David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
1/16/20 8:30 a.m.

Story by David S. Wallens • Photography as Credited

Le Mans: 24 hours of intense racing on just a single set of brake pads and rotors. For the past 20 years or so, in fact, that’s been standard operating procedure for the LMP1 prototype teams. What sorcery allows brakes to live for so long? Two words: carbon-carbon. That means brake setups that …

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adam525i
adam525i GRM+ Memberand Reader
1/16/20 8:59 a.m.

I thought your endurance Miata was getting another upgrade!

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
1/16/20 9:14 a.m.

In reply to adam525i :

That's next week. 

Vigo
Vigo MegaDork
1/16/20 11:16 a.m.

I learned some stuff, so I'm giving it yes

jkstill
jkstill New Reader
1/16/20 7:24 p.m.

Did you mean "dry breaks" rather than "dry brakes"  ?

 

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
1/17/20 2:31 p.m.

In reply to jkstill :

You're hired. 

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
1/17/20 2:32 p.m.
Vigo said:

I learned some stuff, so I'm giving it yes

Thanks. And I learned something, too, in putting that piece together. Going in, I knew that the carbon rotors weighed less, but I didn't realize that thet shed heat so quickly. 

Aaron_King
Aaron_King GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
4/12/21 12:50 p.m.

Thanks, that was an interesting read and at least they still glow in the dark.

DaleCarter
DaleCarter GRM+ Memberand New Reader
9/5/22 10:13 p.m.

In reply to jkstill :

A dry break allows you to disconnect and reconnect a brake line without introducing air. This allows them to swap calipers without having to bleed the lines.

The samer fittings are used for QuickJacks and in lots iof industrial settings.

j_tso
j_tso HalfDork
9/5/22 10:42 p.m.

Extra tidbit:

Le Mans 2020 was the first time a GTE car didn't need a brake change. The winning Aston Martin Vantage GTE-Pro used Endless pads specially tailored for the track and Alcon calipers.

Apparently La Sarthe is easier on the brakes because the same team needed to do a pad change at the Bahrain 8H.

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