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Had an unbelievable week in my 911S, on the sports Car Market Tour in Or. / Wa. last week.
The car ran great, but i was wondering if anyone has upgraded the brakes, using Porsche components?
Nothing radical, but at times I thought I could use a little a little more brake.
Suggestions?
You might be surprised to see how much difference really good pads can make, I know I was. The brakes on my '72 were completely replaced during the refurbishment after a 20-year sleep, everything except a few of the hard lines. And I was not happy with how the car stopped. Then a friend offered me a full set of Pagid Orange (RS 4-4) pads to try. The difference was immediate and amazing. The pedal feels firmer, and the car stops RIGHT NOW!
Of course, there are downsides. The Orange pads are rather dusty, and prone to squeaking. But they are essentially a race pad that has a wide temp range and is therefore suitable for street as well. I suspect that there are other premium pads that will improve your stopping power while being even more street-friendly.
So I'd look into different pads before doing anything with other brake components. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Look at age of your brake, fluid a,d brake lines. That can also cause softer brakes. Have the calipers been rebuilt? Can’t imagine new seals would not be helpful. The actual brakes themselves are very good. I would look elsewhere first
I agree with Arne on the Pagid Orange if you can live the the dust and squeaks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arne
My 71T has a fully refreshed brake system (hard lines, soft lines, master, calipers, everything, ALL new). I didn't like the brake feel.
I put Porterfield R4S pads in, and a fresh bleed with ATE200. BIG difference in feel and performance.
I then put the PMB performance 'brembo' larger aluminum caliper on the front, with larger R4S pads, and a slotted front rotor.
And now all is well in the world. The brake feel is great, no fade, great bite.
Given you have an "S" with the larger front caliper, I'm with the folks here, try a pad and bleed with some higher spec fluid. I like the R4S. Good bite, and progressive feel, and very very low dust. Pagid pads, while they bite, are NOISY. Ran them once on my gt3rs and ditched them.
Also, here's some feedback on fluid. It matters. I don't have the time you guys do in these older cars, but I have 100's of track days in the 964 and 997RS platforms. I've run factory, Brembo HTC64, Endless, and SRF. All feel different. On my 964 and RS I run the Brembo fluids, excellent. Endless is a close 2nd.
Remove your super cool Aluminum S calipers, then go out and find yourself a pair of ugly, heavy, steel A calipers from a 911SC. You will need the two short hard lines to go with them, too. This change over can be done in an hour of so. It is non envasive, reasonably inexpensive and can be easily reversed(you probably won't want to, though). You will instantly notice a much firmer pedal and much better brake performance. You can thank me later.......
Regards
Jim
Yes, dusty and noisy. Can't do much about dust other than wash the wheels and hose off the brakes periodically.Quote:
Originally Posted by tom1394racing
They will squeak if installed right out of the box. That's what I did to start with, to see if the change was worthwhile. And yes, they squeaked badly. But since they worked well, I took the time to treat them to all the things we did to Volvo brakes back in the '80s to cut down squeal when I did brakes for a living. Beveled the leading edges of the friction material, installed the anti-squeal shims off the garbage pads, and appied high-temp brake grease to the faces of the pistons and contact area and edges of the pad backing plates.
Did this before taking the car on a 150 mile drive in the mountains, using the brakes fairly hard. They are not 100% silent now, but 98% at least. I can live with that.
All that said, Pagid Orange are darned expensive pads. I would not have chosen these as my first choice had they not been given to me. Probably would have tried the Porterfields instead.
Thanks, Jim, just what i was looking for. Squeaky pads would drive me nuts, and everything else in the system is new.