Brembo's Huge Six-Piston Calipers Are Already on Some Silverado EVs and Coming to More HD Trucks

• Brembo's new six-piston fixed Boldika front brake calipers are designed for heavy-duty trucks and big SUVs.
• Their first application is the Chevy Silverado EV Stars and Steel Edition, which is already on sale.
• The new mega calipers are designed to fit under 20-inch wheels and will show up on more large EVs and internal-combustion applications soon.

With brakes, it's business in front and slightly less business in back. Under braking, weight shifts to the front axle, so those clampers have to be the strongest, and that's particularly true when there's a lot of mass to transfer. Few consumer-grade vehicles have more weight to contend with than heavy-duty trucks and large SUVs, especially those with a massive battery in their belly, so Brembo has a new solution in its latest six-piston fixed front caliper called Boldika.

The Boldika is Brembo's first caliper to use a mix of aluminum and cast iron in a six-piston design. The outer halves of the caliper body—the part where you see the brand's name emblazoned—are made of aluminum, while the center portion that bridges those crescents uses cast iron for strength. This way it benefits from aluminum's weight advantage while still able to stand up to big braking loads. Brembo says these fixed calipers can supply 8500 newton-meters of braking torque, making them the most powerful calipers the company has offered for non-commercial vehicles.

Boldika calipers are designed to fit within wheels measuring 20 inches and up. Their first application, on the Chevy Silverado EV RST Stars and Steel Edition, puts them behind some massive 24-inchers. (The base and Trail Boss trims of the Silverado EV use 18s, so they're not even eligible for the upgrade.) Those trucks are already on sale, so it's possible you have a pair of Boldika calipers in your driveway without even knowing it. In the case of the Silverado EV, the calipers are painted in GM's Torch Red and wear both Chevrolet Performance and Brembo branding, while the standard-issue rear calipers are painted the same color to match.

Brembo says the new caliper is its first foray into heavy-duty pickup brakes. Though it's not branded as one, the Silverado EV—along with its GMC Sierra and Hummer cousins—is definitely a heavy-duty truck. Just look at the eight-lug wheels and the fact that some of these trucks are too heavy to require EPA fuel-economy testing. The Silverado EV weighs close to 9000 pounds and can tow a max of 12,500 more. So, yeah, you're going to want strong brakes.

Boldika calipers will be available on other trucks and SUVs in the future, and they're meant to be paired with both electric and internal-combustion powertrain flavors. It's a pretty safe bet they'll migrate to other full-size GM EVs, such as the Cadillac Escalade IQ. We wouldn't be surprised to see them on the next-generation Silverado HD and Sierra HD, due shortly after their new half-ton counterparts that are arriving for 2027.

If you're curious, as we were, where that name comes from, Brembo says Boldika is a combination of "bold" and "like" meant to reflect "the caliper's assertive engineering approach." As long as they do the job, we're not too concerned with what these brakes are called.

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Ever since David was a wee Car and Driver intern, he has kept a spreadsheet listing all the vehicles he’s driven and tested. David really likes spreadsheets. He can parallel-park a school bus and once drove a Lincoln Town Car 63 mph in reverse. After taking a break from journalism to work on autonomous vehicles, he’s back writing for this and other automotive publications. When David’s not searching for the perfect used car, you can find him sampling the latest in gimmicky, limited-edition foodstuffs.