911 Prospect

Nothing like giving a guy brake envy... I tried buying 4 different 997.1 Turbo cars last year and every time I called the car was already sold, some of those in just one day. When I found my current one with the regular brakes I didn't hesitate and put a deposit on it. Perhaps I should have been more patient, but I wasn't willing to miss out and have the season pass me by. Perhaps next time I will be more patient and hold out for a car with PCCB.

Big Swole

I could never find one I like with PCCB's either. Other reason I decided to just bite the bullet and go after this TTS.

Love them

squid42

Is there data available not only about the weight of C2S versus PCCB, but also the weight distribution (to compute inertia)?

grafals

A lot of racers use steel brakes just as successfully as Carbon Ceramic. Unless you are running a big budget sponsored team, you'd probably never consider using PCCB's just due to the cost. The advantages of Carbon Ceramic brakes aren't a secret. It's not stopping power, it's fade resistance. Under normal usage and even heavy use on a track, steel rotors will work. But, as they heat up, they'll start to fade. Not fail, just fade. Under extreme use, steel may actually fail. The inherent heat resistance of ceramics prevents that from happening.

In the real world, for normal street driving, the difference is that if you don't regularly track your car, you can get 300K miles out of a set of rotors, and up to 100K miles out of a set of pads. I've put 75,000 miles on mine and I'm still on my original pads, with 3mm left on the back and 5mm left on the front. (change indicator comes on at 2mm and you can take them almost all the way down to the metal before actually changing them if you dare (but I don't dare). But, I don't track my car and I don't ride my brakes.

I've already purchased a set of replacement pads and the whole set costs less than $1000, including sensor wires (which you can reuse if you don't wait for the light to come on and you are VERY careful removing the old ones). Pad changes are only slightly more difficult than the Porsche red calipers, the big difference being that the reds don't require you to remove the calipers to change pads, but the yellows do.

At 70,000 miles in 7 years, I'm years from having to replace the rotors. Currently, a set of rotors will cost you about $20K (Although I saw a conversion kit on Suncoast including calipers, pads and rotors for $15K the other day!) But, the good news is that ceramics are becoming more widely available and that means less expensive. So, by the time I have to replace mine, Brembo might be selling CCBs for Chevy's for $1,000. (Okay, I'm not holding my breath. But, still hoping for significantly cheaper in the aftermarket soon). If not, there are plenty of conversion kits available to just convert your yellow calipers to steel rotors and conventional pads if/when that day comes. I would do that before I'd spend $20K on rotors that I don't really need, other than for the coolness factor. Plus, whose gonna know the difference when they see them anyway?

911 Prospect

I know. I keep looking for a TTS with a third pedal, but I can't seem to find one??

Terry Adams

Upside of PCCB:
Incredible long rotor life if careful - tire gorilla does not have the Porsche tool to take off the wheel safely
Minimal dust
Lower unsprung weight
No documented shorter stopping distance, but initial bite grabs hard.

Downside:
No initial bite when wet - careful to tap brakes now and then to keep them dry in a rain storm
Cost. On a $140K initial retail car, not significant at option order time, but yes at replacement.

MadScience

I have no hard data, so this is "butt dyno" conjecture, but if you manage to get both the tires and PCCB rotors decently hot first; The sensation of a panic stop quite possibly eclipses both the acceleration and cornering on these cars. In practice, it's likely tire grip that's the limiting factor with either braking setup.

The only thing that'll produce even more adrenaline is waiting for them to warm up enough to do anything at all in a cold rain storm.

Also, are there even different pads for carbon ceramic rotors? With steel rotors, there are huge trade offs between an aggressive, super abrasive race pad that doesn't work all that well until it's hot, and street pads, that fade much sooner.

mattonrennlist

Previously owned a 997.1C2S with the stock Red's and now a 997.1TT with the PCCB's. No measuring tool to be objective but the "feel" of the PCCB's are far superior vs. the Red's (not to mention they look insanely good). Precise, smooth, and powerful. The only downside I've encountered was some brake noise- the forum suggested to brake a bit harder and that took care of the squeaking immediately.

Also worth mentioning that I won't get another 911 without PCCB's.