friction material for street and track use which will operate in a wide temperature range. If the customer is using the vehicle for primarily track or race use, a race-only material can be specified.
Porsche 997 GT3R Hybrid Equipped with Brembo Racing brakes – ALMS 6 hour endurance race.
Porsche 997 GT3R Hybrid Equipped with Brembo Racing brakes – ALMS 6 hour endurance race
Pre-Bedding:
Pre-bedding is the process of transferring pad material to the disc surface in a controlled environment. It is critical to have a transfer layer of pad material on the CCM-R disc to generate friction. Due to the material strength of CCM-R and the high level of surface hardness, it takes considerable pressure and temperature to transfer pad material onto the disc surface. This is done on a high inertia brake dynamometer using very specific computer controlled programs at the Brembo factory.
Carbon ceramic pads that were used to pre-bed the discs
Brembo CCM-R discs pre-bedded and matched to specific friction materials.
Representative Component Weights:
Typical Pad Weights – For Perspective:
Brembo CCM-R Grain Structure and Brembo Carbon Carbon grain structure
Brembo Performance and Brembo Racing 