JMon

I’m really going through front brakes on my 997-S. Especially at Sebring. Other tracks like Roebling, Homestead and ATL don’t seem near as bad as Sebring. I think it is turn 7 +10 that really kills them.
Anyway. I’m getting about 5 to 6 hours per set of pads, and 2 pads per set of rotors. I’m using CarboTech XP12 pads. I really like the pads. The only thing for cooling I have are the GT3 ducts. I have no problem with performance or brake fade. I’m wondering if I need to get bigger front brakes? GT3 fronts? I assume so, but would bigger brakes last longer? Or is it better to try to do something to keep the fronts cooler?

utkinpol

'killing brakes' - does it mean your rotors get cracked and should be replaced?

brake less , put on GT2 ducts
http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...7brakeupgrades

and you can consider cheaper rotors like slotted DBA
http://www.topbrakes.com/searchResul...&category_id=3

as of pads - it is your decision. pagids and PFC is usually recommended, but there is other stuff out there too. bigger rotors not necessarily will wear longer if you`ll drive them the same.

JMon

Well the rotors always get cracked a little over time. By the time I finish my 2nd set of pads they have lots of cracks between the holes, and are ready for the trash. My problem is I just go through the Pads + rotors so fast. That is what I mean by killing.

JMon

I just looked at the DBA rotors. Is it better to get the ones not crossdrilled in order to avoid the problems with cracks between the holes?
Does the cross drilling help for cooling, or do they just crack sooner?

utkinpol

2 sets of pads per rotor sounds about right, folks who really drive a lot imho used to change several sets of rotors per season.

not sure what can really be done there other than to try to improve ventilation (gt2 ducts) and look at rotors options. but from what i was told slotted rotors do crack in same way almost as fast as drilled ones. try to experiment with pads and use some color indicator paint to see how hot your rotors get. but if you do not boil your brakes then you are most likely fine within normal threshold.

for DBA look for rotors for your model - link I gve was for my car, which is base, not 'S'. yes, usually ones with holes do crack sooner.

aj986s

What are you using for pads? Some tracks will overexert some street pads. For years, at Summit Point and VIR, we got by with Hawk performance street pads on our Boxster and 944S2. Then....we went to Watkins Glen. IIRC, about 5 turns where braking begins at over 100 mph. Both car's brakes were suffering. That's we started using track oriented pads, specifically PF97's. Been great ever since.

Some street pads just can't keep up with the heat demands of certain tracks.

utkinpol

if he goes with cracked rotors at 2 pads sets per each it got nothing to do with street pads.

PFC 01 front, PFC 97 rear is a typical choice. I bought set of pagid yellows RS29 at the end of the last season and they are not yet gone, plus just placed EBC yellowstuff in front now to see if it will be quieter and it is, but always carry pagid yellows to replace it if needed.

JMon

These are track pads. From what I've read, I think the XP12s I use would be like padgid yellows or maybe even orange.
I'm actually suprised to hear somone with a 997 is using differnt pad materials front to back. I know the 993 and some of the 996 guys did that, but I was always under the impression that on the 997 it was better to stick with the same front to back.. Can you tell me more about why you are doing that, and how it works out.... What pads come on faster with this combination?

JMon

BTW in case some of you don't know this if you are not familiar with Sebring, turn 7 is a triple downshift from 5 to 2, so you have to scrub off an good amount of speed. Stock corvettes really like to explore the runoff in that turn.

cello

Before you change out hardware, first have a very experienced front running driver (if in the lower to middle run groups) or Pro (if in the top groups) do a session-ride with you there. I have not been there and it is known as a hard track on brakes. That said, you might be surprised at how much 'more gas, less brake'-type good instruction might yield in reducing consumables with these cars. I am a big fan of always first blaming -then tightening- the nut behind the wheel, before blaming and chasing/modding the car. YMMV of course. GL.

Edgy01

Technique? Why are you singularly affected by this?

ralt12

Ford published a SAE paper in the '60's that documented braking energy at various tracks. LeMans, Daytona and Sebring were thought by those folks to be the toughest tracks on brakes--the Mulsanne Corner at Lemans, Turn 1 at Daytona, and Sebring, which at the time featured a slower hairpin (like 15 mph--really) and a longer run onto the back straight, as we now know it. While Sebring has done its part to tame these two aspects of the track, it's still a very hard place on brakes.
It was a privilege to drive on the 4.88 mile track, it was a real beast, especially at night; today it's a lot easier than it was back then, much slower. I mean, you could get lost on the old track.
The SAE paper led to the development of vented rotors for the company's LeMans effort.

Izzone

I have a few....at Sebring

It eats brakes.

What fluid are you running, if you havnt change your fluid first

Next use slotted rotors for the front, I think Deman makes cost effective slotted fronts. The cross drilled rotors are garbage for a hard brake track

I get 8 days out of front pads and a fewmore out of rears. That is on Endless ME20

Flip front pads after two days, it will extend their life

If you have a Carerra S, it has the same brakes as the 997.1 GT3RS....I think....and I have many friends who have simular performance as me with that brake package

20 days out of stock cross drilled rotors on my RS, switching to PFC rotors next

What group do you club do you run with, I run Chin, PBOC and sometimes PCA (instruct with all three). You are welcome to come out with me for a session to see what speeds you can carry through corners

mdrums

Izzone the Carrera S brakes are smaller than the .1 gt3.

Jmon, get with me again at Sebring. I learned through pro coaching that even I was over braking. So now my brakes last a little longer and thus my lap times have come down.

utkinpol

i sent PM to OP about some pads discussion - but here is an excerpt I found most useful, essentially it means - if you want to reduce rotors wear - go with pagids instead of PFC or cobalts.
---------------
The Pagid RS19/29 pad was developed for the GT3 Cup car for the 24 hour to last as long as possible. They physically are working less and therefore don't wear as much as other pads. For this reason they don't freak out the ABS because the initial shock of the pad doesn't overpower the front tire. A lot of drivers don't like that that they don't feel as they're stopping the car well. But after 2.5 hours of door-to-door battling in our series, they're still as thick as they were on lap 1 and they actually don't generate enough heat to create pedal fade. They have been unbelievable and really are an amazing wearing pad. But again, we went with that because of the endurance setup. For a much lighter car with better cooling and maybe 18" or 19" wheels that provide better cooling, may actually be able to run more aggressive stuff. I'm capped for two very important reasons.

Now, if you gave me a 2700 lb. 911 with a Hoosier R6 up front that was huge, that could accept the bite generated by real race pads, anything on that list can work for you. It just depends on what you like and how you drive and how much heat you can dissipate. The PFCs, the Hawks and the Cobalts have unbelievable bite and can stop just about any car. But they all generatd a bit too much wear and heat for our heavier car that needed a rock hard brake pedal for 3 hours.

Of those 3, Cobalt Friction has delivered by far and away the best customer support and interaction of any brake pad supplier we've seen that runs in the top series. Few companies give the club racer the same attention as the Pro team. And that means a lot in this industry. At Cobalt, Andy Lin is one of the nicest, most humble guys in the paddock, which means a lot given what he knows. On the lighter Cayman, we went with the Cobalts ultimately for the reason of support. Weekly feedback goes into the product R&D. It rocks. Things are always developing and improving.

There's no real correct answer to this question. I just chimed in because I wanted to defend the Pagid. If you’re curious about a particular combination, I’ll tell you how it worked for our car but…