PCCB Ceramic brakes -- $6,875 per rotor!

[Rich911E]

I posted a message earlier about whether I should order a GT3 with the ceramic brakes. The consensus was to stay away from the ceramics as their supposed longevity was somewhat of a question.

Well, just for fun, I called my local Porsche Dealer and asked what the rotors would cost if I needed to replace them: $6,875 EACH -- $27,500 for four rotors. (plus tax of course)

Many thanks to the Pelicans that steered me away from that option.

My car (without ceramics) should be here in a few weeks. Very stoked!

Rich

[on-ramp]

HAHA.

$27,500 just for rotors! what a joke. you can buy a 930 for that price.

[Emission]

How much are the pads? They've got to be special too!

[Eugene at Pelican Parts]

Originally posted by Emission
How much are the pads? They've got to be special too!

He gave you a deal! MSRP on the rears are over $8K EACH.

Pads are only $128/set.

Calipers (without pads), about $1000 each.

[widebody911]

From what I've read, these rotors don't last very long, and aren't covered under warranty, so guys swap out the ceramic rotors for old-school cast iron, and put the ceramic rotors on when they sell the car.

[Jeff Alton]

Hmmm, you can buy the whole conversion package from a dealer that advertises in Excellence for about 10,500. Someone is making a lot of dough on rotors!!

As a side note, I was doing a DE last week in Seattle and there was a 996 turbo with X50or 51 pack and ceramic brakes. We were all talking about the brakes and the owner was going on and on and on ........ about how great they were. So much stopping power, no fade, will last the life of the car blah, blah,blah. We get out on the track for our first lapping session and who is on his tail at every braking zone? Me in my 84 with wimpy stock brakes!! My point? If he drives it that easy, they probably will last for the whole life of the car!

Cheers, Jeff

[campbellcj]

The prices are clearly coming down on this setup; obviously they aren't there yet though

I saw a GT3 in the Rusnak showroom this a.m. and the option list price for the ceramics are down to the ~$8K range now.

There seems to be a disconnect if the spares still cost that much. Sooner or later the manufacturing process will be commoditized and these will start showing up on more mainstream cars.

[Bill Verburg]

Even the exhausts on those cars can run to 5 grand easy

[David]

There were 2 GT3's at the autocross in Houston last weekend. Both had the ceramic brakes, but I agree with your choice of getting steel. One of them had autocross tires and turned a time of about 51.8 sec while my best time was about 50.7 in a 400hp, 1500lb E-mod car. Very impressive for a street car. The other one was owned by a guy that's been autocrossing for several years who's had a Viper, 996, and a 996TT. He said the GT3 was by far the best car he's driven.

[Rich911E]

The price of the option is about $8K on the GT3. However, I could not believe the price of the replacements, especially with the longevity is open to question. Even if prices come down 70%, that is still $2,000 per rotor or $8000/set. That is still WAY too much for a consumable that is not covered by the warranty. I am sure that in a full race situation where money is no object, the ceramics would be great, but $10000 per race weekend for brakes alone would require a budget that very few could sustain.

[Emission]

There were three advantages (I recall) to the ceramic rotors: they don't overheat, they weigh less, and the rotors would last the lifetime of the vehicle.

Seems the advantges of ceramics are fading...

[osidak]

Maybe Porsche thinks the life of the vehicle is a race weekend.... Ok bad joke. Seems like they are still working the bugs out

[Craig 930 RS]

PCCB = Big Flop

Craig
@RS

[Bill Verburg]

Heres what the big $$ GT3 teams run

[Randy Webb]

The PCCB brakes are at the level of the 959 or a low buck NASA space probe. They are not yet ready for prime time. If, on the other hand, you own your own cable channel.....

We can just hope they get them cheaper and longer lasting because the basic idea is a great one. They do squeal like crazy tho (at low speeds).