yxc145

Hi All

I bought a used CPO 991.1 GT3 last November. Upon taking the delivery of the car, I noticed something is off about the brake. The car doesn't stop hard, even when I stepped on the pedal all the way, hard.
After inspecting the brake, I noticed the rotors were cracked and scorched. The car was definitely tracked. Not a bad thing. Just wish the dealer would disclose that before selling me the car.
Yesterday, I had all 4 rotors and pads replaced (Girodisc and Hawks pads) by a local shop. None of the stock rotors and pads were salvageable. I drove the car home last night and to work this morning. I definitely noticed an improvement. The brake works fine when I am trying to "slowly slow down". But when I need to really "stop" the car and stepping hard on the pedal, it just doesn't seem to perform well. Feels like the calipers don't bite hard enough and rotors are still moving. I am comparing to a few cars I have owned previously (M550, GLE43, Maserati SQ4, Carrera S). These brake on those car seems to stop better than the GT3. That doesn't seem normal....

Are the rotors/pads still trying to break in? or is this the normal behavior of GT3 brake system? Please share your experience. Thank you.

Todd B

Did you bed your brake pads? If not it's not going to stop too well.

gt3.997

did you bed in the new brake pads? when you hammer on the brake pedal the car should stop pretty hard.

yxc145

The shop did the install said they did.

Jickel180

I noticed that when I first bought my GT3 that the brakes (steel) don't have a lot of bite to them. Fortunately at the track they will take just about all the abuse you can throw at them, you just need to stand on the pedal harder than you're used to. Really impressed with their durability out of the box, but hoping I can get more of the bite I'm used to when I throw my Ferodo DS1.11s on.

yxc145

Thank you for sharing your impression. So did it improve over time?

Jickel180

The level of initial bite only improves somewhat when they get hot, so driving around town they're still the same. On the flip side they're low noise and they can hold their own at the track.

Which Hawk pads did you switch to? Hopefully not the HPS compound as it doesn't have a lot of bite and it'll vaporize with track duty (from my past experience with them on other cars). Not a fan of those, but their DTC 60 or DTC 70 compounds have great initial bite and durability at the track. I wouldn't drive on the street with those as they're extremely noisy race pads however.


From my research on this forum it seems the Ferodo DS2500s might be the goldilocks solution for a high initial bite, but streetable pad. I wouldn't do heavy tracking with it but it may be the best option for those wanting more bite on the street. I'm sure others on here can chime in with their experience.

yxc145

Oh no!!! that's what I got. HPS 5.0

Jimmy-D

Pads make a big difference for sure

yxc145

Thank you guys. I got crappy pads... now I am stuck with them till next replacement.

Todd B

Go hit Road America one weekend and that will be it for those pads

Akunob

First, you should have taken the car back to the selling dealership as I believe new pads/rotors and new tires are a condition for a CPO certification. Second, track pads (Hawks) have a slightly different (higher) optimal operating temperature than street pads. As a result, when cold, the initial bite/performance of a track pads are not great. I also agree with other comments about bedding...make sure the pads were bedded correctly.

Matrog

changing out the brake fluid. If the car was tracked a lot, the fluid may shot/contain water and cause the pedal to feel soft.

3Series

What shop did you go to? Did they recommend the pad or you brought it in? If they recommended it, just take the car back and tell them to switch pads, specify this is a street car. It's easy to swap pads and if they value you as a customer and want repeat business....

If you want to try track driving, 4/26 is PCA's Novice day at Blackhawk Farms. Great time and you'll meet folks that can help you swap pads with centerlocks if you want to learn to do it yourself. If you don't like the pads now, I wouldn't wait until you wear the current set out before changing them. LIfe's too short.

3Series

Pads/Rotors don't have to be new. They just have to meet the minimum thickness requirements. They probably sold the car with track pads that were thick enough. The indie probably sold the OP on new hardware, it's the first thing they do when you complain about brakes.