Czinger Debuts 3D-Printed BrakeNode on 21C Spyder at Monterey Car Week

Across California, it’s time for Monterey Car Week, a cluster of events I once called “Comic-Con and the Oscars but with wheels.” For the last however many years, though, it’s mostly felt like an accumulation of rich people and influencers all crammed into the now-traffic-snarled peninsula, each paying 10 times the normal price for five-night minimums in three-star motels. While being there in person is pretty far down the list of things I want to do these days, that doesn’t mean there’s no interesting news coming out of the event. And no, I’m not talking about that hideous collaboration between Singer and Louis Vuitton. I’m instead referring to the latest creation from Czinger.

We first encountered Czinger’s direct-metal laser-sintering technology a decade ago, before founder Kevin Czinger had even started the car company—at the time, it was still Divergent 3D. But what better way to show to the rest of the automotive industry that they should contract with you as a parts supplier than by making your own car? That was the idea behind Czinger (the company), and it’s an approach that worked, as Divergent now has clients in the automotive sector as well as aerospace.

And what a car it is: a hybrid with tandem seating and an ability to set new lap records should you have the skill. But the performance is less interesting than the engineering. Free of its body panels, the structure looks more organic than mechanical, with topology-optimized shapes that are lighter but no less performing than traditionally designed alternatives.

And the newest of these is Czinger’s new BrakeNode, an integrated brake assembly that combines the caliper, upright, and passages for hydraulic fluid into a single structure made from Czinger’s aluminum alloy. (Previously, Bugatti experimented with a 3D-printed brake caliper, but as far as I know, it never left the prototype stage.)

We saw an early version at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2023, but today it made its production debut with the Czinger 21C Spyder. Compared to a standard brake assembly, the BrakeNode is up to 30 percent lighter in unsprung mass. The savings were less with the 21C Spyder because the previous 21C’s suspension upright—additively manufactured like the rest—was already class-leading, but the BrakeNode still reduces unsprung mass by another 6 lbs (2.7 kg).

Czinger even says the BrakeNode is easier to service than a conventional brake assembly. There’s a drain plug at the bottom to bleed out hydraulic fluid, the pads slot in at the top, and the rotors tilt outward from the sides. Unlike a normal brake change, there’s no need to disconnect a caliper.

The new BrakeNodes are standard on the 21C Spyder, of which 30 will be made. But they can also be optioned on the 21C HDF and 21C VMax, and if you already have a 21C, you can have them retrofitted, Czinger says.