Bugatti Bolide uses Brembo's biggest ever brakes fitted to a car
The Bugatti Veyron and Chiron are very well known for their in-line performance and the brand holds multiple speed records. The Bugatti Bolide Concept that was first showcased in 2020 though is considered to be a whole new breed as this hypercar will be largely track-focused. Built for the track, the car would need some immense stopping potential, hence Bugatti fitted the Bolide with Brembo's largest carbon brakes ever produced.
The legendary 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 engine in the Bolide produces over 1,800PS when running on 110-octane racing fuel. To put all that power to a halt is Brembo, especially a "carbon-carbon" configuration with eight-piston mono-block callipers in the front and six-piston ones in the back, both constructed of nickel-coated aluminium.
All four clampers hold 15.3-inch carbon discs, with the front callipers including eight pistons and clamp four 25mm pads onto the car's 390×37.5mm carbon rotors. The rear brakes include six-piston callipers and four pads, clamping down on 390x43mm carbon rotors.
Carbon-carbon brakes are utilized in Formula One cars and top-level endurance racers, and they differ significantly from the carbon-ceramic brakes seen on many high-performance vehicles today. Each disc weighs about 3.175kg.
Brembo spent almost two years creating the braking system for the Bolide. Airflow played an essential role in meeting the brake performance requirements. In this regard, Brembo experts collaborated with Bugatti's design team to develop a special design for the brake air ducts. The goals included routing up to 90 percent of the air exiting the ducts to the rotors and pads, with the remaining going to the callipers.
Mario Almondo, Chief Operating Officer of Brembo Performance commented, "Developing the brake system for the Bugatti Bolide was a unique and very exciting challenge for the Performance Division of Brembo – and we are proud of what we achieved. We had to re-engineer the entire system to cope with the incredible yet demanding characteristics and power of the car. The front calliper, for example, is a real masterpiece of engineering in my view, being the largest we have ever fitted to a racing car. Using carbon compounds that are similar to those in Formula 1 meant that, despite the size and power of the Bolide, we were able to produce the lightest possible design."
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