[JackWood]

After my track day last week my brakes have felt very underpowered. I am not getting anytwhere near the same stopping power.


I am judging this by how much further I am pressing the peddle down for heal-n-toe shifts. In fact, a lot of the time I can't do it now, because my foot on the brake is way past the throttle peddle.


At the track, I used the brakes very hard. I was told before I went that it was a very hard track on brakes. on one of my last laps, coming into a hairpin off a long straight, the peddle went all the way to the floor. I must have effected the brake fluid.


So what I ned to know is, is there a chance that I will have to replace the brake fluid now? Will that resolve the problem? Or do they just need bleeding? Or am I looking in the wrong place, and it could be something else?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Jack

 

[K-Man S]

Jack,


Did you ever bleed or put in better fluid than what the factory ships? Almost everyone I know who has put in better brake fluid like super blue has found some air bubbles in their stock factory fluid from the factory. It sounds like you cooked the fluid and have air in the lines, especially if pumping the brakes helped. If pumping didn't help then you might have a leak somewhere or a problem with the brake master cylinder itself, but most likely air in the lines.

 

[jaica]

This information was given to me at a local PCA club meeting, I have no personal experience. They told me to change brake fluid after the first track event if it was original, and every other event if it was good quality aftermarket. The other thing they told me is to think replacing the brake hoses with SS braided ones to avoid a spongy feel at the track. As far as pedal travel you could have worn a reasonable amount of pad, check first your brake fluid reservoir. Bleeding brakes even in a newcar is not abad idea for track use.


The above advice is not my own, but I trust the people that gave it to me.

 

[JackWood]

Ken, no I haven't ever changed, checked or bled the stock brake fluid. What do you run in your car?


Willr who is a regular tracker here in the UK has changed his fluid, and recommended I do so if I was going to track more frequently.


Another question, next to the brake pads there are cylindrical 'stoppers' top and bottom. Is it these that you use to judge pad wear? Or are they always a fixed distance from the rotor. I never really payed attention to them before.


If someone has a picture of a brand new V a worn out pad it would be appreciated.


Jack

 

[K-Man S]

I run superblue in my car and highly recommend you change our fluid and bleed out any air that might be in there. I need to pull my pads to inspect how much they are worn, visually looking at them in the rotor it looks like 1/4' left but the sensors are telling me they need replaced (even after cooling down) so I'm going to pull them for a closer inspection.

 

[JackWood]

Is that 1/4' of material left to the backing plate? or 1/4' from these little cylindrical stops to the disc?


Also do you have an OEM part number for the pad? Are they the same as any 911 or Boxster pads?


Jack

 

[DaveD]

Jack,


I was just checking into brake pads over the weekend. According to my PET cd the part numbers are:


P996 352 949 03 front


P986 352 939 10 rear


Also according to the CD, these are the same pads that a 2006 Boxster S use.


Dave

Edited by - DaveD on 08/21/2006 06:53:00 AM

 

[JackWood]

Thanks Dave


What does PET stand for?


Jack

 

[JackWood]

Also, what make are OEM Porsche Pads?


Thanks


Jack

 

[DaveD]

Not sure what PET stands for. It is a CD that has exploded parts diagrams and part numbers for each model like they use at the dealer. It is labeled 'Genuine Parts Catalog'. A link toa free copy of the Cay-S file was posted here recently - after I'd already purchased the CD,of course. I think I ordered mine from suncoast. I assume they are available in your area as well. Mine is dated October '05, so they may be coming out with a new one soon.


Dave

 

[K-Man S]

Jack,

I've got about a 1/4' of pad showing between the rotor and the pad backing plate.


I think I am going to go with a set of Hawk pads, I need to find who has a good price on them. I've heard good things about running them on both street and track.

 

[JackWood]

I think I am goint to stop with Porsche OEM pads.


The problem is, I can only get them from Porsche Dealers at the moment.


In the US can anyone give me a link to somewhere I can purchase them from for a decent price. Shipping to the UK is no problem, I can get them sent to our RI depot and sent over the water with our weekly shipments.


So can anyone help me with picking up a set of front and back OEM pads?


Jack

 

[Tess Tickle]

<p class="MsoNormal">Jack
<p class="MsoNormal">You’ll need Castrol SRF fully synthetic fluid. Then a choice of either Pagid Blue (for track) Mintex 1144 (fast road-no squeal) SPS or Ferodo DS200-500 which are a good all round pad .BTW a lot of Mitsi and scubi’s use this pad for road and track.

 

[davew]

Jack,


if they are going to RI call Clair Parts Express at 1-800-354-5100 or if you can't get the 800 number from the UK their other # is 617-469-1000 ask for Mack


or you can try Suncoast or Brandywine Porsche dealers...they both have good pricing and do a lot of online orders. google should get you to both...


For Hawk pads I found Essex Parts to have the best servive and prices:

http://www.essexparts.com/


I'm also a big fan of Cobalt Friction Brakes:


http://www.cobaltfriction.com/


and not only becasue Andy has been such a great race sponsor....


Dave w

 

[JackWood]

Thanks very much Tess and Dave.


I have dropped a line to Suncoast and Brandywine so I'll wait and see what price they come back with on OEM pads.


There seem to be very few places that have any knowledge of pads for Boxster and Cayman. Quite surprising.


Jack

 

[mooty]

try pagid RS44 or RS19 or RS29's. all great pads for track work, they do squeak though.


here u can get oem parts cheaper than most any where i have seen.


http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=P&Category_Code=PO

 

[willr]

Hi Jack,



Sounds like you boiled your brakes. I would recommend Castrol SRF fluid, which you last you a lot of trackdays before you need to replace it. However it is much more expensive than other fluids - if you want to save then try Motul RBF600.



Just switched my front pads to Pagid RS29 and the rears to RS421. Not yet sure if this is the best combination. Just been bedding them in on track - which takes a long time, perhaps because my discs were already worn.



The OEM pads are made by Textar - part of the same group as Pagid. You can find the Porsche-branded and Textar pads at http://www.eurocarparts.com (look under Boxster S). One trackday is unlikely to have eaten your pads - the fronts start at 17mm and I found the wear sensor came on at about 3 or 4mm.

 

[davew]

Castrol SRF is a fantastic product for motorsorts, we use it in most of our cars (when our budget allows)...but it rearely stays in the car for more than a few hrs of use before getting bled out and replaced. For a street car that sees a few track events and such it really is overkill and a PITA to be changing all the time. I would stick with ATE Super Blue. Its more compatible with your current fluid so it can be swapped in without purging the whole system first and it has a longer lifespan so you don't have to do full changes as often. The cayman is light enough that you should never boil it as well...if you do I would think about yoyr breaking techniques more than your fluid. Look around you will see that I'm not alone...most reputable distributors will recomend SRF for motorsports only.


dave w

 

[craignyc]

they are not a sponsor but this is a great place to get pads and brake stuff. http://www.raceshopper.com/

 

[willr]

Look around you will see that I'm not alone...most reputable distributors will recomend SRF for motorsports only.


dave w

Dave, I know a lot of people who track their GT3s here in the UK use SRF on road and track with no problems. Why is SRF a motorsport-only choice, apart from its extreme expense? Assuming you flush the system properly, it's DOT3/4 compatible and has a wet boiling point way higher than other fluids - so surely that means you can leave it in longer?