Arkay

Am well behind on reading my "evo" and "CAR", finally reading the Feb issues!

"evo" had a short review on the S8 and the writer noted that the carbon brakes were brilliant. Braking also happens to be one of the very few shortcomings for the BMW M5/M6 twins.

So the question is, will the carbon brakes be available on U.S. bound S8s?

I have a copy of the initial dealer release for the S8 and the brakes are not mentioned other than the fact that the calipers have S8 logos on them.

Ringmeister

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/81119/serious_brakes.jpg"></center><p>I believe Kimbo said they would eventually be offered but not during the initial release of the vehicle. I have not heard anything more on that topic since.

Does anyone have an idea on what percentage of Porsche customers opt for the carbon brakes option when it is available?

Der Kimbo

Carbon Brakes have some benefits with pedal feel and high temps, but the costs are astronomical. The system, which is the same as the RS4 cost $13,000 for the complete setup. 6% of that cost is for the caliper and pads with the rotors making up the difference. I've gone through a set of the Gen 1 Porsche Ceramics in less than one weekend of track use. If it was up to me I would not order them until we see how much the systems have improved.

Arkay

Beginning with the 996 GT3 and through the 997 generation, the consensus seems to be the system's performance is now coming close to the original promise.

TheBrit

expensive manufacturing methods.

The rotor is made by pressing long carbon fibers (in the middle, for strength) and short fibers (on the outers, for easy machining) together with a resin base to form the rough outline of the rotor.

This is then machined into the final rotor shape, and is placed on three hollow feeder tubes that run into a bath of a silicon compound.

The whole lot is baked at high temperature, and as the resin evaporates, capilliary action draws the silicon up into the space it leaves, which then bakes hard around the fibers, leaving a very hard material.

They are expected to live up to three times longer than steel discs, but there is no real word on how short-lived or otherwise the special pads are.

For 6k GBP, it's just not worth it for me, as I wouldn't expect to keep the car long enough for the discs to cost in, and given the speciality pads (and the likely price differential), I can imagine stocks being hard to find when needed, meaning off-road time while pads are on back-order from Germany.

If Audi develop a faster / more automated production method, the raw materials costs shouldn't be the bulk of the cost, so they may hopefully become cheaper in future.

yetis

Its all about maximizing the profitability. Remember the crazy markup for nav systems in cars. Now most lux cars come with them. I think you will see the prices fall once cermaic brakes become less of a luxury item and consumers come to expect them as standard options. I think a good example is litronic lighs (xeons lights.