7 November 2024

“This looks interesting – I’ve never heard of it… is it new?”

A new racing brake fluid brand, steeped in a history of excellence.

When we launched Halo by Orthene back in December, this was the question nearly everyone asked when they visited our stands at shows like PRI, PMW, and Autosport.

The short answer is “Yes, it’s new”, but the real answer goes back 48 years.

Halo By Orthene was launched in January this year, introducing our cutting-edge racing brake fluid, Halo P1. With fade-resistant technology delivering unmatched incompressibility resulting in excellent pedal feel over the widest temperature range with a world-first dry boiling point of 341°C. Halo P1 is the culmination of years of ideation, research, development, and testing – the first step in Halo’s mission to push the limits of brake fluid performance.

But behind our new brand lies 48 years of brake fluid obsession, beginning in a garage in South Harrow, North West London, in 1976.

Alan Ker in the early stages of Orthene

Innovation isn’t a ‘new’ thing for us.

Our parent company, Orthene Chemicals , has almost 50 years’ experience as the leading global brake fluid expert. Since Alan Ker founded the business in the mid-1970s, Orthene has built a legacy of cutting-edge science and relentless innovation in the brake fluid market. For example:

  • Formulating the first low-hygroscopicity brake fluid – the forerunner of today’s DOT 4
  • Developing the world’s first brake fluid to exceed a 300°C boiling point
  • Creating a DOT 5.1 low-viscosity fluid, another world first

Orthene now produces over 20 million litres of brake fluid every year for both road and race applications – and has an estimated 65% of the world’s racing brake fluid by volume. As a private-label manufacturer, over 300 brands trust Orthene to produce their brake fluid range.

Alan Ker with the SAE Committee – first non American to be on the board

This model has been extremely successful for Orthene, and Orthene is equally committed to all the brands it serves as it was before Halo. The inception of Halo was driven by a desire to get closer to the end user as this is somewhat limited with Orthene’s business model.

The Orthene team back in the day. Some are still in the company today!

For the past two years, the Halo team has been trackside with race teams and performance OEMs, resulting in a wealth of knowledge that has led us to understand their needs and problems. From here, we accelerated innovation to solve these problems and create new opportunities

Halo’s mission is to lead the charge in high-performance brake fluid technology in racing, constantly pushing the envelope to deliver a performance advantage – through our commercially available products or through bespoke fluids developed with performance OEMs and/or specific top-tier race teams.

Every bottle of Halo fluid comes with the Orthene stamp of approval: the stringent processes, development, knowledge, and quality control developed over five decades.

The Orthene name and reputation assure safety, reliability, and exacting standards; the Halo mark means that every product we bring to market will be the pinnacle of what’s possible in its category.

So yes, Halo By Orthene is a new brake fluid brand.

But not just any other new brand…

The Halo By Orthene team today

To explore further the benefits of Halo By Orthene and what we can offer your team, get in touch here:

 info@halobyorthene.com