MingusDew

I looked into swapping 991 Turbo brakes, which may or may not bolt on to the Carrera uprights (I am still working to confirm). There are some advantages to OEM rotors, such as lower replacement cost and potentially using FCPEuro for lifetime replacement. However, it is still a very costly upgrade, especially if sourcing new calipers (used ones are not the easiest to come by but some salvage shops come across them occasionally). Total cost can easily be $6,000+ just for calipers and rotors. You still need to source some bolts and pads, possibly adapters for the calipers, braided brake lines, and fluid. All of which will further add to that cost. You will have 380mm factory brakes though, and some people like that aspect; everything “Porsche” just as intended or whatever. The largest drawback if you go with factory (or aftermarket Brembo) you won’t have calipers that can swap pads without removing the caliper, and for people who regularly track, that is a HUGE advantage of the AP Racing kits. That design aspect of the AP calipers make them a must-have for a lot of track junkies. If you only go to the track once or twice a year, probably not as bothersome to spend a couple of extra hours prepping the car, but if you’re going once or more a month, then being able to swap out the pads in 20 minutes without even raising the car (assuming you have wheels you can fit your hands through) is a massive boon!

snake eyes

Giro disc 350MM rotors pagid yellow RS29 and brake fluid is all you need
i have an S though and already have upgraded brake calipers from the factory.

911T4ME

It's a shame that stock OEM calipers have to be removed to swap pads and that you have to spend $$ on aftermarket to get this capability. This from someone who just came back from track with ME20 pads that are pretty noisy on the street. I'm going to try cleaning everything really well and adding ceramic brake grease to pad backing plates and caliper pistons to see if that helps...

MingusDew

Are there any factory calipers on any car that allow you to swap pads without removing the calipers?

JRitt@essex

Yes. Some OEM opposed piston aluminum calipers have an open bridge area, similar to our AP Racing calipers. For example, below is the front caliper from a C8 Z51 Corvette. The pads can be removed by removing the retaining bolts on the top of the caliper. Porsche typically does not use this style, but instead uses a fixed aluminum bridge across the top of the caliper. Why? For added stiffness, which brings superior pedal feel, less pad tapering, etc.

For many, many years the basic opposed piston caliper was a simple rectangle, and caliper manufacturers sought to design the stiffest rectangle possible. They designed thick arches or X braces across the top of the caliper bridge in an attempt to add stiffness. The downsides to that type of caliper design are twofold: They are heavier, and they must be removed to swap pads.

Modern AP Racing calipers are created using AP's patented Radi-CAL design language. Rather than designing the stiffest rectangle possible while sitting at rest on a table, AP analyzed the actual forces acting upon a caliper while it was being actuated during a braking event. They then added mass to the caliper in the areas where it was required to resist those forces, and left out any material that wasn't needed to resist those forces. The resulting shape was an asymmetric caliper that had incredible stiffness increases over the conventional, rectangular designs of the past.

Please see this article, The AP Racing Radi-CAL, and video below for a detailed look at this technology has impacted brake caliper design and modern motorsports as a whole.

Below is a C8 Z51 front OEM caliper. Note the rectangular shape and the removable bridge bolts, and the caliper is It weighs over 11 lbs., even with the open bridge.




Below is one of AP Racing Radi-CAL Pro5000R calipers we offer in our Porsche Competition Kits. This is a 2-piece caliper, and the two halves are different sizes and shapes. It also weighs about half of what the Corvette caliper above weighs (about half of what an OEM Porsche six piston weighs).



The same caliper in our anodized finish, on a scale.

jakermc

Porsche use to equip its cars with an open back design, it fact it was their predominant design. I'm not sure when the change happened, but the 996 Cup calipers on my old race car were certainly an open design, as were the calipers on my air cooled car, including the set of 930/917 calipers it ran with at one time. Most of 987/997 generation of street cars were open back. I think I first remember seeing bridged calipers on the rear of the 997 Cup and I believe the 997.1 PCCB calipers on my old GT3 were bridged, so maybe that began the change over point for Porsche? I'm sure there is a better brake historian than me out there who remembers the specifics .....

thesaintusa

Swapping pads on my RX-7 takes less than a minute once the wheels are off.

So there are OEM calipers that make swapping pads easy.

911T4ME

Yes, the front Brembos on my ND2 Miata club allow pad swaps by removing two pins. Takes 5 minutes per side to swap pads.

MingusDew

Yet another example of why Miata is always a great choice for track car!

JRitt@essex

The answer still remains Miata. I've owned five of them, and have been eyeing an ND lately.