In the last few years Supercar manufacturer’s have offered carbon ceramic brakes first as an option, then lately as standard equipment. They aren’t cheap – on a Lamborghini they can cost £10,000, but the truth is unless the Supercar is being hammered around a track by a professional race driver then ceramic brakes don’t really help much. In my opinion it’s a cynical marketing ploy.

Take our Lamborghini LP640 for instance. We ordered this car back in May 2007 and specifically requested it wasn’t fitted with ceramics. The reason for this is standard steel brakes are much more progressive with far better ‘feel’ than ceramics. Jump behind the wheel of a Supercar with cold ceramic brakes and attempt to stop and you could be in for a nasty shock. The steel brakes on the LP640 are superb hot or cold. So we decided to replace all our ceramic braked equipped supercars this winter with bespoke steel alternatives.

The Ferrari 599 GTB, 360 Challenge Stradale and soon the Aston Martin DBS will soon be thus equipped. The other benefit is if the pads wear out before we can get to change them, on a Supercar utilising ceramic’s its going to cost a small fortune for replacement discs. At least with steel’s its nowhere near as extortionate.. So in my opinion there’s absolutely no loss of braking performance but far more feel..