Carbon Ceramic Brake Burnishing

[jwolf99]

In reading thru the CT5 owner's manual, there are instructions for burnishing the carbon ceramic brakes.

@Mirza Grebovic Is this done at the factory or do we need to do this on our own?

 

[RDATLTE]

I thought burnishing is just to prepare for the track.

 

[SS_Shooter]

This is roughly the same procedure to bed in any new brakes. Get them hot by accelerating, then hard braking... repeat 20 times.

 

[jwolf99]

I thought burnishing is just to prepare for the track.

I still do it on all my other cars even with regular (non-CC, non-performance) brake pads when I change them. Maybe that's old school and isn't required anymore.

 

[RDATLTE]

I still do it on all my other cars even with regular (non-CC, non-performance) brake pads when I change them. Maybe that's old school and isn't required anymore.

It's not a bad idea. It essentially puts down a layer of pad material on the rotor.

 

[quikag]

If any of you guys do repeated higher speed stops, even around town, or think there is a scenario where you may do this (racing guys in Mexico or whatever on the highway), you'll want to burnish your carbon ceramic brakes.

I had a big pucker moment when I first got my C6 ZR1 11+ years ago and did a few triple digit pulls with quick slowdowns back to back and my pedal went soft on me and my braking distance increased substantially. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but it was pretty scary.

 

[1Evil55]

If any of you guys do repeated higher speed stops, even around town, or think there is a scenario where you may do this (racing guys in Mexico or whatever on the highway), you'll want to burnish your carbon ceramic brakes.

I had a big pucker moment when I first got my C6 ZR1 11+ years ago and did a few triple digit pulls with quick slowdowns back to back and my pedal went soft on me and my braking distance increased substantially. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but it was pretty scary.

Was that due to the brakes or more specifically the fluid? Boiling? Or just really bad fade?

 

[quikag]

Was that due to the brakes or more specifically the fluid? Boiling? Or just really bad fade?

It wasn't the fluid, something about the pads gassing off or some similar "chemical" reaction between the pads and rotors. It's definitely worth doing if you drive aggressively on the street or track. You don't want pad fade at a less than ideal time.

 

[poor-sha]

It wasn't the fluid, something about the pads gassing off or some similar "chemical" reaction between the pads and rotors. It's definitely worth doing if you drive aggressively on the street or track. You don't want pad fade at a less than ideal time.

I had the same thing happen to me at VIR. I had a student who wanted me to drive his car to get a better idea of the capabilities. Before we went out I asked if he had bedded the CCBs and he said he had. Second hot lap I went to brake at the end of the back straight (high 150's MPH) and the car was not slowing. I used up all the pavement I could find and got it slowed enough to make T14 but it was a high pucker factor in a car I didn't own.

My understanding is that you get a layer of gas in between the pads and rotors when the bonding compounds in the pad first get really hot and vaporize away. This layer of gas in effect floats the pads off the rotors greatly reducing your ability to slow. Even the iron brake Z06 stock pads would do this on the 2nd or 3rd lap after you changed pads.

You can really feel a difference in braking when the CCB rotors have been burnished. It'll feel kind of soft under braking and then once you've done it correctly they will have a lot of bite with little pedal effort.

 

[Powerhungry]

General question about CCB - let's say years from now, they need replacing. Is it possible to install iron rotors on a car that had OE CCB - in case one didn't want to spend $10 (or whatever by then)? Are they basically interchangeable/swappable?

 

[MatthewAMEL]

General question about CCB - let's say years from now, they need replacing. Is it possible to install iron rotors on a car that had OE CCB - in case one didn't want to spend $10 (or whatever by then)? Are they basically interchangeable/swappable?

Yes. You would need rotor and pad change. Same caliper is fine for both types.

 

[Powerhungry]

Yes. You would need rotor and pad change. Same caliper is fine for both types.

Thanks!

 

[poor-sha]

Yes. You would need rotor and pad change. Same caliper is fine for both types.

Are we talking about replacing the CCB with some aftermarket iron rotor of the same size (e.g. Girodisc) or are we talking about slapping on the OEM iron brakes? If it's the latter I'm pretty sure the calipers are also different both in size and offset. You might need the correct soft brakes lines as well since again the location changes.

 

[Powerhungry]

I guess I was thinking about the aftermarket option. Based on the above, sounds like it would be a cheaper and simpler way to go

 

[BigDon]

For those with CCBs, did you burnish them on the streets? Also, did you burnish before the 500-mile break in or did you wait until the entire RPM range was available (at least electronically)? I'm trying to figure out where to do this where I live in North Scottsdale. My guess is sometime late at night with little to no traffic. It also sounds like a Dramamine moment doing this 20 times in a row, but I can tell my brakes need the process done. Thanks!

 

[flipray]

You just gotta get it up to speed. Theoretically, you're supposed to bed every brake this way, not just CCB. Used to do this in my corvettes after getting fresh pads and rotors. Just not 20 times in the row. Usually just do 8-10 times and its usually good enough to bed the rotor.

What you're effectively doing is burning off any varnish off the rotor and laying a layer of pad material on it. Helps them bite.

 

[Head Hunter]

For those of you with Carbon Ceramic Brakes, where/how did you go about burnishing your brakes? Essentiallly you have to go 60-0 in 4-5 seconds without activating ABS and do it 20 times in 5 minutes without letting them cool off. Was thinking a drag strip but think it’d be too much time between laps to pull off. Don’t really want to waste my limited time at VIR trying to do it there, either

 

[MatthewAMEL]

For those of you with Carbon Ceramic Brakes, where/how did you go about burnishing your brakes? Essentiallly you have to go 60-0 in 4-5 seconds without activating ABS and do it 20 times in 5 minutes without letting them cool off. Was thinking a drag strip but think it’d be too much time between laps to pull off. Don’t really want to waste my limited time at VIR trying to do it there, either

Perfectly fine to do them on track. I've never bedded new pads on the road. Always on track.

 

[poor-sha]

You can bed them on track and you don't have to use GMs full procedure (most tracks won't let you do a bunch of repeated hard stops on the straight due to the risk of someone ramming into you). However, you need to realize that the first time they truly get hot enough to burnish the CCBs you will lose a LOT of your ability to slow they car and then you need to just cruise around trying not to use any brakes while they cool.

I will just gradually add speed and do things like drag the brakes for a long time at the end of the big straights until you get them hot enough to fade, then back off and cruise around for a lap. Once they are properly burnished you'll find they take a lot less pedal pressure to slow the car.

Fun story. When the C7 Z06s were still fairly new I had a non-Z07 car and my student at VIR had a Z07. He wanted me to take him out in his car for some laps at speed to get a sense of the capabilities of the car. The first thing I asked him was whether he had burnished the brakes and he said he had another guy at the track do them.

So off we went on a reasonably hot lap and on the second lap I went to brake at the end of the back straight and the car was not slowing well at all. There was no soft pedal, it was just no matter how hard you pushed the car wasn't slowing. I used every bit of remaining pavement to get the car slowed enough to make T14 and then we just cruised around for another lap. After that, the brakes felt great and no more problem. I've had this happen with iron pads as well when they first get hot enough to gas off, but this one really caught me by surprise.

 

[Head Hunter]

I suppose I’ll follow the “track” procedures and use my first bit of time at VIR to get em burnished