No worries! If you don't plan to resell those OEM 330's, by all means use 'em up! Just let us know when you're ready and we'll be here. Thanks again.

 

More info on our products... We have complete AP Racing Brake Kits, 2-piece discs that work with the OEM calipers, Ferodo pads for street, autoX, and track, Spiegler SS Brake Lines, and Fluid. Essentially, we are a one-stop shop for all your brake needs, regardless of how you plan to use your car. Our full menu of brake items for the Carrera T can be found in this link (and seen below): https://www.essexparts.com/my-vehicl...0T/Iron%20disc

For pad choice, a great starting point for track use is the Ferodo DS1.11. These have been a staple pad among GT3 owners, and are a fantastic, driver-friendly option. They last a long time, they're easy on discs, have excellent modulation, and just work really well under a lot of different conditions. As with most race pads, the DS1.11 isn't so great for the street though, as it tends to squeal quite a bit. We'd suggest running the Ferodo DS2500 for spirited road and autoX. Some people may be able to get away with the DS2500 on track on street tires in a Carrera T. It is one of the most versatile pads on the market, but I'd reserve the DS2500 for a very easy braking track though, especially if you've modded your T. The DS2500 wouldn't fade most likely, but they would wear pretty quickly if you got them super hot on a brake-intensive track. If you run sticky track rubber, you definitely want to go with the DS1.11 or DS3.12. The DS3.12 is Ferodo's latest, higher mu compound. It won't require as much pedal force, and has a ridiculously linear response. I use them on my C6 Corvette track car, and they are fantastic. Many of our 991 GT3 customers have made the switch from DS1.11 to DS3.12, and most seem to prefer them. If you're used to running a high mu track pad, then by all means jump right in on the 3.12. If you're not used to higher mu pads, they might surprise you with how 'grabby' they are.

Here's a blog post we just published on the Ferodo DS3.12 that looks at their characteristics.

If anyone wants to talk about 2-piece discs vs. complete brake kit, etc., we're happy to guide you on that topic as well. Just let us know what you're trying to do with your car, your mods, etc., and we can steer you towards the proper solution for your needs. Sometimes that may just be pads and fluid...depends on a whole bunch of factors. Thanks!

 

Thanks very much for your input!
I've already got a second set of wheels for some track tires. I don't plan on using my stock tires.
I've been road course driving since the mid 90's. Club racing, SCCA, NASA group leader...etc...etc....
So I'm just at the point where I"m older, not racing as much, and I just want to go out every once in a while.
Unfortunately, yes, the stock set up may disappoint entirely!
I am definitely well spoiled by my 6 GT3, and I am well aware that the bar set by that car will not be realized here!
I am greatly appreciative of all of your input and advice.

I remember the first time I was on track with a student in his new 996... yes, this dates me.
The damn thing pushed like a NASCAR road course car into the corners! I was actually speechless, and needed a couple of laps behind the wheel just to figure out what to do!
Oversteering 911s are the bee's knees.... always will be!

Cheers!

 

Superior driving always takes the cake!

 

No worries and cool on the past experience! These cars are incredibly capable vs. a 996 GT3. It's amazing how much faster they are. Our friend at APR (engine tuner) is running our complete AP Racing brake kit on his Carrera T, but he is putting down well over 500 to the rear wheels (he may be creeping up on 600 whp actually)! He's running neck-and-neck with 991 GT3s in his T. The OEM 330mm discs are marginal given the car's overall performance envelope. While I'd certainly encourage you to try them with a good set of race pads and fluid, I expect you'll find them to be a limiting factor. They just don't have much thermal capacity. Once you start turning up the wick a bit, the demands on the brake system will go up significantly. We're always trying to get that across to our customers. When you mod the car with stickier tires, more aero, lower weight, more power, or higher cornering speeds, your brake demands are ultimately going to change. So what works when the car is stock isn't necessarily going to be so swell once you add 100 HP and race slicks. We're happy to help along the way though as you develop your car. We're in this situation all the time. Some people like to gradually enhance their brakes as they go deeper down the rabbit hole with their mods, and some prefer to skip ahead to a final solution that will give them all the brake headroom they'll ever need. We actually did a video on planning for future brake needs that you gents may enjoy...I'm the abnormally tall guy on the right (the other guy is literally standing on a box).



Here's another one on overall brake upgrade stages:

 

I have tracked my Carrera T quite a bit and it is vary capable on the track. This is my first modern Porsche, so I can't compare to newer 911's, but the T was a replacement for my track prepped 2014 GTR. I currently have a 2016 Viper ACR Extreme as well.

Suspension wise the car just has Techart springs and GT3 front lower control arms. I am currently running Nankang AR-1's on the stock wheels. Cobb stage 2 tune with Speedtech straight pipe exhaust and HJS cats. I have been running Pagid RS29's front and rear with stock rotors and Castrol SRF. This setup has been great. However, the stock rotors finally started to crack, so I will be installing the Essex AP Racing rotors, Speigler lines and switching to Raybestos ST43's pads.







Attachment 1335877

 

So I when I ordered my T I made the mistake of not checking the PCCB box knowing I would be tracking a few times a year. (I have made better decisions in my life...) After trying new pads and fluid and that failing to I satisfy, I went with a full Brembo BBK to satisfy my fickle self. I also added a DSC controller and a mild tune to my T so I wanted the extra braking power anyway.....


Brembo Fronts

Based on your description of use I would say the Essex kit is the way to go as well. I love the Brembo's and wouldn't change a thing but the Essex kit is a great middle ground. I'm also a huge fan of their product as well because I just had a Pro kit installed on my Cayman R. I'm taking it out to the track tomorrow to really test them out. I cant wait! Here's their kit on my Cayman:

Essex kit front

Check out that beefy spacer!

Whatever you do will be a huge improvement on the stock setup, especially where the track is concerned!

 

Thanks for the support of our products gents!

Spyderbret,
On your Cayman R install, it looks like the dust shield is still in place behind the discs. You should really remove those. When the discs heat up to track temps, the dust shields reflect and trap heat on the inner disc face, and we've seen them cause lots of problems over the years. Most commonly, it creates a temperature gradient between the inner and outer disc halves. That temp difference causes coning and premature cracking. We suggest completely removing the dust shields with all of our BBK installs. If they can't be completely removed, at least cut them back to the point where they are not covering any of the disc's swept area. Thanks again and let us know if you have other questions!

 

Awesome. Thanks for the insight and recommendation! I will get those removed ASAP! They performed awesome by the way. It's crazy how much deeper I can go now..... Great stuff!!!

 

Perfect! I'm glad they're bringing you some smiles. People perpetually underestimate what some added confidence in their brakes can do to their lap times. Everyone focuses on horsepower and suspension. If you watch some of the customer videos on our blog, you'll see our clients hoovering others up at the end of each straight. When you go even a tiny bit deeper into each brake zone, you're doing so at your highest speeds throughout the lap. The aggregate result at the end of each lap can be dramatic. It's not uncommon for our brake kit owners to shave a second or more per lap...and it's completely repeatable all day.

 

I thought I'd post this here, since I have a T... And I just came back from the track with (I think) an issue with my stock brakes. (2018 Carrera T with 6,600 miles, no RAS, standard steel 330mm brakes). We knew the brakes would be the Achilles heel of this car, but...

I am getting a shudder now under most braking; and I'm wondering if it is warped rotors.

- Did my third track ever day two weeks ago. 6 sessions of 15-20 mins, with the last session more like 30 mins.
- I've learned a lot, like a warm up lap, and not to apply parking brake when back in the pits. I am not setting any lap records. But I was going deeper into the turns as the day went on. I didn't know about the cool down lap.
- I had a 80 min cool down ride home, put the car away
- took the car out two days later to wash track rubber and dusty wheels...
- Now I have a brake shudder.

In case it was rust or some residue... I went for a semi-spirited drive last night. Once warmed up, I did several 60-5mph heavy braking. The car brakes in a straight line... but definitely not smooth. I can feel it through the steering. Visual inspection looks nominal. It should be noted that the P-zero tires are still quite rough from track day.

I wonder whether to take this to the track again (not until early July), or try something in the meantime. This is my game plan.

1. get it on a lift, check for grabbing
2. check / replace pads, re-bed the new pads
3. refinish rotors
4. replace rotors - upgrade to 350mm (since it is wet up here, I'd rather keep with cross-drilled), upgrade pads...

 

It's warped rotors. My car only had about 5K miles and was less than a year old when I bought it. It was a CPO car that I bought in OKC and drove home to California. On a couple of steep hill descends, I would touch the brakes slightly and smoothly to reduce speed. If I held the brake for more than 5- 10 seconds, I would feel a vibration through the pedal and steering wheel. Turns out the previous owner had flogged the crap out of the brakes and no cool down after. Because it was a CPO car and identified on my drove home across the country, they did a good will replacement. However, PCNA made it clear this is not something they would normally replace under warranty. However, the warranty assessment really is dealer specific. I think the fact that I bought the car on a Saturday and had it at the dealer in CA on Monday, helped support I had nothing to do with it and that it was something missed in the CPO process.

 

First question: Did you run your OEM brake pads on the track? You said 'stock brakes', and I didn't see any mention of race/track pads. OEM pads are good for street driving, but that's it (regardless of what other people here may tell you). OEM pads should never be run on the track. Here's an article I recently wrote on the topic: Can I run my OEM brake pads on the track?

If you were on your OEM pads, then you almost certainly have an uneven pad deposit on your discs. Before your next trip to the track, you need some proper pads designed to handle track temperatures. Our recommendation is Ferodo DS1.11 or DS3.12. If you've not run race pads before, I'd suggest the DS1.11. They're a moderate mu race compound that's easy on discs, and has good longevity. You can see all the options here: https://www.essexparts.com/my-vehicl...0T/Iron%20disc
You should also replace your OEM fluid with AP Racing R2 or R3 while you're at it. Stock brake fluid is certainly not ideal for the track either, especially if you're running a 30 minute session with the rather small OEM discs that don't flow much air.

If you want to keep the stock rotors until they crack, you need to scrape off all the OEM pad material that is currently on them. You can do so by running the race pads around on the street cold. If you watch the video below, it describes what you're trying to accomplish.

Once you have the discs scraped clean, your judder/vibration should be history. There are no guarantees, but the above process typically works pretty well to clean them up.

Again, if you want to try the Ferodo pads with the OEM discs until you crack those discs, that's perfectly fine. Just keep in mind however that the OEM discs are going to run very hot because they don't have much thermal capacity relative to the car's overall performance envelope, and they don't flow much air. They'll run hot.

If you do decide to move to a 350mm 2-piece disc, please check our AP Racing J Hooks. The J Hook slots on the disc face offer all the same benefits of the drilled holes (bite and water evacuation), except the J Hooks don't crack nearly as easily as a drilled disc:
https://www.essexparts.com/my-vehicl...0T/Iron%20disc

Also, before you sink ANY money into more brake components, think about your long-term goals for the car. Do you plan to add more power via a tune? Will you be running race tires? Will you add aero? As your skill improves and you make your car faster, you will become more demanding of your brakes. Planning ahead and purchasing a setup that you won't outgrow immediately can save you a bundle of money in the long-run! Here's a vid we did on the topic:

Hopefully the above is helpful, and don't hesitate to reach out if you need more guidance. Thanks!

 

Yes, I was on a track with a stock Carrera T with stock street tires (P-zero), stock 4-pot brakes, stock 330 rotors, and stock pads. I was going 92% the speed of everyone else (my first day on the track), so I thought I was safe! Hahaha

• I plan to track 10 days a year. (Although this year is turning out quite expensive, my play budget might be severely damaged for actual track time!)
• I drive the car 2k-3k per year, and estimate I'll drive 1/3 on the track and 2/3 on the road. So... This is not an only track car. I am not planning to tune, I'll keep to street tires, and no aero.
• I'd rather not have squeaky brakes 100% of the time, and am lucky so far with the OEM

I'll try your route of starting with the race pads... seeing if it residue... and then determine if an upgrade to the rotors is next? Or a big brake kit (which has the advantage of going to 6 piston).

 

Very simple advice. If you are going to tune your 3.0 TT whatever format, then up grade to a BBK. Do not waste a single penny, going the long way around. Do not listen to moron's who drive miss daisy and say. "It's a Porsche, the brakes are more than good enough. " If you tune your car, or if you can drive, the stock brakes are rubbish.

I had RSL 29 Yellows, and they squealed like a council bus. If you want the Unicorn brake pad, It is Endless ME20. If you want to be silent for weeks on end and barely have any squeal at all, then Pair the Front Me20 with Rear Mx72+.

That is the best street setup, that can withstand heavy tracking. If you want to be Faster, and don't mind a little squeal occasionally on street , then run Me20 all four corners. Your DS2500 is very similar to the FM1000 that come stock with Brembo BBK. Awesome street pad. They work OK on the track, but if you are fast, you will burn through them. The ME20 work perfectly from Cold to 800C.

OEM pads. I put a brand new set of OEM pads in the rear and disintegrated them in 3 x 20 mins sessions. They were on metal. The front 6 Pot GTS calipers went brown. I wasted money up graded lines and up grading pads and SRF fluid. Still wasn't enough. I now have Brembo BBK 380mm front and rear with SRF and ME20 front and rear. I should have saved a lot of time and money and gone straight to this.