Brembo, together with General Motors Performance Engineering, designed, tested and engineered a Performance Brake Upgrade System for the Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban; the GMC Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL; and Cadillac Escalade for on- and off-road performance.

The Brembo Performance Brake Upgrade System is designed for quiet, consistent operation on the street, as well as dependable and robust stopping when working or towing, said the company.

Design challenges

GM challenged the Brembo team to design a six-piston caliper that would fit within 20 different wheel profiles, allowing the customer to add this bold six-piston Performance Brake Upgrade System in combination with a wide variety of GM production and GM Accessory wheels. In order to achieve this goal, Brembo developed a unique compact fixed aluminum, six-piston caliper.

Using a disc significantly larger than production also presented several technical challenges, particularly for cooling, which required several iterations of disc geometry, for both the ventilation and the center bell design.

“Production brake systems today are more sophisticated than ever and our Performance Brake Upgrade had to meet the same stringent requirements,” said Mark Dickens, General Motors chief engineer, Performance Variants, Parts and Motorsports Engineering. “Our engineering partnership with Brembo leveraged the expertise of both teams to deliver a product that is truly integrated, robust and worthy of our full-size pickup and SUV customers.”

Testing and validation

Before going into production, the Brembo R&D team directed more than 1,300 hours of design and computer-aided engineering (CAE) time, 850 hours of dyno testing for vibration endurance, torque and pressure endurance, corrosion resistance, strength and fatigue, rotor structural integrity, as well as on-road testing of 40,000 miles to validate the performance bench tests.

“The Brembo Brake Upgrade System allows customers the opportunity to upgrade their already owned or newly purchased Chevrolet, GMC truck, SUV or Cadillac Escalade with the ultimate in braking performance,” said Dan Sandberg, Brembo North America president and CEO. “This unique six-piston red caliper wraps around a large, vented rotor that not only looks great and fills the wheel opening, but also contributes to optimized braking and better control when hauling loads or pulling a trailer. Together with GM, these packages have been validated for quality and performance, as well as for ease of installation by the local dealer or for the do-it-yourself mechanic.”

The front brake system is available for any light-duty, current model and past model back to 2014 Silverado/Sierra and light-duty 2015 to current Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Yukon XL and the Cadillac Escalade with 20-inch – 22-inch original equipment or GM Accessory wheels except the SEU option wheel.

Brembo translates more than 43 years of motorsport technology into every braking component. The racing environment is the perfect testing ground to prove longevity and pedal feel for road going vehicles. Brembo brakes are standard equipment on the all-new 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray; Camaro SS, ZL1, 1LE; and Cadillac V-Series. 

This product does not void the new vehicle limited warranty. 

Brembo Performance Brake Upgrade Systems:

2014 – 2019 Light Duty Pickups and 2015 – 2020 Full Size SUVs

• Chevrolet 84610129 
• GMC – 84610130
• Cadillac – 84610131

Features:

• 16.1-inch x 1.3-inch (410 x 32mm) Duralife rotors with a hardened surface to reduce corrosion and provide quieter braking with less vibration
• 84% increase in brake pad area and a 42% increase in rotor area for increased brake system thermal capacity 

2019 – 2020 Light Duty Pickups (Current body style)

• Chevrolet: 23505023
• GMC: 23505023 

Features:

• 410mm x 32 mm (16.1-inch x 1.3-inch) Duralife rotors with a hardened surface to reduce corrosion and provide quieter braking with less vibration
• 89% increase in brake pad area and a 22% increase in rotor area to increase system thermal capacity 

These exclusive Brembo Performance Upgrade Systems are sold only through GM Dealerships, authorized resellers and online at Chevrolet.com/accessories, GMC.com/accessories and Cadillac.com/accessories.