Magazine for the auto service professional
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28 | ASP February 2017 Technical Luxury car and high performance brakes Premium vehicles = premium brakes and premium dollars for your shop By Mike Mavrigian P remium-priced high-performance luxury cars tend to push the envelope in terms of braking system perfor- mance. While a disc/drum or disc/disc system found on any production vehicle is designed to provide safe and reliable braking, luxury performance cars tend to be outfitted with "spirited" driving in mind. As engine power increases, accompanied by the potential for higher speed operation, there's more demand on the brake system, requiring the system to meet these challenges. As a result, expensive luxury/high perfor- mance vehicles tend to take advantage of braking components that provide a higher level of performance. Rotors tend to be larger in diameter, and sometimes made of more exotic materials than are found on less expensive cars. Many OE high-end luxury/high per- formance braking systems feature larger diameter rotors and multi-piston calipers for superior stopping power under higher speed situations, providing a larger pad contact area and often utilizing fixed caliper designs that feature multiple opposing pistons. In addition, innovations such as brake pad wear sensors and electronic parking brakes are more common. After all, when the customer is paying big bucks for his or her new ride, they expect all of the latest bells and whistles. Brake pad materials are routinely selected by OEMs to maximize braking performance. With regard to high-dollar luxury and high performance vehicles, customers expect superior braking capabilities, and the vehicle makers tend to utilize the best materials available, regardless of cost, in order to maintain maximum braking performance and to avoid issues of squeals, premature wear and/or brake dust accumulation on incredibly expensive alloy wheels. When dealing with this demanding market, you simply cannot arbitrarily replace pads with whatever is readily available from a local supplier or at the lowest cost. Pads intended for high performance Euro- pean and some domestic vehicles likely use a semi-metallic or low-met material in order to Owners of luxury and high performance vehicles expect topnotch braking performance. In addi- tion, these customers likely have an appreciation for high-quality parts, workmanship and atten- tion to detail. As a result, they are willing to spend what is necessary to have their vehicle's brake job done properly. This customer base represents a solid profit opportunity by giving them what they want.