time for brakes on my 88, best bang for the buck?

germanfan · germanfan's Garage

i would like your opinions on available pads and rotors
street and de event setups are my usage plans.
88 carrera stock everything.

88-diamondblue · 11-15-2011, 01:20 PM

I did Zimmerman rotors and Porterfield R4-S. Have driven it very hard and they have a great feel to them. Also very little brake dust. The Zimmerman rotors have Z-coat which helps keep the rotors from corroding.

Quicksilver · 11-15-2011, 04:02 PM

Don't waste money on drilled rotors. In fact if you aren't doing HARD track duty just use a replacement rotor.

As far as pads... I too use the Porterfield R4S pads. They are great across a very wide heat range and are reasonably priced. I have switched all my cars to Porterfield: The Porsche, the crappy 92 Nissan pickup, and the Volvo V70 GLT wagon. Nothing fades now and I get a good balance of pad and rotor life.

There are a number of other good pads out there but the price is good, they are a few miles from here, and they will reline anything if you have oddball requests. (It cost a lot less to reline my e-brake shoes then to purchase rebuilt.)

Jesse16 · Jesse16's Garage

On my 87 I've done all new zimmerman rotors now and have been buying Textar's from our host. I toasted a set of pads and grooved my (old) front rotors at a Sept. DE (hard track on brakes) so have now gone and bought a set of Perf. Friction Pads "track" oriented pads to try out. They seem to work fine on the road so far. I'll be at a DE this weekend but at VIR, not so hard on brakes as I remember. The PF pad were a decent price also, got the full F/R set for $250.
Plan to take them off after the DE and go back to the Textars. They've been fine for me for several years. Don't know you can do much better than the prices our host has for stock pads. Think I've had the Mintex pads also, no preference.

DRACO A5OG · DRACO A5OG's Garage

Zimmerman coated rotors and EBC Red Stuff. Mostly street and occasional DE.

Buddy placed EBC's race pads and seem to like them. He DE's every month

jsmithcds · 04:47 PM

i ran ebc yellows for dual purpose and they worked pretty well. They never made a peep and the dusting was minimal. I would recommend them for street with mild DE days. I may try the reds next time as I push my car harder now. I switched to PF's (Performance Friction)and they squeal and dust like crazy. For track the PF’s are great but for the street only i would go back to the ebc yellows. Skip the bling on the rotors as mentioned in previous posts. Drilled and slotted rotors are nothing more than bling. A good set of blanks is all you need.

tazzieman · tazzieman's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmithcds

Skip the bling on the rotors as mentioned in previous posts. Drilled and slotted rotors are nothing more than bling. A good set of blanks is all you need.

So categorically ,there is no advantage in wet conditions using the blingy rotors? Porsche Germany are making false claims?
I drive in the rain , whenever (all year), and if it rains on the track , life goes on. I will need to change rotors before too long so I'll keep an eye on this thread.

Jeff Higgins · 11-15-2011, 05:05 PM

Best bang for the buck? Dead stock replacement rotors and pads.

I am running the stock Carrera "wide A" calipers on the front, and stock M calipers on the back of my '72 DE day toy. I use plain rotors (the Zimmermans) with no cross drilling or slots. I use the pads sold right here as "genuine Porsche Brake Pads". I run the car hard, on slicks, and propelled by a pretty stout 3.0 on MFI. I have never been lacking for brakes with this set-up, even during the longest sessions on the hottest days of our summer. Never a problem, and they are eminently streetable as well (they work when they are dead cold).

I've run the entire gamut of track pads over the last decade. None work "better" from the standpoint of increased braking power or decreased fade. Several, however, simply do not work on the street. They don't stay hot enough. That, and to a pad, they are at least half again to twice or even three times as expensive as the "genuine Porsche" pad that Wayne sells (or your local dealer, but Wayne's are cheaper). The stock pads also wear better and generate less dust than many of the "racing" or "high performance" pads. Just stay away from the cheaper "stock replacement" pads, especially for DE's. I've tried 'em all and none of them held up, and some glazed the rotors pretty bad.

Tom '74 911 · 11-15-2011, 05:12 PM

I have used the Porterfield R4-S on the street and track and they work fine and are quiet. I also have a set of Pagid yellows. They are noticeably better on the track than the Porterfields, however they are noisy as heck. I can't handle them on the street, so I swap back & forth if I have the time and energy.

Don't forget brake fluid when thinking about your braking system. A recently flushed, well bled system w/good high temp fluid will help keep your pedal firm for a lot longer. It does make a big difference.

Adding extra cooling would be the next step. . .

Quicksilver · 11-15-2011, 05:16 PM

As I mentioned there are a lot of good brake pads out there. The reason I use R4-S is price. $150 for a full set is a lot cheaper then anything else I have seen out there that will stand up to normal DE usage. Most of the other options listed so far are $100+ a set more expensive.
If I really push I can get enough heat soak to bake them after about 20 minutes of running. I generally run about 15 minutes and then come to check tire temps and make notes.

It is very possible to overheat this compound. I had to add the AJ USA brake ducts (that are NLA) to keep them from overheating at Willow. Most of the people running fairly stock 3.2 Carrera's don't have enough tire or consistency to overheat the compound. When you get faster, put more power in the car, or have a vicious track you may need to plunk down more money.
Are you at that point yet?