JRitt@essex

Happy Friday Gents,

Our AP Racing by Essex brake products have become the recognized standard among Porsche GT Car owners who are serious about tracking their car. Why? Because we've been able to improve upon the factory brakes in every conceivable manner, including convenience, fade resistance, longevity, weight reduction, wheel fitment, and long-term running costs. These improvements translate into faster lap times, fewer problems and headaches, substantial financial benefits, and more fun at the track!

In the video below we take a deep dive into the technical nuances of our brake system to show you how and why they're able to offer such a dramatic improvement over the stock brakes. Grab some popcorn and watch the whole video or skip to the section that is most relevant to you by using the timeline guide below.

Also of note for those of you adding a 992 GT3 to your fleet, our brake kit for that car is designed and in production. We’ll be posting more info on that kit in the 992 GT3 section here on Rennlist.

Thanks for watching and a huge thank you to all our GT4 clients for your continued support!





0:00 - Which vehicles do our AP Racing Brakes fit?

1:53 - A Le Mans-winning AP Radi-CAL Brake Solution

3:06 - AP Racing Radi-CAL vs. OEM Front Caliper

4:11 - Front Caliper Weight Comparison

5:15 - Caliper Finish Comparison

6:46 - Ease of Changing Pads

9:52 - Pad Tension Kits

10:39 - Brake Pad Shape and Size Comparison

13:01 - Caliper Piston and Seal Comparison

19:40 - Crossover Tubes vs Internal Fluid Pathways

21:31 - Brake Torque and Differential Piston Bores

23:50 - Rear Caliper Comparison

25:02 - Essex Lifetime Recertification Program

27:15 - AP Racing 2-piece J Hook Disc Comparison to OEM

29:22 - Mounting Hardware and Float

30:44 - Disc Hat/Bell Design

32:47 - Disc Weight Comparison

34:20 - Disc Internal Vane Comparison

36:04 - J Hooks vs. Drilled Holes

38:27 - Metallurgy and Crack Resistance

39:19 - Disc Burnishing/Bedding

41:06 - Replacement Iron Prices

41:52 - Caliper Mounting Brackets

43:06 - Spiegler SS Brake Lines

45:52 - Wheel Fitment

47:13 - Installation Instructions

48:14 - Long-term Value Proposition / Investment

50:08 - Customer Support

51:00 - 2-piece J Hook Discs for Stock Calipers

52:33 - Summary and Conclusions

53:23 - Customer Car Photos and Feedback

electron mike

Excellent and informative video! I recently ordered front and rear J hook rotors for my 718 GT4. I ran the J hooks on my 981 GT4 and was amazed at the longevity and performance and look forward to installing them on my 718 GT4.

Thanks for continuing to offer world class parts for us track rats at reasonable prices!

enduro

Now I have something to watch over dinner.

Youall will be getting some more of my money in 2022.

lnirenberg

1st tip, if you want to save money don’t watch this video! My $.02 based on experience with their products.
I had 991.1 GT3 with a brake history as follows:
Changed factory rotors to girodisc, a small improvement.
AP releases there full GT3 kit and I luckily get one of the 1st sets. Miles of track time by myself and others and I have to say they are the best brakes on any car I’ve ever had. Add that I ran 19” Forgelines and the drastic reduction of unsprung weight brought the handling to a completely different level.
That car is a no longer and I got a low mileage 991 TTS and swap out the ludicrously expensive PCCB rotors for AP racing and the brakes were perfect as they were much easier to modulate than the ceramics especially on track.

That car is gone traded in at the dealer for these crazy inflated values against a ‘22 GT4 with is supposed to arrive 2 weeks from today. My plan for that was just replacing the rotors with AP but damn it after watching the video it reminded my how much problems the OEM pistons were in the GT3 re the ceramic caps and now I realize I’m going to have to go for the entire kit.

minn19

I have no reason to buy these as I track very infrequently but I’ve always drooled over them and want a set on one of my cars.

mprog

Yeah, that video Is giving me a lot to think about. I didn’t realize how much weight savings was there, and man do I hate removing these calipers.

sgreer78

I'm not in the market for brakes but I watched the whole thing and that is how you make a video. Actual information, not just "ours is better".

donR

I also wouldn't mind a set of these for my car particularly because there is no suface transform option for my GTS. It is impressive how much lighter the caliper is but it also comes with a smaller pad so that makes sense also. Sorry if I missed it but is Jeff saying you can get away with a smaller pad because the larger disc has better cooling capacity and pad size does not necessarily equate to stopping power? I assume the pad size is the same then for all the Radi-CAL competition front calipers? Also how does the AP racing disc compare to the Surface Transforms being used in GT cars? I've heard the Surface Transforms is an improvement on the OEM PCCBs, put I'm assuming still a lot more cost than the AP racing discs.

JRitt@essex

Thank you very much for your continued patronage Mike! As a team of current and recovering track rats, we know how expensive it is to sustain this hobby. We'll do our best to keep supporting those of you who are driving these cars as intended!

JRitt@essex

Mwuhahaha...all your money are belong to us!


Thank you so much for sticking with us as your car collection evolves lnirenberg! As our aftermarket brake program matures, we're now seeing numerous clients on their 3rd or 4th car with our AP by Essex brake system on it. We have one gent who I believe has had six cars with our brake system installed! We have great long-term relationships with many of our clients, and I always love hearing about how our products make their lives easier, more fun, less costly, etc. For me personally, that is one of the most gratifying aspects of my job. Good luck with the new car, and again a sincere thank you for your loyalty!

JRitt@essex

Most people don't realize how heavy the stock components are until they have something else in-hand. When we are at the track or trade shows, I always love the reaction when we drop an AP Racing Radi-CAL into someone's hands. Their eyes light up in disbelief as they turn it over in their hands and peer through all the holes in the caliper.

I've had several GT3 customers relate our weight savings to the Weissach Package option. On a pounds per dollar basis, we remove a serious chunk of unsprung weight for a very reasonable price. The Weissach package deletes 38 lbs. for $38,000 ($1,000 per pound of reduction). Our system shaves about 33 lbs. for $10,998 ($333 per pound, and all of it unsprung). Then if you want to add some lightweight 19" Forgelines/tires as Inirenberg notes above, the unsprung weight reduction is even further compounded.

We've literally had numerous owners tell us after the fact, "Your kit was worth it for the easy pad changes alone."

JRitt@essex

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out our YouTube channel for our other brake-related videos. Although it would be fairly easy to simply stand on AP's racing heritage as a justification for these products, that is a lazy cop-out. I hate that nonsense as a enthusiast and consumer.

JRitt@essex

You understood exactly what I was saying in the video. Pad size does not equate to 'stopping power'. Brake torque is a function of disc diameter (effective radius/leverage), piston size, and pad coefficient of friction (mu). Pad size comes into play when considering thermal capacity/heat absorption. A larger pad spreads heat out over a larger area. For example, if you look at a carbon ceramic setup, the pad is typically gigantic in terms of surface area. Since carbon ceramic discs run hotter than iron, the manufacturer uses a very tall and long pad to spread the heat over a larger surface area. The internal cooling vanes in carbon ceramic discs are not as intricate or effective as those in an iron disc. They don't have a directional, curved vane. Instead, it is just a straight hole or opening, and they don't flow as much air. The larger pads that a carbon ceramic setup runs also adds unsprung weight vs. the smaller pads in our system.

Our systems for your GTS are even a little lighter than our GT4 setup, due to the slightly smaller discs. We have two front kits...one with 355x32mm discs and another with 372x34mm discs....along with a matching rear kit. You can see them here: https://www.essexparts.com/my-vehicl...bo/Iron%20disc

The only reason we went so big on the discs in the GT4/GT3 setup was necessity. Since the car came with such large discs from the factory, and our calipers don't have the same bolt spacing as the OEM caliper, we needed room to sandwich a caliper adapter bracket between the spindle and the caliper. That forced to go a bit larger, particularly on the front discs. We have 1000 HP C7ZR1 Corvettes (which are considerably harder on front brakes than a mid engine or rear engine car) running our 372x34mm discs with great success. Our iron discs are all about efficiency. Our ethos with our Competition Kits is that anything larger than necessary is just dead unsprung weight to lug around. We go as small as possible, while still providing ample thermal capacity and longevity.

Here's a recent customer review of our 718 Cayman GTS system: https://www.essexparts.com/2019-caym...ical-brake-kit

Our complete system offers a range of convenience, performance, and cost benefits over and above the ST discs. Our complete four wheel system for the GT4 including the AP Racing calipers is $10,998 (our system for the GTS is $8,198). Surface Transforms discs are $12,998, and you're stuck with your heavy, inconvenient stock calipers. ST discs cost $600 per refurbishment. Then you have to add shipping to England and back, plus your car is down while your discs are off globetrotting. The ST discs can also only be refurbished a certain number of times before they are trash. Our replacement iron discs have proven to be the most durable option on the market, are $599 each, and you don't need to wait for them while they're off doing the grand tour. We stock them in large quantities our Charlotte, NC warehouse. Our system also offers all the long list of other benefits over the stock system as outlined in the above video...none of which the ST discs offer. Yes, the ST discs themselves are lighter than the discs in our system, but that is offset by the heavier stock calipers. There aren't any other benefits to the ST discs, unless you specifically like the feel of carbon ceramic discs for some reason. Here's an article we published earlier this year on carbon ceramic discs: https://www.essexparts.com/news-blog...tter-than-iron
Regardless of what anyone else says, the reality is that carbon ceramic discs will oxidize after track use, and they will need to be either thrown away (stock PCCB) or refurbished (ST). They do offer unsprung weight savings, but so do we without all the downsides and headaches of carbon ceramic discs.

mprog

I’m really interested in doing this on my GT4.
Do you only package them with Ferodo pads? I’ve never used them, and lately have really been enjoying Race Technologies RE10’s (really great modulation and they’re lasting forever).

JRitt@essex

Yes, Ferodo is our preferred pad supplier. We've found that they work tremendously well in our AP Racing systems, and we seem to have very few problems with them, particularly with regards to the judder and vibration (uneven pad deposits) than we see with other brands. Ferodo has a nice range of compounds for the track and road, they seem to be easier on discs, easier to bed, etc. than other options we've tested. Our suggestion would be to give the Ferodos a try first. Ferodo has a storied, 100 year+ history:. https://www.ferodoracing.com/company/history/

Their latest DS3.12 compound in particular is a world-class pad and is performing exceedingly well in professional GT Car racing around the world: https://www.essexparts.com/news-blog...-to-the-podium

At $450 total for the first complete car set, it makes sense to at least try them. If you don't like them, you can always switch and sell them to one of our thousands of other brake kit owners running our kit on their Porsche, Corvette, BMW, Subaru, etc. At the discounted purchase price, you could likely turn a profit on them in the used market if you only run them a couple times.

Race Technologies does make their pads in the sizes required by the AP Racing calipers. However, we find that 90+% of our customers who start out with Ferodo typically stay with Ferodo. They are high quality, last a long time, easy on discs, competitively priced, and we hold a large inventory in the USA so they are quickly available when needed (we are in Charlotte, NC).