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Fuel economy can be increased by reducing running resistance or mechanical drag. Since modern disk brake systems produce mechanical drag, a component-level test method was developed to measure and understand this effect. Measuring brake drag typically requires a vehicle test on a chassis dynamometer, and an engineer must distinguish brake drag from other sources of drag (e.g., tire, wheel bearing, transmission, and others). This method often generates brake drag data that lacks in resolution, accuracy, and repeatability. Alternatively, a new method of measuring drag on a traditional brake dynamometer has been developed that yields statistically relevant and repeatable results. To accurately measure brake drag on a brake dynamometer, pad temperature, wheel bearing temperature, and caliper experience pressure need to be controlled. Also, depending on the type of wheel bearing used, a correction factor for bearing drag may be needed.

An advanced braking system had to be developed for a next-generation hybrid sports car with Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive to achieve an intuitive brake feeling in a variety of driving conditions, ultimate track performance and reduction of CO2 emissions per vehicle. This paper outlines the integration of brake-by-wire with traditional high-performance braking hardware and describes the technology needed to achieve these goals. Key focus areas to generate these results were: brake feeling control, corner hardware specification considerations and brake cooling.