There is a quiet but major revolution happening in the world of brakes, and its being brought about by a Canadian company calledNewTech. Rather than the piecemeal improvements we've seen over the last few years, with slight design changes, and materials
improvements, the new system is a radical redesign from the ground up. NewTech have designed a disc brake system called "full
contact disc brakes". They looked at traditional pad and rotor design and figured that the pads only contact about 15% of the rotor
surface at any one time. With a change of design, NewTech have been able to add 5 more pads to the system so that 75% of the
brake rotor is in contact with the pads at any one time.
With traditional pads and rotors, the brake rotor is clamped between the pad. With the NewTech design, the brake rotor itself
becomes a floating rotor, similar to those found on motorbikes. It is covered with a 'spider' (the red structure in my renderings
below) and the spider has 6 brake pads on the inside of it. The hydraulic system acts on fully circular elastomer composite
diaphragm behind the brake disc, mounted in the black structure in the renderings. This had 6 pads on it which push the entire disc
out against the 6 pads inside the spider. This provides and even force across the entire disc to push it out, and the disc gets an
even contact with all 12 pads.
To ensure the brakes remain cool, the system is covered in cooling fins connected to the outer pads to dissipate heat. The inner
pads are fitted with a moulded thermal barrier made of a composite material. Special inserts made of a variety of frictional materials
are distributed evenly on the entire surface of the pad.
pads are fitted with a moulded thermal barrier made of a composite material. Special inserts made of a variety of frictional materials
are distributed evenly on the entire surface of the pad.
NewTech believe that the system has considerable advantages over conventional brakes with better cooling, higher strength and
reduced noise and vibration. NewTech have sold truck and bus versions of these brakes into the haulage and public transport industry, but now Renault is
considering introducing this system on its cars in conjunction with a new brake-by-wire system. Newtech's first OEM customer was to
be Saleen who were going to put the system on their S7 supercar, but in the end went with conventional six-piston monoblock
calipers instead. It's worth nothing that this isn't actually the first time this has been tried in cars. Bugatti experimented with a system like this inthe late 80's for inclusion on their 1991 EB110 supercar; it was going to be available as an option for the car. People who hadexperienced the brakes said they were just otherworldy, that the braking power was way beyond capabilities of the average driver.They came from Aerospatiale, the French aerospace company, who also designed the chassis for the EB110 (this type of brake wasbeing used in aircraft at the time). Bugatti dropped the idea because the brakes would have cost more than the rest of the EB110,which at $350,000 was by no means a cheap car.The Siemens VDO Electric Wedge Brake.
reduced noise and vibration. NewTech have sold truck and bus versions of these brakes into the haulage and public transport industry, but now Renault is
considering introducing this system on its cars in conjunction with a new brake-by-wire system. Newtech's first OEM customer was to
be Saleen who were going to put the system on their S7 supercar, but in the end went with conventional six-piston monoblock
calipers instead. It's worth nothing that this isn't actually the first time this has been tried in cars. Bugatti experimented with a system like this inthe late 80's for inclusion on their 1991 EB110 supercar; it was going to be available as an option for the car. People who hadexperienced the brakes said they were just otherworldy, that the braking power was way beyond capabilities of the average driver.They came from Aerospatiale, the French aerospace company, who also designed the chassis for the EB110 (this type of brake wasbeing used in aircraft at the time). Bugatti dropped the idea because the brakes would have cost more than the rest of the EB110,which at $350,000 was by no means a cheap car.The Siemens VDO Electric Wedge Brake.
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