# Porsche brakes - which ones?



## Mr. Freeze (Mar 6, 2013)

Hi,

just after opinions of those who've converted to Porsche brakes. My last car was a 1.8T A4 with the full B6 S4 brake setup (345mm front 300mm rear) and it stopped on a dime. The TT just doesn't.

Cayenne calipers look amazing (but maybe a bit of overkill for my needs) but are there any problems with clearances of wheels afterwards? Are they really as good as they look or are Boxster or 996 carrera brakes a more cost effective option?

Which are the best versions to go for (Boxster S/3.2/2.7 or what) for price and performance.

Any feedback that could be given would help.

Also, what are the options then for the rears and how easy are they to fit?

Thanks


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## GoTeamGb2012 (Dec 27, 2012)

I currently run standard V6 brakes on my V6 and Leon Cupra R Brembos on my 225. The V6 brakes actually feel a bit more substantial than the Brembos. If you're talking about a 225 then anything is pretty much better than OEM.

I too would like to know about what Porsche options are available for a TT. Are the Cayenne 6 pots direct fitment with V6 Discs? If so that would be an interesting option. They look pretty substantial.

I don't think the rears do much so upgrade options are limited. Would be nice to get a 2 piece or mono-block caliper for the rears. I there anything available in that regard?


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

I've got Porsche Boxster 2.7 calipers to go over OEM 312mm discs. I'm told by a brake expert that this is the best value caliper upgrade out there. Should give a nice improvement over stock but still be a cheap to replace discs and pads too


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## Mondo (Feb 20, 2009)

Porsche 993TT (twin turbo 911) calipers are pretty good: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=319746&hilit=+porsche

Wak, Was, James, myself and a few others have them. But whatever you do, for pity's sake and the good of your mental health... BUY A KIT! You'll save yourself a world of hurt and get the job done quickly.

Cayenne's are lovely, but probably a little overkill - and 'king huge! Clearance generally may well be a problem; it depends on the wheels. I've more clearance with the 17" Comps than the 18" RSTTs.

AFAIK, you've 3 basic choices for the rear: a kit from ECS Tuning, a kit from Tarox, or a kit from GSM Performance. All are just disc/bell/spacer combos, using the existing rear caliper. One of those 3 is on my To Do list.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

Mondo said:


> for pity's sake and the good of your mental health... BUY A KIT! You'll save yourself a world of hurt and get the job done quickly.


That my friends is sound advice 
I've bought loads of parts separately so in total I think I've only saved myself about £100 on a new kit.


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## Mr. Freeze (Mar 6, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. That's a great thread that was linked to as well.

looks like I'm buying a kit then! :lol:


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## conlechi (May 6, 2006)

Speak to Thomas at http://www.porschecalipers.co.uk/
He will put a kit together or you, calipers , carriers etc 

My calipers from a Boxter 2.7


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## Paulj100 (Mar 24, 2009)

Don't do this to me guys! Been telling myself I don't need big brakes then I go and read this thread with some awesome looking calipers [smiley=bomb.gif]

Paul.

.......I don't need big brakes I don't need big brakes I don't need big brakes............... [smiley=bigcry.gif]


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## conlechi (May 6, 2006)

alij100 said:


> .......I don't need big brakes I don't need big brakes I don't need big brakes............... [smiley=bigcry.gif]


 that won't work Paul :lol: , it's only a matter of time :wink:


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Mr. Freeze said:


> My last car was a 1.8T A4 with the full B6 S4 brake setup (345mm front 300mm rear) and it stopped on a dime. The TT just doesn't.


You're not going to significantly change your stopping distance by fitting different brakes. Stopping distance is mainly a function of tyre performance and pretty much any modern brake is capable of locking up your tyres (triggering the ABS). You'll change the pedal feel (for better or worse) which might giver you the impression that the brakes are working better though :wink:

Bigger brakes are designed to dissipate heat better, so will be useful if you're getting fade from aggressive driving though. They also look nicer.


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## Mr. Freeze (Mar 6, 2013)

conlechi said:


> Speak to Thomas at http://www.porschecalipers.co.uk/
> He will put a kit together or you, calipers , carriers etc
> 
> My calipers from a Boxter 2.7


Cheers.

I will do just that.


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## holla_j (Jan 1, 2012)

Mondo said:


> Porsche 993TT (twin turbo 911) calipers are pretty good: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=319746&hilit=+porsche
> 
> Wak, Was, James, myself and a few others have them. But whatever you do, for pity's sake and the good of your mental health... BUY A KIT! You'll save yourself a world of hurt and get the job done quickly.
> 
> ...


I love my stoppers although they do have a tendency of locking up the rear as all of the weight of the car slams forward and the back lifts up. This is only in serious braking situations mind, shows the power of the set up.


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## Garth (Feb 7, 2012)

holla_j said:


> I love my stoppers although they do have a tendency of locking up the rear as all of the weight of the car slams forward and the back lifts up. This is only in serious braking situations mind, shows the power of the set up.


It sounds like there's something very wrong with your car there. You should never be able to lock up the rear wheels before the front wheels no matter how powerful your front brakes are. 
The only time the rears should lock would be if they were off the ground, but then you would have to be generating such a braking force that the front wheels would stop dead for this to happen. This is highly unlikely as it would be down to the grip of the tyres at this point and unless you have magic tyres, they'd skid before this happens. The other reason is simply that the brake balance is off and the rear brakes are generating more force than they should, but this is the opposite of what you are saying.

I'd get your whole braking system checked out if you are genuinely locking up the rear wheels :???:


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Exactly... Brake systems are always way more front biased in order to give a 'safer' emergency stop, where you want the fronts to slide before the rears (as you don't want your boot overtaking you when someone steps out in front of you). Typically for track use, you can get away with a more even distribution (and this is really the only way to actually reduce stopping distances, as the OEM front bias will be optimised for control rather than braking performance so balancing it out allows you make use of the 'spare' grip at the rear) but by changing to bigger brakes up front, with OEM at the back, you're actually moving the bias even further forward, which should make it harder to lock up the rears, not easier.

From the Stoptech site:


> The most dramatic front-bias impacts are usually brought about by "big brake kits" which are not properly matched to the intended vehicle. Any time that a bigger front rotor is installed, there is a simultaneous need to decrease the effective clamping force of the caliper (installing smaller pistons is the easiest method) to offset the increased torque created by larger rotor effective radius. The objective is to maintain a constant amount of brake corner output (torque) for a given brake line pressure as Figure 6 illustrates. Unfortunately, too many upgrades do not take this factor into account, and those poor cars end up with both bigger rotors and larger pistons which serve to drastically shift the bias even more forward. While rock-solid stable under braking, stopping distances will go up dramatically.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

And for those of you who think you can decrease your stopping distance with a big brake kit, this article explains why that doesn't actually happen (even if you convince yourself it does, because the change in pedal feel makes it seem like the brakes are more powerful):

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/rear-brake-upgrades



> So, from a bias perspective we are not pushing the vehicle toward instability, but rather just the opposite - we are underbraking the rear axle! The obvious impact would be an increase in stopping distance - probably the one thing the new owner was actually hoping to reduce. Ironic.





> There has been a bunch of stuff published which will disclaim this, but when you look at the braking system from a design standpoint, making them 'bigger' doesn't fundamentally do anything for stopping distance. It's all about the heat.


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## holla_j (Jan 1, 2012)

Interesting read, my rear camber is way off and could be contributing to the issue as the contact patch of the tire is significantly reduced, less grip aids lock ups...


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