I think because its a pretty expensive process to manufacture them

 

My concern would not be the cost new, it would be replacement cost. Not from them actually wearing out, but from a dealer dropping a wheel on the rotor and me not finding out till later.

 

I will be doing mostly street driving plus a couple of DEs per year and am glad to have spec'd PCCBs. I look at it this way - if I ever did need to replace them, I could switch to some Girodiscs and new pads if the replacement costs were just too high (which they currently are). But so far, the very few PCCB horror stories I have read, all seem to come with some mitigating factors and (in many cases) were on the older PCCBs. Time will tell.

I would have given consideration to PSCBs, however, since they are 1/2 the cost ($4k vs $7.5k). Even if I had to go pay someone to professionally paint them (don't like the current color), but alas that wasn't an option.

 

If the primary money someone gets PCCBs is brake dust don't waste your money and spend a few hundred and get a wheels-off ceramic coating. I could have spec'd them on my recent build but why waste money; I did not get what I have today by wasting it yesterday. I am not saying there are not benefits to getting them but be smart about it and don't get them for one reason. And I also like Red calipers over Yellow ones.

 

Define "long term"

 

Base Carrera brakes are the Achilles heel of the T. With PCCB and rear steer, a PDK Carrera T would be an absolute troll car at a track day if you know what youre doing behind the wheel.

 

Even if they were a no cost option, I would not order PCCBs. The cost to replace them is absurd at $6,000 per rotor, and they offer no tangible benefit for track use aside from a minor reduction in unsprung weight.

 

PCCB's are my only regret for not ordering on my '18 GTS. Not for the braking power, but simply the brake dust. Keeping the OEM wheels even marginally presentable with steel brakes is a royal pain in the ***. The only reason I didn't get them is I didn't like the yellow calipers on my Carmine Red car, and of course I'd be lying if I didn't say the price influenced me as well. Well, fast forward to today, and I am actually considering buying new wheels (and finish) that will hopefully make keeping them clean much easier. By the time I'm done it will likely have been cheaper to get the PCCB's, and they would still always be cleaner.

 

All I can tell you is this..

Anyone who has Ceramic or have ever had ceramic will probably tell you that they would never go back to iron discs.
This has been discussed to death. There is nothing about the ceramic brakes that is worse than the iron brakes except cost. They are better in every way.

If you factor in that one day you will sell the car, then the cost will be recovered in the resale, if not completely then certainly partially.
They are the single best option I made on my GTS, not a question about it.

 

Not sure you could be any further from the truth with this statement. I hustled a porky Targa GTS w/ PCCB around Laguna Seca and let me tell you, they work. From a hardware standpoint, PCCB is a quantum leap ahead of the iron discs.

 

I've been researching options but it would be nice to have first hand information in regards to upgrading steel to carbon ceramic: are there are less expensive options than what Porsche offers? Or it would be nice to find someone to trade with, plus cash on my end of course.

 

I immediately regretted not getting them on my GT4 (for both reasons you listed). Never again. Had them on my TTS and GT3, never going back. First box I ticked on my T.

 

Anyone who has them will never go without them and those who never had them seem to always be the ones to discount their value.

I would never ever buy a Porsche without ceramic brakes again, unless they came out with something better or similar for less money.
Iron discs have nothing over PCCB.