rezanourai

I recently upgraded my 991.1 C2S track car to a 991.1 GT3, and so far love it on the track (have been out once so far, going back out next week).

As I wear through the stock rotors/pads, I've been thinking of what good options for this car are. For my C2S, I ran Sebro slotted rotors and Pagid RS29s and while I didn't hate them, I didn't love them either. The initial bite was moderate, and the heat capacity and fade after 3 or so HPDE sessions was not great. By the end of the day, my brake distances were longer and didn't instill confidence. I tried RSL1's in front, and I tried RS19s originally.

For the GT3, the stock brakes feel almost like my RS29s did. In fact, looks like the pads are by Pagid (says so right on them) but they are not the usual yellow endurance pads. They also squeal a good bit, so makes me think the OEMs are at least more track-oriented than stock C2S pads. However, I'm looking for something with a more bit bite and consistency throughout the day. What are popular options? I've heard great things about Girodiscs + Raybestos pairings...

ExMB

You might want to search the GT3 forum. There are several posts on that topic.

Akunob

991DUC

Mvez

The DS1.11 have pretty much been the go-to pad for the GT4 and 991 GT3's, since PFC seems to have missed the mark by not offering the PFC08 or 12 in stock pad shapes. DS1.11 do last forever, and have mad-stopping power. However, after two seasons using them on my M3, and now on my GT3, I think they have a bit too much bite and friction for the stock ABS system, which can make for some inconsistency, IMO. These are high friction, high bite, full race enduro pads really for race-style ABS systems. The alternative, as you have noticed, such as RS29's, are great for the GT3 ABS system, but after they get to about 50% wear, it accelerates and starts losing some braking performance. The DS1.11 keeps working down to virtually backing plate, but the tradeoff is not much modulation and on/off bite characteristics. It's a tradeoff that most people can live with.

All that said, I'm testing a set of DS2500's now, and plan to report back to Essex what the findings are. I'm hoping they can bridge the gap between stock pads and the high bite DS1.11's, which should be the case. The big question is how long will they last compared to the DS1.11. More to come.

mdrums

Mvez

Stock pads are Pagid, and it seems like lots of people got good track life out of them, so if the DS2500 don't work (no biggie, they were free), I'll try the stock pads sitting in my garage. With the bigger rotors and cooling of the GT3, I don't expect the DS2500 to fade, but we'll see. Also, without all the nannies on, it puts even less heat into the system. Maybe the stock pads are actually more track-ready than the DS2500? Hard to know since it's an OE spec Pagid, so requires actual track testing.

Mr. Turtles

+1 me and 3 others run this on our GT3.1, GT3RS and GT3.2. A great balance between awesome braking and long lasting. Call Clarke at Apexperformance

rezanourai

Great, thanks all! I think I'm going to give the AP Rotor + DS1.11 combo a try. Or possibly Girodsics + DS1.11
I will likely be done with the OEM pads after my next track day (next week). Any issue with running the DS1.11's on the OEM rotors until the rotors are shot, then grabbing the APs or the Girodiscs? I don't want to throw out perfectly good rotors if I don't have to. May as well get a few more runs out of them

Bill Lehman

My GT4, running DS1.11 pads, has 45 track days on the OEM rotors and they look like they're good for another season.

Mr. Turtles

I just ran the OEM rotors with no issues but only got 25 days on my GT3.2 fronts. The rears are still good. The 911 is a little harder (as am I) on the pads then the Cayman. One item though, you may want to take the OEM rotors off when they have a little life left in them so you can put them back on if you ever sell the car. Most people prefer to see the OEM rotors on purchase even if well used.

AAK GTS

I spoke with Clark at Apex Performance and he says the DS2500 is a more aggressive pad than the stock Porsche pad. If the stock Porsche GT3 pads are in fact by Pagid that would answer a question many non-GT3 owners have as Girodisc sells a rotor where we can use the front GT3 brake pad size.

JRitt@essex

Mvez,
It's unlikely that the OEM Pagids are more track-worthy than the Ferodo DS2500. While I'm not exactly certain on the OEM compound, we've tested a couple of Pagid 'Sport' compounds on our brake dyno. What we've seen is that the DS2500 can reach considerably higher temperatures before its friction level starts to taper off. More importantly though, is how that friction/mu level tapers off. The DS2500 has a gradual decline in mu with temp increase, which provides plenty of warning if they're starting to get overheated. The lower level Pagid compounds we tested (and many, many other branded sport pads we've tested) have a much more abrupt decline in mu when they get really hot. That means a BIG surprise/pucker-factor moment when you are barreling into a brake zone...the pedal remains hard, but the car just doesn't slow down...not fun! :O
As noted, we've had several fast drivers in fast front engine cars work the DS2500 pretty hard on the track without fade. Those cars tend to be very hard on front brakes. I'm therefore doubtful you'll do so since your car is more balanced on front/rear usage. That said, you seem to be haulin' the mail, so who knows. I'm optimistic that they'll be what you're seeking, but we won't know 'til we know. Thanks for giving them a shot in the name of science.

JRitt@essex

There aren't any issues with running Ferodo pads on stock discs. Definitely don't throw perfectly good discs away if you still have life left in them. As noted by Mr. Turtles though, you may want to preserve them for when you sell the car. If you do keep the stock discs and move to Ferodo, you're going to want to try and scrape off any old pad material before bedding in the Ferodos. Check out these videos if you haven't yet seen them. They'll provide some good insight into what you're trying to accomplish.

JRitt@essex

One last point...our AP Racing discs have proven to be the longest-lasting discs on the market. We were just visiting our customer Exotics Racing in Vegas, and they were in the process of swapping discs on their purple GT3 RS school car. Our discs went 9,000 track miles and still looked usable. They were just taking them off as a preventative maintenance. Also, we had a customer get the equivalent of about 70 track days out of one set of our AP J Hook discs:
https://www.essexparts.com/news-blog...g-j-hook-discs
It's not uncommon that our customers run our discs for multiple seasons. AP Racing components also hold the most value on the used market because of the strong brand equity and prestige factor.

Finally, we also keep a large inventory of discs on-hand so you're never left hanging, and we have the best technical support structure in the business. Thanks for your consideration.