Brakes - Boxster 986

[jw2015]

I'm concerned about the power of my brakes. My familymobile (Saab 9-5 estate) stops quicker than my boxster. I've had the car 6 months and I never felt the brakes were up to much, especially compared to my previous CLK, but recently I feel like they've faded and it's only a 6000mile MY03 car, and I'm not heavy on the brakes, probably the opposite in fact.

Today I went out for a quick spin and on first application of the brakes doing 30mph, I had to plant my foot to stop the car. Granted the car hadn't been used since Sunday but I was almost caught unawares by the extra force I had to apply to stop it. After that the braking improved but I feel it's still fairly weak.

The other thing that concerns me is when I apply the brakes, top down or windows open, I can clearly hear the pads rubbing on the rear disks. Is this normal? The brake fluid resevoir is slight over the max mark, maybe there's an airlock in the system. Obviously I'll be getting the dealer to check it out but was wondering if anyone has any suggestions in the meantime.

Does the fact that it's a low miler amd I haven't done any heavy braking mean the disks haven't worn in yet? There's just not much feedback from the brake pedal and I have to plant it a long way down to stop rapidly, it all feels a bit mushy really.

 

[NicD]

I would say you have some corrosion on the disks, thats the rubbing sound, normal after rain or washing the car

First, I would find an empty straight road and apply the brakes quite strongly a couple of times in a row, from say 60 mph

Brakes are a Boxster strong point, normally

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: jw


I'm concerned about the power of my brakes. There's just not much feedback from the brake pedal and I have to plant it a long way down to stop rapidly, it all feels a bit mushy really.

[]If it was my car I would get down to my local OPC or Porsche Specialist and get them checked out . I have never seen anyone complain about Boxster brakes stopping powers or pedal feel in all the road tests I've read over the past 9 years.

 

[Elliot Davies]

Probably just rust as said above,
The disks easily rust in damp conditions
I know where you are coming from though as ive been caught in the same situation.
I now drive with the brakes lightly applied for a bit to clean the surface rust off before any faster driving
Remember that brake fluid is hygroscopic and is usually suggested to be replaced every couple of years, it can be moisture tested as well.
I now have goodridge stainless hoses fitted and new fluid which improve the braking no end

 

[THX911]

ORIGINAL: jw

The other thing that concerns me is when I apply the brakes, top down or windows open, I can clearly hear the pads rubbing on the rear disks. Is this normal?

ORIGINAL: NicD

I would say you have some corrosion on the disks, thats the rubbing sound, normal after rain or washing the car

I had the rubbing sound after 2 weeks of not driving but only for a short phase so agree with Nic that it would be a small layer of corrosion but yours sounds like all the time, that deserves a check...




Basalt 03 Boxster S

 

[Elliot Davies]

Or a stamp on the middle pedal at higher speeds, it could be rust on the internal surface of the rear disk which dont get used as much due to the brake bias
wheel of and take a peek or lie under the rear of the car to see if rust can be seen on the inboard disk surface or back to the garage for a check up

 

[GreigM]

I've heard this being said before - are you sure you're stopping quicker in the Saab or does it just feel that way. Saabs come from the stable of heavily servoed brakes, which mean they snatch easily and throw you forward against the seatbelt. The boxster brakes are a lot more progressive, which means to get the same effect, you have to push harder - this is a good thing because it means on track you can balance the car with the brakes as they are a finer control.

The boxster WILL stop quicker if you push the pedal hard enough - go test this out, find a local (empty) road, get to 40mph, pick a point and brake as hard as you can. Remember where you stopped - do the same in the saab - if the boxster has not stopped in a shorter distance then get the car to the OPC for a check.

You just have to get used to pressing the brake harder - once you are used to the brakes properly they become another way of controlling the car alongside the steering wheel and accelerator - and not just a case of throwing out the anchor.

 

[jw2015]

ORIGINAL: GreigM


The boxster WILL stop quicker if you push the pedal hard enough - go test this out, find a local (empty) road, get to 40mph, pick a point and brake as hard as you can. Remember where you stopped - do the same in the saab - if the boxster has not stopped in a shorter distance then get the car to the OPC for a check.

You're probably right, I can appreciate why you should have to push harder on the pedal in the Boxster but there is no real feedback from the brakes and it all feels too soft and vague, so I don't feel confident in them at the moment. At 30mph today I felt like I had to push the damn thing to the floor to stop. The disks don't rust up on the outside too badly, my other car is usually much worse, I must have a look at the other side of the disks though, didn't severe corrosion on the inside of Porsche disks make the press recently. The rubbing sound is generally present at all times, but maybe I just need to do some high speed braking to sort out any corrosion that has built up over the winter.

Thanks for the advice all.

 

[channella]

The Boxster's brakes are very progressive, which I'm afraid means the harder you press the pedal the quicker you stop []. This is not as daft as it sounds, because as others have mentioned you get to modulate your braking. It took me a while to understand this.

The brakes on my Volvo are more digital (on/off) by contrast - and I suspect you have a similar feel in your Saab. When I first drive the Volvo after a period it feels like it is trying to do hand-stands for the first few brake applications - until I recalibrate my pedal feel!

 

[Guest]

The brakes on my Volvo are more digital (on/off)

Fummily enough I,ve goyt a V70 as well have you ever had the grake assist kick in on the Volvo. When I was pressing on a bit and braking hard and late in it the computer in one instance must have thought I wanted to do an emergency stop and kicked in to help me! I almost stopped befor the bend and had to wipe myself off the windscreen as the car just stopped dead!

 

[jw2015]

I've had mbrake assist on a couple of cars and never had it kick in under normal braking, even reasonable heavy braking, that doesn't sound good.

As for my Porsche discs, I had a good look and there's no rust the inside of the disks, the surfaces aren't scratched but they aren't particularly smooth to the touch, like my other car's disks. If it's bad corrosion on the disks will heavy braking shift it or might they need some work.

 

[Guest]

If there is no corrosion, then I just reckon you need to go out and do half a dozen emergency stops.

I know if you overheat pads you can glaze them, but I wonder if under use kind of polishes them.
I notice that mine don't bite quite as agressively if the car is driven gently for a few days. But a couple of 100-0 stops soons sorts things out. The harder you use it the more it likes it. They also seem to work better when there is a bit of heat in them.
Although I don't think this is your issue, Porsche do mention that salt can form a film on the discs that reduces their effectiveness.

 

[Guest]

After five years of road use and 8 trake days with my 2.7 i still find that after driving my daily user (BMW 530i Sport) i can still get a suprise when first using the brakes. As others have said i am sure it is the differance in servo level you have with the Saab.

 

[jw2015]

ORIGINAL: Stuart Martin


Although I don't think this is your issue, Porsche do mention that salt can form a film on the discs that reduces their effectiveness.

mmmmm, there's been a lot of gritting up here in the past few months. I'll try a few seriously hard braking manouvres and see if that improved things.


I did a long drive in the Saab over the weekend and it makes me more sure there are problems with the boxster brakes. The Saab hasn't an on/off braking set-up like people suggest, but is fairly progressive (I think my 3.0d model has the aero brakes) and you do have to apply quite an amount of force for a sudden stop, but you get a lot of feedback and a confident feeling that it will stop in a predictabe way, which is what is missing a the moment from the boxster.

 

[Ivor]

Boxster brakes are certainly not over-servoed and quite right too but I agree that they can give you a bit of a suprise after driving other cars like my daily drive Focus or my wife's Mini Cooper. I've one or two shocks coming up to queues on motorway exit slip roads!

 

[Guest]

You could try bedding them in If it has had a very low mileage without the brkes being used a lot then they could have glazed over or something. A brakes website a saw recommended find a long stretch of EMPTY road , accelerating up to 60mph then braking hard ( just so the ABS doesn't kick in) down to 10 mph and then repeating in quick succesion this for between 6 and 10 times or until you can smell the brakes. Then drive home using the brakes a little as possible to allow them to cool. Do not stop the car with the brakes in this hot state as they could warp the discs. What this process apparantly does it put a film of brake material on the discs which aids braking. Lots of gentle use after this gradually erodes this layer eventually.
Try this and see if they improve.

 

[Ivor]

This sounds like fun! I don't put that many miles on the car and tend to be a light braker so you could be right here. The instructor at last year's Bedford track day kept telling me to use the brakes more!

 

[jw2015]

I managed some hard braking today (difficult to do when you live in a city centre) - 50 to almost 0. Despite no real feeing from the brakes, the car still stopped pretty well, and there was a signficant improvement in the brakes afterwards. Looks like I just need another few attempts to sort the problem out.