neros

Has anyone experienced brake failure on their 997 GT2? I have melted my calipers twice and I don't know what to do to fix the problem. I always drive with my traction control off but it still kicks in when pushing the car to the limits causing the pads and calipers to melt. The pads disintegrate and the calipers change color from yellow to brown. I have to change my rotors as well since they are completely gone. The car has less than 2,500 miles...Any help would be greatly appreciated

mdrums

Threshold braking every corner? You need better cooling to the brakes plus do a full lap cool down and maybe more.
I did the same thing with stock Carrera S Red calipers and Perf. Friction PF97 pads. I was late braking everywhere and not doing cool down laps. My red calipers turned a dark maroon/purple and the Porsche lettering turned black.
I now brake lighter, cary more speed in the corner and my brakes last longer.

flash1034

Wow! Ive never seen that. That is definitely NOT supposed to happen. Are you riding the brakes without knowing it perhaps? OMG Me thinks your in for a big bill to fix that. I must admit PCCBs are quickly falling out of my must have options list.

Flash

Z06

CBC...corner brake control is kicking in when you trail brake.
+ ABS are they only two live actions used by the computer when you have the others turned off TC & SC.

If your melting your pads use the P50 Motorsport pads and a better brake fluid.

How are your rotors gone?
If your that hard on the brake replace with Steele race type rotor's.

You must be kicking the crap out of it plus it's a short track with no time to cool the brakes?...like any race car you need to pace yourself to not over heat the brake system.

911rox

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you are switching SC and TC off correctly, the GT2 and new GT3 use a unique system that will not re-activate under any circumstances?....

Maybe worth going out with an instructor for advice as to whether it may be braking technique???

cgomez

Strange...
The TC or SC NEVER goes back on the GT2, and I've tried everything

It appears that somehow you did overheat the brakes. Did you drive with TC off but SC ON?

SC does make the brakes work VERY hard to prevent oversteer. What were you doing?

neros

At the end of sessions you always get a cool down lap before you go in. The damage usually happens during the session though not at the end.

neros

Well the brake fluid is not the issue since its not related to the actual temperature of the calipers. Regardess I used Castrol SRF. The first failure was at Palm Beach International Raceway and the second was at Homestead which is a large track with long straights to cool the rotors between corners. As far as the rotors, I would imagine steel rotors would be worse since they are more conductive than ceramic thus trapping more heat. As far as pacing myself, when you're on a race track you are either on the throttle or slamming on the brakes. Pacing myself would mean letting off the throttle or braking too early which defeats the purpose of going to the race track. The worst part is, its not like you feel the brakes are failing, the pedal always has pressure and you don't lose braking power until you get the brake failure light. The actual caliper internal components melted. The reason I paid the sticker price for the GT2 was because I assumed I was getting the most high performance Porsche out there. Obviously they screwed up the brake design.

neros

I go out with instructors all the time and they always say my braking technique is flawless. I've been driving on the track for 6 years already but this is my first time with Carbon Ceramic brakes. I was always really impressed with the braking power, predictability and lack of fade but the longevity is obviously the issue. The traction control is always completely off but it still pulses the rear brakes coming out of corners which is why the rears look worse than the fronts. In the owner's material it says once the traction control is off there are no assists but its not true...Its a very frustrating situation because Porsche will not help or offer any solutions since they claim that they will not help if the car has been on the racetrack (which is what they market it for).

neros

I always drive with all assists off...even in the wet. I've heard people tell me I need to duct the brakes for cooling but usually you duct the front brakes. The first to go are the rears. Not even sure how you would go about ducting the rears.

wilfred

Do they make iron rotors for the 997 GT2 or are they all ceramics?

Ahmet

This is not accurate. All things being equal, braking for a longer period of time is harder on the brakes, and it's certainly not what you want to be doing on track.

EDIT: Actually, that had been an issue with the 997 GT3s as well. Traction control would intervene with the rear brakes even when completely turned off. I remember talking to somebody from The Racers Group saying they had the same problem. I suppose I'd try taking the ABS fuse out, and see if you still have the same problems. Or you could get on power easier...

neros

They're all ceramics. There is no brake option for the GT2.

neros

This quote is from the Road & Track first drive article
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=6166

"Which the GT2 does, allowing Porsche to tune the stability control to kick in only when really needed. You can still shut it off; yet one thing that can't be is CBC, Porsche's Cornering Brake Control. During hard braking in a turn, if the GT2 senses too much yaw, CBC applies the brakes to an outside wheel to keep the car from spinning. It allows some drifting, as Röhrl so capably demonstrated, but provides a welcome safety net."

Ahmet

Correct, I've edited my post but you replied before I had the chance.

I suppose it could be your driving technique not being compatible with the programming Porsche had in mind. For example the drive by wire system won't let you apply brake and throttle at the same time on the GT3 (and C2- I'm guessing this is the case for the GT2 as well) for long, unless the clutch is in. No problem for most people, but it doesn't allow you to left foot brake...

Anyway, sorry to hear about your issues, I'm sure it's rather annoying. Do keep us updated, I'd be curious to find out if you come to some sort of a solution.