Midland Brakes produce lightweight carbon ceramic disc brakes for high-performance cars where users are interested in increased braking performance, weight saving, improved handling and reduced brake wear.
Whilst the carbon-ceramic discs you find on many of today's high end production cars conventionally use discontinuous (chopped) carbon fibre pieces, MBL’s discs are made by interweaving carbon fibres to form a 3D needle-punched multi layered pre-form, producing a stronger and more durable product with much better heat conductivity over standard production components, this keeps the brake temperatures down and the brake performance more consistent.
With the same technology as used in F1 the discs are manufactured to the carbon-carbon state. All necessary machining is then carried out at this stage as once the discs are siliconised they become near impossible to machine.
Where carbon-carbon is used in F1 for braking it just wouldn’t be practical for road use due to the high wear rates and the fact a lot more temperature is required in the disc for it to work at its optimum performance. Carbon ceramic discs are just one step further on making them much more user friendly.
One of the main advantages of running carbon ceramic discs on a vehicle is weight saving, they are normally 50-60% lighter than that of the replacement cast iron disc, typically saving around 20kgs of unsprung weight, this in turn leads to better handling and steering feel of the vehicle.
Braking performance is greatly improved in both wet and dry conditions meaning you can brake later and harder whilst on the track and with the reduction in rotational mass this improves acceleration of the vehicle that they are fitted to which helps improve lap times upto 2 seconds per lap!