Czinger 21C Spyder Puts the Entire Brake System Into One 3D-Printed Part

Czinger Vehicles has unveiled BrakeNode, a brake assembly that consolidates the caliper, suspension upright, and hydraulic fluid passages into a single additively manufactured structure. It debuted on the 21C Spyder, the third variant of the company's 21C hypercar platform, shown in Los Angeles last week.

The company says BrakeNode delivers a 30% improvement in unsprung mass reduction and stiffness compared to a conventional brake structure. Stopping distance is reduced by as much as 15%. Hollow, load-bearing sections make up 37% of the part's material, and routing hydraulic fluid through internal channels eliminates the exposed brake lines typical of most setups.

How It Was Built

BrakeNode was printed from Z301, an aluminum alloy Czinger developed in-house. The part was pressure-tested to 500 bar, roughly eight times the maximum load the brake system sees in normal driving. Front calipers use titanium pistons carried over from Formula 1, keeping brake fluid about 15% cooler than stainless-steel pistons. Rear calipers use aluminum pistons to save weight.

The assembly clamps carbon-ceramic rotors measuring 16.1 inches at the front and 15.3 inches at the rear. Those rotors come standard on the 21C Spyder and are also offered as a retrofit for existing 21C HDF and VMax owners.

What It Means for AM

BrakeNode is not an isolated experiment. Czinger said 23% of the 21C Spyder was produced using additive manufacturing processes from its sister company, Divergent Technologies. Another part, MegaNode, folds the steering rack, electric motor housings, front suspension components, and front crash structure into a single piece, saving 25% of the weight those components carried when built separately. Czinger also printed the car's suspension control arms and steering rack housing. The gearbox casing, also topology-optimized and additively manufactured, is the first of its kind fitted to a production car.

The 21C Spyder starts at $2.75 million. Only 30 units will be hand-assembled at Czinger's Area 21 facility in Los Angeles. The removable carbon-fiber roof and 1,250-hp hybrid powertrain join the existing 21C HDF and 21C VMax variants.

Why It Matters

BrakeNode is a concrete example of how additive manufacturing can move beyond replacement brackets and ducting into safety-critical, load-bearing automotive components. Combining multiple subassemblies into a single printed part cuts weight, simplifies packaging, and removes exposed lines that can be damaged in track or road conditions. The pressure-test figure and Formula 1-derived piston details give it real engineering credibility, not just concept-car flair.

The catch is scale. Hand-building a 30-unit hypercar is a very different proposition from printing brake nodes for a mass-market sedan. Czinger's process is proving the concept, but whether it can be industrialized at volume remains an open question.