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Informal poll on CC vs. steel brakes

Powerhungry

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Please share if your Blackwing (either delivered or on order) has Carbon Ceramic or steel rotors - and if you could, also please give the reason/s for your choice. It would be very interesting to see the take rate of the CC among the members of this forum. Looking forward to your responses!
 
The CC vs disc topic has really been beaten to death across automotive forums.

There are pros and cons on the street, and there are pros and cons at the track.

Other than dust avoidance or because one simply likes how they look, there's very little difference in performance between the two in most cars when driven on the street. In fact, as many supercar owners will attest to, CC are way more prone to squeaking and need more time to get heat into them.

One thing that manufacturers have done is switch over to offering oe matte black wheels instead of gloss in their sports cars, my assumption is to minimize the visual affect of brake dust. The charcoal color black wheels on the 5BW are almost identical to the color of brake dust, so that might be something to consider if the only reason one is favoring CC is to avoid it.

For me, I can work with either both on track and on the street. Some cars I buy come with them standard, the ones that don't I never pick that option, especially on a $100k car cause it makes no financial sense to me to add that for 10% over the price of the car. The calculation is different on a $250k car.
 
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Getting carbon ceramics. Got spoiled when I had a car with PCCBs have always been iron brake person prior. I can not feel any difference in unsprung weight. Pedal feel slightly different. TBH mostly getting for the dust and because the 5BW is the first cadillac to offer CCBs.
 
-Dust
-Not having to change rotors (I tend to go through brakes a little quicker than I should)
-Weight (that's one reason I didn't get sunroof either)
-My buddy who drives a Porsche really got in my ear, (loves his ceramics) so when I downgraded my seats d/t carbon restrictions I saved a few grand & I was going to get painted calipers so that cost is absorbed too (included with ceramic)... so I figured what the hell and at the time it felt closer to a 5k option rather than a 9k option.
-whether this has any real world validity?🤷‍♂️... it does for me 💸
 
CT5VBW. Ordered steel. Will track this car probably 8-10 days a year. A car this heavy will probably go through a set of rotors and pads pretty quick, and I don't feel like paying $8000 to replace everything. And, I'm not that great of a driver, so I use more brake than I should.
 
Steel because I have an automatic. Also because I'd never use the carbon the way they should be.
 
spec'd steels on mine.. had PCCB on the 911 and the replacement cost was always in the back of mind and kept me away from track days.

Not to mention the shame of rolling up to a stop light in a 911 Turbo S with squeaky brakes. =/
 
I'm planning on going with steel, however if by some miracle the carbon fiber constraints are lifted when my allocation comes up, I just might spring for everything, including Carbon Ceramics.

Mostly because this car is the last of its kind, a big V8 sedan with a manual and part of me just wants to get it in the highest performance spec possible which includes brakes and carbon packages. If the carbon packages are still on constraint I will opt for steels, simply because I don't think spending 10% of the cost of the car is worth it on a vehicle like this and I just feel the ceramics should only be considered if your going all out with the carbon packages, to me it just makes sense in that regard (to have the ultimate spec, show car etc).

Ceramics these days end up being a choice for many people for a purely street driven car. They can provide better front end feedback due to the weight savings which is great on a spirited drive, they look better and they stay clean. They will also, for most people, last the life of the vehicle, assuming you won't put 100k on the odometer.

Ceramics are often cited for track work, but are not realistic due to their replacement costs. They don't stop any better then steels but they do not fade so you can run lap after lap without worrying about cooking them compared to steels. This is great for a track rat who just wants to go, but due to their cost are not ideal. I'd think if cost was no object you wouldn't be tracking a 4100 pound sedan, you'd go take out an actual track car so therefore if you are going to track your Blackwing, do not option ceramics. If your car will be street driven and only wrack up maybe 5k a miles a year and you like the idea of having a nice and clean car, maybe consider the ceramics if the 9-10k doesn't scare you.
 
ordered with carbon ceramics and no moon roof and with manual. No particular reason just liked the idea of having the lightest 5 BW 😁. No dust is a good benefit. I have CCBs on my 997.2 turbo S

Ditto. Except for the "owning a Porsche" part. :)
 
As long as you guys understand and don't care that you'll never get that money back for them at resale, then by all means get the CC brakes if such is your preference ... I'm always supportive of people spending their hard earned moneys however they want. Hell, I buy expensive bourbon and pee it out the next morning with nothing to show for it other that hazy memories and regret.

But unlike in a 911 GT car, It's just not a must have 'thing' in a performance sedan at resale. I sold my 19 M5C for exactly the same price I would have gotten if it had ceramics, and it's the same for the E63S I had before, and it's the same for the RS6 Avant.

You have to look at it like building a $500k house and spending an extra $50k to upgrade the front door from fantastic to awesome ... you better like that door a LOT.
 
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You have to look at it like building a $500k house and spending an extra $50k to upgrade the front door from fantastic to awesome ... you better like that door a LOT.
...Well, if it's the difference between a constantly dirty front door and much nicer looking clean front door...🤔😉🤣
 
As long as you guys understand and don't care that you'll never get that money back for them at resale, then by all means get the CC brakes if such is your preference ... I'm always supportive of people spending their hard earned moneys however they want. Hell, I buy expensive bourbon and pee it out the next morning with nothing to show for it other that hazy memories and regret.

But unlike in a 911 GT car, It's just not a must have 'thing' in a performance sedan at resale. I sold my 19 M5C for exactly the same price I would have gotten if it had ceramics, and it's the same for the E63S I had before, and it's the same for the RS6 Avant.

You have to look at it like building a $500k house and spending an extra $50k to upgrade the front door from fantastic to awesome ... you better like that door a LOT.
Wait, you have a RS6 Avant? I love those!!!!!!!!!!
 
Wait, you have a RS6 Avant? I love those!!!!!!!!!!

I had one on the way and gave it up for the 5BW.

They look great but they're actually meh to drive ... more Panamera than M or AMG.

Plus all my friends that have one have significant reliability issues with them.
 
The CC vs disc topic has really been beaten to death across automotive forums.

There are pros and cons on the street, and there are pros and cons at the track.

Other than dust avoidance or because one simply likes how they look, there's very little difference in performance between the two in most cars when driven on the street. In fact, as many supercar owners will attest to, CC are way more prone to squeaking and need more time to get heat into them.

One thing that manufacturers have done is switch over to offering oe matte black wheels instead of gloss in their sports cars, my assumption is to minimize the visual affect of brake dust. The charcoal color black wheels on the 5BW are almost identical to the color of brake dust, so that might be something to consider if the only reason one is favoring CC is to avoid it.

For me, I can work with either both on track and on the street. Some cars I buy come with them standard, the ones that don't I never pick that option, especially on a $100k car cause it makes no financial sense to me to add that for 10% over the price of the car. The calculation is different on a $250k car.
thanks - that's a great explanation...I am now leaning to not getting CC. Your point about paying 10% more just for the CC is giving me pause. I can buy a whole lot of wheel cleaner for 10k!
 
Regular brakes here. Reason? Because I can’t see paying the price of an older used car for a set of brakes.
good point.....thanks!
 
-Dust
-Not having to change rotors (I tend to go through brakes a little quicker than I should)
-Weight (that's one reason I didn't get sunroof either)
-My buddy who drives a Porsche really got in my ear, (loves his ceramics) so when I downgraded my seats d/t carbon restrictions I saved a few grand & I was going to get painted calipers so that cost is absorbed too (included with ceramic)... so I figured what the hell and at the time it felt closer to a 5k option rather than a 9k option.
-whether this has any real world validity?🤷‍♂️... it does for me 💸
As long as it makes sense for you, that's all that matters - that's the only 'real world' that matters LOL
 

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