Dealingwith copious amounts of horsepower demands adequate braking capability. This usuallyentails large brake calipers that add to the vehicle’s unsprung mass. Brembohas just unveiled a new series of calipers whose patented design translates tolower weight without any compromise in rigidity.
Brembo introducedits new family of aluminum fixed calipers at the 66th Frankfurt Motor Show. These are designed for high-end cars thatrequire disks with large braking surfaces, something that inevitably translatesto sizeable, heavy calipers.
Thepatented design is marked by five openings on the body of the caliper that createhollow areas in selected low-stress sections. Two openings on the front side ofthe caliper cover an area between 16 and 22 sq cm (2.5 to 3.4 sq in) andthe three openings on the bridges measure between 7 and 11 sq cm (1.1 to 1.7sq in). These cavities in the caliper body are calculated to save approximately8 percent of weight in total.
Accordingto Brembo, the caliper design is the result of more than 100,000 hours ofdevelopment since 2011, whereby the exact areas where metalcould be removed without compromising the overall performance of the calipers was determined.
The new calipers will be available in 17-inch (5.9 kg / 13 lb in weight), 18-inch(7.7 kg / 17 lb) and 19-inch (8 kg / 17.6 lb) versions. So far there is no information on whether there are plans for caliper types other than the four-piston in the two released images. Apparently Brembo is alreadyplanning to supply car manufacturers with brake kits specifically designed forindividual high-end models.
Source: Brembo
