Imagine taking your car in for new brakes and getting handed a bill for $30,000.

For the price of a Fiat 500, it seems that nobody would want to shell out that much dough for brakes. But unfortunately, this is soon to be the reality if you own a car like the Camaro Z/28.

In the quest for top automotive performance, automakers are doing just about anything and everything to make their car the best. If you were to buy they Z/28 today, you would be paying close to $75,000, a whopping $20,000 more than the coveted Camaro ZL1 model without carbon-ceramic brakes.

But whats the real difference?

The big difference between racing brakes and road-going brakes that both use carbon technology is in the materials, which is determined by specific use. Carbon racing brakes use rotors made up of layers of carbon-fiber mesh combined together. Nearly impermeable under racing conditions, and much lighter than standard iron rotors, they can’t be used in a road car because they’re designed for racing speeds and narrow/specific heat range. That means they don’t work when they’re cold. At all. According to Brembo, it also takes about six months to make each competition rotor, so production on any real scale is currently out of the question.

For the original article, check out News Day