V-TT

I installed GT2/GT3 brake cooling ducts on my 997 Turbo with PCCB. While they definitely work (I logged 50-60F decrease in temps on average),
I’ve observed a noticable amount of dirt and dust in the wheel barrels, which I never had before. I got caught in the rain the other day and wheels were full of debris - almost like mud slushing around the wheel barrel.

How do you GT2/GT3 guys deal with this? Any issues with debris being directed to the PCCB rotors? No negative impact that I noticed thus far, but I wonder if it’ll damage/sand-blast the rotors over time.

bweSteve

Good question (subscribed). I used to own a production 997 and never really paid attention to the design of the air flow ducts up-&-into the brake system.

But now that I own a 997.2 GT3 (w/ ceramics mind you, so clearly I don't notice anywhere near as much brake dust),... I have also noticed the same things you are describing. We tour drive with our car (plenty of long weekends in the Mtns w/ stays at B&B's), so have been caught in the rain plenty of times. And yes I've noticed more debris in my back barrels (verses the previous car). But the more intense thing I've noticed is the chips in the paint on my CL rims, just to the inside trailing edge of the spokes. It seems clear that the sand & pebble sized stone debris is blasting that section of the rim as the air flows out thru the rim spokes.

again I do not know the design difference between the two types of cars, and the plastic air flow brake cooling ductwork. But it would seem to me that Porsche would design the Motorsport GT ducts for a higher level of cooling for track duty,... so yea, it has made sense to me that the chips may come, & the debris build up may be more (verses regular production car designs).

Sounds like you made the switch to gain more cooling for the track and the drop in temps is giving you the cooling you desire. Maybe the extra dirt & debris is just proving your changes worked.

JG 996T

no noticeable debris. i had 997 turbo w pccb….doesnt seem any different

what ducts did u install? on the rs theyre more like vents / vanes to direct air at back of brake.

V-TT

Steve,

Any pics where you see the sandblasting? I’d be curious to see what I should prepare for.

And you mentioned your rear wheel barrels are worse, for me both fronts and rears are bad, rears just have much deeper barrels so the accumulate more in the rain.

Ugh… you can never have your cake and eat too. I loved the super clean wheels all time with PCCB, but I can’t let go off the big drop in temps now that I’ve seen how well these scoops work.

bweSteve

I have some general pics of my rims (on my computer), but nothing close up of where-&-how the rash seems to be occurring on the inside edge of the spokes. I'll see if I can grab a pic or two tomorrow.

sidenote: I am in need of new tires this Spring, and I really wanted to buy a new set of the APEX VS-5RS rims (CL) just to give them a go (sneak the purchase past my wife ),... but I missed the Black Friday sale event from them.

.... kinda feel like I may give my original rims a rest for some years to come (shelf them for a while), and try something new. But I need to keep the cost down if I'm shodding new rubber too.

bweSteve

Update: First to clarify my statement in post # 2 above - I said that I notice more "debris" inside the back barrels. I do. But again it ends up being more dirt/debris on the back barrels themselves,.. NOT that the back rims see more CHIPS in the spoke paint (as is the primary discussion point right now in this thread). To be clear, it is the right front rim where I see the paint chip on the back edge of the rim spoke. I just went out and inspected, and the paint on the spokes of my REAR rims are pretty close to perfect,...
.... so maybe the rear underside air flow scoops do not push the air (& debris) outward as much as the front rims.

Ok,... so I took two pics of one of the spokes on one of my front rims (right front). The other front rim also seems to have some peppering rash, but no actual chips in the paint like the right front.
SO,... CAVEAT: maybe my paint chip is just an anomaly. MAYBE it is not actually due to the underside air scoops,... but maybe more just by chance that I drove thru some debris on the right side of the car (which is VERY possible, as I do push it hard on the narrow back mtn roads in western MD & West VA). so YMMV. I hope maybe this sooths your fears....

Here are the pics.

ngng

Too many variables. If you want another data point, I have the cooling ducts and my track wheels do not have the peppering that you are seeing. Though they have other issues