I have a 2005 997S with a little over 17,000 miles on it. I have a very busy practice that doesn't afford a lot of time to put on many miles. But I was wondering if anyone has replaced their brake pads or calipers yet that bought their 997 early on in the launch years? And if you did, how many miles did you have before you saw any significant fading in performance? I can tell you that at 17,000 miles I've just started to notice a lesssoning of response with my big red brakes. Looking for any input or advice from those who have any experience with this.

PS. For those who have replaced their brakes, did you select ceramics or the big reds again?

Thanks, Jay

 

How's your pad thickness? At this point it seems weird that pads or rotors would be wearing out unless you're hard on them. Maybe you just need a blake fluid flush?

 

Agreed, it sounds like you need to have the brake fluid changed. That is something that should be done about every 2 years. The brake fluid will absorb water, become less effective and cause fading. I doubt your pads need changing after 17K miles unless you track the car.

 

I have to say that the ceramics are first rate in my book. I checked the front pads the other day (34,000 miles) and found 9.71mm remaining! Not only little to no dust, but very little pad wear and no rotor wear.

 

+1 - At 39,000 miles, my PCCB pads were at 50%. I had the brake fluid changed too. I can say that on my new TT, the PCCB's seem to have more bite than the 997S at 39K.

Anyway, your big reds should have a ways to go. You do realize that changing to PCCB's means buying the whole setup for about $13K, right?

 

You need to take your car to the track!

 

Dj23, you probably only need a brake fluid flush. The brake pedal will become solid again after that. Do a full flush and replace all the fluid. Air gets in the brak lines over time and the pedal will become spongy. 17k on stock pads with street use is nothing...you can go a lot farther.

 

I'm at 28,000miles.......still on the original set of pads and discs.

It's amazing - never had a car run a set of brakes for so long.

 

Every DAY is a track day for me!

Actually, years ago on my air-cooled 911s I never EVER replaced the rotors,--and was over 100,000 miles on those cars. I suspect newer rotors or pads are materially different and inferior to the stuff we had in the 70s and 80s.

 

Thanks for all of the advice. And yes Jim I am aware of the price, but I've been saving. It truly seems from everyone has said that I will indeed take my car in this spring and have the brake lines flushed when I have my oil changed. One last question why and how does water get absorbed into the brake lines. This is a process that I am not experienced with and I hope someone has a suitable answer. Again thanks for all the help.

Jay

 

DJ23, heating and cooling will produce condensation plus you might have at one time got the brake hot and boil the fluid and that produces air into the brake line.

 

Thanks for the explanation Mike. I have my appointment on March 18th and everything should be fine after that I'm sure. Nice to know that these brakes will last a long time.

Jay

 

Replaced my 997 C2S brakes with GT3's. Had around 13k car with the "big reds" and never noticed a falloff in performance. Just wanted "more brake". Have about 2k mi. with GT3's and they are better -maybe a little overkill. Still experimenting with pads-right street/track combo. (car has 15k+ mi on it now). Don't track every weekend but those brakes are sweet.

John J
SA Texas
05C2S
06GTI
07 Skoda VRS TDI-no more-back in Texas-miss that car!

 

 

Jay - Has your car been to the track yet?

You might even try some good, hard brake applications - say hwy speeds to 10 mph with 1/4 mile rest between stops.
Maybe 2-3 of those -

I've seen even the OEM pads go a bit 'non-friction-y' with repeated soft & easy, day-to-day use.