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Help Required - Boxster 987 Brakes Not Great

pfowler1

pfowler1

PCGB Member
Member
Hi Everyone,

My 987 S Boxster brakes need a fairly heafty shove to stop the car quickly compared to my more modern everyday cars. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just my car? I put new discs on the front last year but the pads were ok so I re-surfaced then and re-used them. The rear pads were renewed about the same time. I have since changed the brake fluid and bled the brakes. They still don't feel as good as they should to me.
Could the pistons be a bit stiff when coming out of the calipers, or could it be the rubber brake hoses stretching or could it be a servo issue - ie inadequate servo assistance. Could it be the vibration dampers?
The car just passed its MOT last week with no advisories and no comments from the tester.
Frankly I'm at a loss now as to what to check and hope some of you have had the same issue and managed to find the cause.
Any suggestion would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Paul
 
Could be a faulty auxiliary tandem vacuum pump. They can suffer corrosion and performance reduces if leaking.
 
Many modern everyday cars are heavily servo assisted, too much so in my opinion but Porsches and other performance cars are less servo assisted giving the driver more of a ‘feel’ for what’s happening. If you’re used to driving a heavily servo assisted car the brake pedal on your Boxster will probably feel hard/heavy. May I suggest that you ask an independent Porsche specialist to drive your car and give you their opinion.
 
this is normal as Roger Goode says - if in any doubt compare with another 987 - but give 'm a good shove on the pedal and they work just fine. my 986 and 987 were the same. but curiously my 991 is much more assisted and requires less force. Guess it's just a boxster thing that they need a firm press to work - but they certainly do work.
 
Thanks guys, I did wonder about the over-servo'd issue, but I will investigate the auxiliary tandem vacuum pump as a precaution.

Cheers

 
Sound advice from others there Paul.

I have to agree that the 987 brakes need a firm push, so much so that on the occasional drives in my CS (it's a limited mileage fun car) I really have to recalibrate my right foot after having been in my daily drive - especially when approaching the first roundabout..!

Jeff


 
I have the larger GT3 master cylinder in mine and you have to push even harder. The rewards are there with better feel. I suspect yours is just how they are. Almost as good as my old my old unassisted cooper which needs even more shove.
 
When I moved from my 986 to new 987S I remember thinking the brakes were worse, particularly in the wet. It was almost like for the first couple of wheel rotations the pads were aquaplaning on the discs. That feeling never went away. Back to normal on the 981, but as others have said, they all need a good shove.
 
I just picked up my first 987 Boxster S - I thought the brakes were faulty but assured it's just very different to what I'd been used to.
 
I've had my 897.2 for 3 years now.
It came to me from PCT with fresh discs and pads all round, stock parts.
After my 2008 BMW Z4 the brakes felt poor and I asked Simon if this was normal.
Yes, he said, when ready, do a good hard stop.
They do work!

Over the years the brakes are much better if you use them well, quite hard to do in the West Midlands where I am where most drive '40 everywhere', but if you can use the brakes as intended and they are all there. Check for hidden corrosion on the disc inner faces, the level of corrosion is quite alarming and will erode the capability of the brakes. Again, a good caning will improve that situation too!
 
I sympathise with OP as I owned a 987 for 3 years and was never really happy with the brakes but they never let me down I hasten to say. I think you have to accept they are not the cars best feature.

Came from a 993 which had excellent brakes. Now in a 997 which also has fantastic brakes.
 
The feel is really improved with the fitment of a GT3 M/C which has a bigger piston. It removes the free pedal movement on a 987. I have it on my 987 and dont have an issue with the brakes having come from a 997 and 981.
 
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