Description

Stuttgart/Meissen. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is making a ceramic brake available for a Special Exhibition which has been organized to mark the 300th anniversary of the discovery of porcelain in Saxony. Porsche is among the pioneers of ceramic applications in vehicle construction, and was the first manufacturer to introduce a brake and a clutch made of this material in serially-produced vehicles.

The exhibition in Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen, which will be open to the public from March 14, 2008, traces the history of the discovery and use of porcelain in Europe. It also highlights the further development of porcelain as a constituent of technical ceramics, whose importance in industry and technology continues to increase.

Porsche was one of the first automobile manufacturers to place confidence in this light but extremely resistant material. In 2001, the enterprise achieved a world first when it made use of a ceramic brake in the serial production of the 911 GT2. The brake, which was given the name “Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake” (PCCB) not only has superior braking power; the ceramic composite brake disk also weighs over 50 percent less than a conventional metal brake disk. Not only does this economize on fuel; it also reduces the unsprung mass, enabling improved response behaviour of the suspension. Ceramic disks are also non-corroding, which make them less sensitive to road salt. Due to its high abrasion resistance it also has a longer working life under normal road traffic conditions.

The most powerful version of the 911, the GT2, which was introduced in November 2007 and has a performance of 390 kW (530 PS), is equipped with a ceramic brake as standard. The brake is available as an option for the other models in the 911 series, for the Boxster S and for the
Cayman S.

In the high-performance sports Carrera GT, which was built from 2003 to 2006 in the Porsche factory in Leipzig in a limited edition of 1,270 vehicles, a ceramic clutch, known as the “Porsche Ceramic Composite Clutch” (PCCC) was used for the first time worldwide together with the ceramic composite brake disk. Thanks to the small outer diameter of the clutch plates, it was possible to select a very low centre of gravity for the drive train in the Carrera GT. The low mass also has positive impacts on the engine dynamics.