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The calipers of the PCCB are "speed yellow" while the new interior
color matches the new yellow paint and is "racing yellow".
No clue why Porsche didn't switch the caliper
color simultaneously.
They had the speed yellow calipers in the program for quite some
time and it matched the interior, as well as the yellow paint that
came as standard color. Now it's speed yellow for the calipers
but they switched to racing yellow for paint and interior color.
Just strange.
No, not 'strange' at all. There is a method to their madness...for
sticking to 'Speed Yellow' as their official color for their PCCB!
Porsche has a very distinct policy of 'branding' the color of their
brake calipers to specific categories of performance in most cases.
And because of 'political correctness' in at least one case!
A little history first:
**
1) Porsche introduced the carbon ceramics brakes (PCCB) as
standard on the MY2001 gt2 model & optional on that year's
911 Turbo:
2) Porsche launched 'Speed Yellow' as an exterior offering around
1993/1994. The color remained as a standard offering until 2012,
when it was replaced by 'Racing Yellow', first on the 991 then the
981.
**
3) 'Racing Yellow' will continue for the balance of .2 991 (my guess),
but will probably be replaced with another yellow hue for the next
chassis - e.g. 992. Yet I totally expect 'Speed Yellow' to remain the
color of the 'PCCB' brakes regardless what new 'yellow' exterior color
Porsche chooses to offer next on their future platform or models
(for the most part).
**
4) Porsche decided to paint the calipers of their 'PCCB' in yellow
to differentiate the 'brand' of its top performance brakes. And
it seems to me that they choose 'Speed Yellow' from the beginning,
and decided to stick to that color from then on for 'branding'
purposes...
**
5) And it's 'Speed Yellow' for all PCCBs in the Porsche model range, but
for one* principal exception - the 918 Spyder. So PAG is not interested
whether these brake caliper colors 'match' or 'coordinate' with a vehicle's
chosen color scheme (exterior paint, deviated stitching, deviated seat piping
or deviated color seat belts). It's all about branding the color to the
calipers to a brake performance level for the most part at Porsche!
*The other was the 997 Turbo S 'Edition 918 Spyder'
**
6)) There are only five 'colors' that Porsche uses on their brake
calipers... 'Black', 'Acid Green', 'Silver', 'Speed Yellow' and 'Red'.
Photo shows available brakes on the Porsche Panamera models!
**
7) The one exception is the brakes of their Hybrid models. On the
918, for example, the standard PCCB brakes have calipers painted
in 'Acid Green', the politically-correct brake color for that hybrid
platform. And it's also done for 'branding' purposes.
But for their 918 customers (all VIP by definition) however, PAG made
an exception & allowed customers that didn't want 'Acid Green' on their
calipers to change to just one other color - 'Silver' - at a cost just under
$3K for the privilege of that small modification!
**
8) On their Panamera S - E Hybrid, however, their 'standard' brakes
are painted 'Acid Green':
But even in this Hybrid model, if you order PCCBs, you get 'Speed Yellow'
calipers on your ceramic brakes:
So the 'branding' theme remains - PCCB's as their top performance
brakes, remain painted 'Speed Yellow' even on this hybrid to maintain
the 'brand' image carefully cultivated by Porsche that equates 'Speed
Yellow' calipers with PCCBs!
**
9) It seems that perhaps in the 996 period, PAG honored the request
of some of their VIP customers to paint a different color their PCCB
calipers. Although seldom allowed and extremely costly to do, there
were cases where PAG acceded to these requests.
But in the 997 era (it seems), PAG made a decision NOT to deviate
from the 'standard' color branding scheme they established. Today,
I do not believe PAG will consider painting a PCCB caliper on a 991
or 981 any other color but 'Speed Yellow' at the factory. Same for
the base 'Black' calipers or the 'Red' for the S models! 'Silver'
(some called it 'Titanium') apparently graced some 996 models,
but that practice was soon discarded and to my knowledge there
were no 997s, 987s, 991s or 981's with anything other than the
standard three colors - 'Yellow', 'Red' & 'Black' - with the exception
of the few 'Edition 918 Spyder' 997 Turbo S with 'Acid Green'
calipers on the PCCBs offered to 918 deposit-holders in 2011:
'Silver' calipers on the brakes seems to appear only on some current
models of the Panamera, Cayenne & Macan (don't ask me why!). And
were optional, as previously mentioned, on the 918!
**
10) On one (April 2013) of my visits to 'Porsche Exclusive' in Zuffenhausen,
I specifically asked Boris Apenbrink, Director - Special Vehicles, whether
PAG would consider a request for a deviating color for the brake calipers
on any 991/981 model. And his response was an emphatic 'Nein'. PAG
& 'Porsche Exclusive' had considered the requests for color coordination
for brake calipers and rejected it in favor of faithfully adhering to the
concept of associating a specific color (e.g.. 'Speed Yellow'), with a
specific performance brake (e.g. 'PCCB'). And they were more interested
in that 'mental association with a particular color' than with allowing their
customers to fully customize every painted surface on their vehicle!
**
11) 'Branding' works. Ferrari now offers ceramic brakes as standard
in all of their regular models. But a customer can choose from a few
colors for their calipers. Increasingly, their clients are choosing 'Yellow'
calipers because many of their customers associate 'yellow' with ceramic
brakes. Guess who 'branded' that 'tradition'?
MB 'AMG', BMW 'M' & Audi 'quattro GmbH' have not fallen yet for the
'fad' of using 'Yellow' calipers for their ceramic brakes...but give them
a few years & let's see where it all goes with the yellow caliper craze!
I know about this branding and the concept behind it.
It does work.
I had a couple of conversations as well on that topic during my last visits at Exclusive in Zuffenhausen.
As you pointed out, since 2005 there's no chance at all that you'd get different colorered calipers from the factory - no matter what you'd like to spent for it.
They stick to their concept, which really works out fine.
Adding the acid green calipers was a logic and an absolutely smart move to be consistent on this concept.
The concept defines the PCCB to be yellow - No arguing with that.
BUT........
Why not give it a yellow that would match outside color and Interior? That's the strange part in my humble opinion.
We shall always see yellow PCCBs from Porsche and that's OK - though in order to satisfy all designers (like Navanod ) and all design sensible customers, they should have adopted to recing yellow.
For all others who don't care about such subtile differences it probably doesn't matter at all.
But as I already said. Tastes are different and everyone should do as one pleases.
Sometimes aftermarket can be your solution. If you're into orange f.e. why not go for something like this:
Besides, if it really means that much you can always paint the calipers to the exact interior stitching yellow. It's certainly easier than changing the stitching. And I don't think anyone will care which yellow is in the calipers one way or the other. Trying to match yellows between a kick-a$$ interior and Porsche PCCBs is a wonderful problem to resolve!
Besides, if it really means that much you can always paint the calipers to the exact interior stitching yellow. It's certainly easier than changing the stitching. And I don't think anyone will care which yellow is in the calipers one way or the other. Trying to match yellows between a kick-a$$ interior and Porsche PCCBs is a wonderful problem to resolve!
But I'd never paint my steelees yellow no matter what colour car I had, just says wannabe or wish I had.
Say P did agree to paint the PCCB in Racing Yellow or in fact they changed the yellow standard PCCB to Racing, what happens when the next yellow comes along, Raging Yellow, do they change their colours again? Even more challenging is if they had two standard yellow offerings in the palette, what would they do then?
Funny how the discussion hasn't touched on the red calipers, if I had a guards red car, would I expect the calipers to also be painted guards, or carmine for that matter?
But I'd never paint my steelees yellow no matter what colour car I had, just says wannabe or wish I had.
Funny how the discussion hasn't touched on the red calipers, if I had a guards red car, would I expect the calipers to also be painted guards, or carmine for that matter?
I would guess that those of us with red calipers care quite a bit less about this but we're also not paying 7k+ for brakes.
Ferrari started offering different calliper colour options on the 360 Modena. Their colour range has been expanded over the years. Maserati quickly followed suit as it is an easy way to relieve a customer of more money Alfa have learned the trick as well and offered red callipers an option on their volume hatchback models and now offer a choice of four colours - silver, red, yellow and black - on the 4C.
Porsche used to allow dealers to repaint callipers on a car locally at the customer's request but here in the UK they have put a stop to this. No doubt they will try and pull the "invalidated warranty" arguement if a customer gets this done on their own initiative.
I've had callipers repainted twice. The first was on a PTS 987 Boxster S where I had the callipers painted orange to match the interior leather. The second was on a Racing Yellow 991 C2S where I had the callipers painted in Racing Yellow. Both were repainted by the Porsche Approved bodyshop my dealer used.
As always, super informative post and entertaining, toowith great pics of unusual cars that illustrate your points. Thank you!!
Originally Posted by Z356
A little history first:
1) Porsche introduced the carbon ceramics brakes (PCCB) as
standard on the MY2001 gt2 model & optional on that year's
911 Turbo:
Minor detail: I believe the 996 GT2 came in 2001 as a 2002 MY car (one of the most annoying/confusing practices in the car industry). Iirc, PCCBs were also tested and available as a retrofit for existing (2001 MY) 996 Turbos. Also remember the "lifetime of the car" service life prediction. Uh...
Originally Posted by Z356
2) Porsche launched 'Speed Yellow' as an exterior offering around 1993/1994. The color remained as a standard offering until 2012, when it was replaced by 'Racing Yellow', first on the 991 then the 981.
For a couple of years (1997-1999 or 2000?), the very light Pastel Yellow became the standard yellow for the 986, 993 (?), and 996. Speed Yellow, if available as a "regular" color, was a special color at a pretty high cost (was it $3k~) iircmuch like today's GT Silver or Carmine Red in some applications. I recall feeling for those who paid extra to get Speed Yellow in those years when it became no cost again for MY 2000 or 2001 (?). I asked a Porsche executive/designer about this, and his answer was a shrug and something along the lines of "Sometimes, we wish to communicate with a certain color."
Originally Posted by Z356
4) Porsche decided to paint the calipers of their 'PCCB' in yellow
to differentiate the 'brand' of its top performance brakes.
Spot on in terms of their philosophy. The yellow caliper tradition started just before PCCB, though, with their "top performance brakes" on the regular production 993 Turbo S. Perhaps it goes back further, to 964s? Would have to research.
Originally Posted by Z356
9) It seems that perhaps in the 996 period, PAG honored the request
of some of their VIP customers to paint a different color their PCCB
calipers. Although seldom allowed and extremely costly to do, there
were cases where PAG acceded to these request.
But in the 997 era (it seems), PAG made a decision NOT to deviate
from the 'standard' color branding scheme they established.
I remember looking at three brand new Carrera GTs at Sebring when they were still new, with two being notable since one was PTS Rosso Corsa (stunning, for some reason!) and the other was white with black calipers and tons of white stitching in its black interior. I believe the calipers were listed at $8k on the window sticker, with the stitching at $16kbut that's a bit hazy. Per your comments, this would have been right on the cusp of the 996/997 era switchover (2005 per MY, a MY when both 996s and 997s existed). I'm not sure I've ever seen another factory PTS caliper since then. Even my mechanic hates caliper color changes. Won't do them anymore, so maybe Porsche feels the same way?
Originally Posted by Z356
'Silver' calipers on the brakes seems to appear only on some current
models of the Panamera, Cayenne & Macan (don't ask me why!). And
were optional, as previously mentioned, on the 918!l
Was a mid-level thing introduced on the 993 Carrera 4, I think, and continued into the 996 and Cayenne era. But silver calipers were also used for the Boxster S 550 Edition and then the silver caliper branding got strange in the 997 C4 era thanks to the emergence of the 997 Carrera S one rung down. As you note, it is currently used for S vehicles in some cases where red isn't. Confusing...
Originally Posted by Z356
Hope I covered the main points...
**
Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel
Good stuff, as always!
Only thing I'll add is my "If I were king for the day" option wish: Create a single caliper color for a "modest" price ($500? $1000?) available to anyone who wants it: Metallic gray. That way, it would signal extra dollars had been spent (branding! Exclusive!), but also allow people to get the brakes they want without clashing colors.
Originally Posted by Z356
Kidding aside, I also heard the rumor that this was one of his cars
here on Rennlist.
a) Has that ever been confirmed by an official source?
b) One is assuming that if these large brakes are indeed PCCB, the
calipers were painted 'Red' at Porsche via 'Special Wishes Dept.'?l
Cannot confirm, but I've stared at the car in CAlexio's avatar on more than one occasion. It sure is in line with Müller's 997 RS 4.0, which was often seen in Zuffenhausen. GT Silver with no stripes, orange wheels, and orange details. It's one of my 3-4 favorite 997 RS 4.0s, with the others going to Zwart's Dark Sea Blue 4.0, the Irish (?) 4.0, and the metallic gray 4.0. Porsche still does some pretty special things, but can be funny. I remember Zwart's car had graphics delete, but Porsche refused to delete the silver traces around its front-bumper intakes. Bet that was in the name of branding, too...
The photo below was pulled from a quick Google search, and was posted on Rennteam, but it sure looks like a factory press photoa theory supported by the S GO press plate on the front bumper. I'm pretty sure I've seen the car with another plate, but it would make sense to protect the CEO's identity for a photo such as this. Müller, when I spoke with him, was crazy about his RS 4.0. I think he kept it as a personal car.
12-23-2015, 04:09 AM
Get use to 'Speed Yellow' calipers on PCCBs...
) and all design sensible customers, they should have adopted to recing yellow.
Alfa have learned the trick as well and offered red callipers an option on their volume hatchback models and now offer a choice of four colours - silver, red, yellow and black - on the 4C.
