So I went and did something only real gearheads will appreciate: I purchased Racing Brake's RB-CCB Iron Replacement Upgrade Kit and plan to document over multiple posts in this thread some mouth-watering pics, the installation and driving impressions.

My car was born with the 380/380 iron brakes & 5-lugs with 20" Sport Classic wheels. I have zero issues with the OE brakes' performance (except for the ungodly amount of dust they generate even in gentle street use.) I'll probably never use the iron brakes to their full abilities and thus know I'll never reach that of the CCBs but I am kinda shallow and materialistic and really like the aesthetic and cachet these brakes will bring to the car.

This kit includes:
- 2x 410mm front CC rotors
- 2x 390mm rear CC rotors
- new caliper mounting bolts
- caliper spacers for front and rear
- I optioned street-grade pads

The kit came in three boxes: one each for the front and rear rotors and a third for the pads and hardware.

A couple of pics after opening the boxes:
Packaging from RB was fantastic; high quality boxes, well taped, marked as fragile etc:


Front rotor:





Measured (bathroom scale, uncalibrated) weight/mass of one front rotor assembly: 18.2lb (8.27kg)

Rear rotor:




Measured (bathroom scale, uncalibrated) weight of one rear rotor assembly: 16.9-lb (7.68kg)

Question: The inner surface of the parking brake drum are anodized, not machined. Normal?

Pads:


Hardware:

• caliper spacers for the front are small discs (not measured but assume 15mm thickness) with a 3M adhesive backing on one side, two (2) per side
• caliper spacers for the rear are one-piece (not measured but assume 5mm thickness)
• replacement caliper bolts are socket-head capscrews (I believe the OEs require a T55 Torx bit)

Everything looks super high quality.

I may not get to the install part of this review for a few weeks (depending on the weather and me sourcing a few things, including new pad wear sensors etc) but will post more pics then.

 

Subscribed. I'm curious what the stock rotors weigh versus these. I've been curious about this setup as a weight savings and the aesthetic appeal as you mention.

 

^ Nothing wrong with that.
Sounds like you are doing it for the right reasons.
I look forward to seeing the completed install.

 

Very cool - what do you estimate to be the total cost of this project? So ultimately you end up with CCB's. For the uninformed (me) - is this (RB) better than going with OEM? I'm looking forward to seeing progress and the finished product..

 

Are you going to paint your calipers yellow?

 

So far just over $14K to RB. Add in exchange (Canadian) and duties and taxes and some sundries (e.g. 4x pad wear sensors, a couple of tools not yet in my toolbox etc) and I'm in over $20K Canadian.

TBH, I'm pretty uninformed too. I know if I wanted to swap to OE PCCBs I'd be paying more still. I believe I've read that OE PCCBs are inferior to these for track use but am more than willing to be corrected on that. I haven't driven a PCCB-equipped car so I really won't have a basis upon which to for an opinion as to whether they're "better."

Me too

My current notion is to put them in next weekend (ca. April 27) so hopefully I'll be able to add some more pics and updates then.

LOL. No, the car wasn't born with PCCBs and I wouldn't want to misrepresent that. I love the look of the true PCCB yellows, moreso than the reds I have, but if I wanted that I should have sprung for a Turbo S.

 

Looks like RB has calipers you can buy too - that's an option. They look very nice. Would there be any advantage in getting the RB calipers or does staying with the non PCCB calipers work just fine. Now you've got me thinking - i hate brake dust and the lighter weights at the wheels, combined with my HRE101LW's would be cool for the lightest (or one of the lightest solutions at the corners).

 

I'd recommend talking directly to RB about the benefits of swapping out the calipers. OE Porsche brakes are stellar, world-class kit so I feel like the benefits of swapping calipers would be felt only at the very edge of the usage envelope. For instance, RB says the calipers from their POR-991-crp.410.390 kit have "internal dust seals, no dust boots to burn out like OE"; boot damage from overheating could be a real thing if you seriously track the car or autocross it but it's not likely to be a problem for a car that sees majority street duty and spirited back-road driving. There are other benefits though; for example, swapping pads without removing the calipers would be handy and it looks like you might have more pad types to choose from with these compared to OE.

You'd have to weigh your intended use to understand if there's an advantage.

The red non-PCCB OE calipers are, to the best of my knowledge, the same as the OE PCCB yellows except that the yellows mounting pads are machined differently to account for the PCCB rotor diameter changes. RB supplies spacers and new bolts with the kit I have to move the calipers outward for the new rotors. Not having to purchase new calipers is great

Sweet wheels.

Every time I clean the wheel faces and barrels I feel like I'm developing black lung so I'm definitely looking forward to less dusting.

I have a set of Apex VS-5RS wheels on order that will compliment these lighter weight (the exact amount of which I'll figure out when I weigh the OE rotors) brakes for less unsprung weight overall. It may be nominal and I may not notice it given how I drive but anything helps, right?

 

I was curious about that with the diameter increase.
I had to do something similar with a previous car that I installed an AP Racing kit on.
I think this is a very nice, relatively cost effective upgrade using factory calipers.

 

Thanks..

I think between the wheels and the RB CCB brakes you are taking a lot of weight out at each corner. I think you will greatly notice it. Have you installed the DSC V3 controller? I did my wheels and the DSC at the same time - but it felt like I got a new car . $20K is not trivial but I am thinking of it - I am still deciding if I keep this car or what's next? Its such a great car especially now that its so quick and has some fun bits.. This could be yet another fun one.

 

If these are are essentially the equal to the OEM PCCBs, I predict you'll be amazed. I have a fair amount of track experience, exclusively on iron brakes, and I was alway skeptical about how much better PCCBs could possibly be, but after acquiring a TTS w/ PCCBs, I am absolutely blown away by how good they are. It's purely icing on the cake that they are virtually dustless.

 

Is there a reason you didnt get the 380 / 380 kit from RB? I was looking at their website and that seems the kit for those upgrading from iron to PCCB's?

 

I think the reason is almost entirely vanity: I wanted the 20" Turbo/S wheel barrels to be as packed with exotic brake hardware as possible

"Almost" because I also like the idea of an additional 15mm of moment arm -- (410mm - 380mm) / 2 -- providing braking force.

If I'm spending >$10K US on braking components I'm spending that little extra to get the gnarly, high-zoot stuff lol

 

You are in good company around here. I am the type of guy who gets in the car and is annoyed if there is a *blank* switch panel in the car for options that were not selected/installed. I cannot own or lease cars like that - It has to have everything.... because I have an ego / inferiority complex / impulse control problems.

 

Thanks - but wouldn't it be simpler just swapping out like for like 380/380 without spacers etc.? I guess I'm wondering if there's any drawback to going with the larger kit?