Brake life
- Thread starter johnk
- Start date
paulfcraven
New member
What is the typical life for brake discs F/R on a 997 C2Tip, no track days? Should it be greater than 24k miles? I know what an OPC charges for front discs and pads but what will indies likely charge using OEM parts?
Talking of life expenctancy... thanks to the advise received on the forum, I have fitted my 997TT with ceramic brakes. Question is, what is the life expectancy of ceramic pads/ disks on average for normal (fast) road use? any special precautions that should be taken? replacement cost? Just about finished the running in 2,800 km... what a car!!! I loved my 997 C4S but this is a different league altogether Francois
PCCBS do not use ceramic pads as standard they use a Pagid P40 variant. Ceramic pads on ceramic discs tend to be very noisy and too hard wearing on the discs and are therefore not advisable.The reason why you get less brake dust is because the brake pad abrasion is a lot lower due to the hardness of the ceramic coating on the disc.ORIGINAL: dyllan it is true,but an expensive way to keep the wheels clean[] its because the pads do not contain steel but are ceramic and copper-they do give off dust but it is light and doesnt stick to alloys but flies off )and therefore is much less visible)
Monty2
New member
I recently sold my 997 C2S which had PCCB at just short of 13k miles, wheels always looked clean however hard i'd driven the car. There was no discernable wear to the discs front or back, pads only had slight wear. yes they did squeal slightly during light breaking (usually in town) but not in normal or heavy braking. I read or was told the discs would last the life of the car and the pads 50 to 80k I don't disbeleive those figures. My Boxster S bought with 22k on the clock had heavily ridged discs back and front (as did every Boxster lined up at Silverstone classic/PCGB event) and really need replacing and always look a mess when sat for a day or two if its been raining and gives you that am I going to stop moment at the T junction at the top of my road . When specifying a Gen II I would lose some of the other extras in favour of putting PCCB on for sure. Paul Oh! and never once did I think they would not stop me or exerienced brake fade after spirited driving.
Although PCCBs are great in terms of unsprung weight (the discs weight half as much as their steel equivalents) and fade free braking, I'm not sure of what real world benefit they are. They don't claim to have shorter braking distances (only the newer ones do, and not by much) If you go on a trackday, you'll spot many cars with the tell-tale yellow PCCB calipers but with steel discs instead of ceramics. When they overheat under track conditions, they delaminate and quickly 'die' meaning you'll end up replacing them for steels (as the ceramics are over £3k a corner). This applies to all generations of the PCCBs. They haven't sorted the problem out although they may have improved. I saw a 997 GT2 on the 'ring last week with delaminating ceramic discs - how old can they possibly be? When wet, the water needs to be removed quickly with a dab of the brakes or they have little stopping power. They can also squeal. You have to be very very careful changing pads yourself because if you slightly chip the discs in the process, that's it. So that's potentially another expense if you like to do a bit of DIY. On the road, they are less likely to die as they won't be getting that hot, but then what advantages are to be gained on the road, unless you can tell the difference due to the unsprung weight and less fade? The real benefit to them, (and that's why I was happy to buy a car with a set on) is on the second hand market, as they add next to no value to the car (mainly because people are afraid that they will fail). So if you are lucky, you can get many miles of motoring under your belt, with all the advertised advantages thrown in for free and not have to spend money changing discs and pads so frequently (and less brake dust). I would not order them new. Just my opinion.
Having had the latest generation PCCBs for 18 months, I wouldn't buy any new Porsche without them. IMO they are terrific. The claimed benefits (taken from Porsche's Technical Manual) are: - Improved braking performance under all conditions - Consistant fade free performance - Significant unsprung weight saving (improving ride and handling) - Long disc life expectancy - No corrosion - No brake dust residue It's true that there were some issues with the early generation PCCBs, but the latest design, materials and execution seem to deliver on the claims. Pad life is probably normal as they are relatively soft to preserve the discs. Some people say that you only need them on track, and it's true that they now last a full season in the Super Cup, but the benefits are just as relevant and detectable on the road. And, whilst you might expect them on a GT2 or GT3, they should be even more noticeable on a Boxster/Cayman. They are expensive to manufacture (just look how much they cost on a Ferrari/Lamborghini/etc), so prices won't fall dramatically, but they will progressively become a 'must have' option. Personally, I'd rather have PCCBs than a power upgrade.
My penny's worth... had normal brakes on my 2007 997 C4S, and PCCB on my new 997TT. Only had the car for the past 2 months & just about finished the running in, but you can feel the difference strait away. 1st the brakes are much more sensitive and only require a very light pressure on the pedal to stop the car on half a penny, 2nd on sustained high speed cruising on Italian motorways last week they were always responsive despite repeated high speed braking in hot weather. I though long & hard to tick for them when I ordered my car and now that I had both, must admit the difference is VERY obvious and well worth having. The friend I was sharing the drive with has a 99TT with normal brakes and he is now thinking of upgrading his car. The only problem is I have to practice my hill & toe again as the pedal is so light... ) Francois
) FrancoisWay more than 24k! (especially with just normal road use) Discs only really need to be changed if you can see cracks appearing between the vent. holes near the outside edges - radial lines are fairly normal after some time, and while this doesn't look particularly pretty the braking effectiveness remains largely unaltered. If you change the discs you need to also change to new pads (but not necessarily the other way round). It's a really straightforward (and relatively inexpensive) job to change the discs/pads DIY actually.[8|]
paulfcraven
New member
Thanks for your response regarding normal brakes. The OPC says they should be changed but the local independent had a look and said they thought they were ok, but when they need changing the cost will be half that of the OPC. I might even change them myself.
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