JimB

PK,
You've already received all kinds of good advice. I'll just support it. It is pretty easy to overheat the brakes on a 996. You've already nailed the best way to fight the heat. Race pads (not too worn) and fluid. I have found Pagid Oranges to be pretty good. I had a lot of trouble with Blacks. We use SRF fluid but ATE will be just fine for DE. Actually Ford High Temp will work fine as well. It's cheap and readily available. The stock rotors are fine. I tried freezing a set but I really didn't see too much benefit. If the track you spend the most time is hard on brakes, you might also look at the cooling ducts from the GT3 Cup Car. They attach to the lower control arm just like the ones you have now but are larger. They also have a fenderwell piece that diverts air to the rotors. We're adding these for this season. Good luck.
Jim

Ed Newman

Jim's basically got it laid out. The 996 can easily cook the stock brakes. I run SRF but ATE is fine for what you are doing. Think about Pagid Orange pads as a good crossover and if you start getting worried about fade, add the cooling ducts from the GT3 or cup car. They make a noticable difference when you are running the car at the limit of the brakes.

Glen

Ed, your mailbox is full, could not message You back....

996racer

Try Pagid orange or Performance friction pads, both are real good. The PF's are a better choice if the car in question is used on the street, they tend to squeek less.

BigHeadDennis

I'll ditto Arthur's post. I'm a DE instructor for a bunch of clubs, average 20-25 days a year. My wife runs a 996 that she shares with me occasionally (I generally run my own car, non-Porsche). Her 996 has almost exactly the same mods as Arthur - RoW M030, PFC-96 pads, ATE blue/gold fluid.

The stock rotors are great. Stock brake lines are great. Don't bother with s/s brake lines - the improved pedal feel will be marginal, at best, so why take the risk? If you really want to spend some money, try to figure out ways to improve ducting. Otherwise, upgrading fluid and pads will be fine.

One last comment - what really matters the MOST is braking TECHNIQUE, as well as COOLING DOWN THE BRAKES. Take that cool down lap seriously, and consider a slow lap of the paddock too. As for better braking technique, I've had PFC-97 pads last for over a dozen track days at places like Watkins Glen, LCMT and NHIS, all heavy-ish braking tracks. Learn how to apply the brakes late, then trail braking, but don't "ride" the brakes. Better to apply hard (at the right moment) for a shorter period, than early and long. Most beginners tend to brake early, then gradually apply pressure, until the car is slowed to the right speed. This generates more brake wear than just braking correctly (and is slower to boot).

Good luck!

vty,

--Dennis

prg

You may want to remove the pad wear sensors from the pads before track days. The sensors melted in the pads in my 996tt and produced a wear alarm. There is a plastic covering the wires in the pad sensor that melts at track use temperatures. I safety wired them out of the way. Of course, if you do this you need to make sure you check your pads for wear after every session. One other brake related tid bit, the inside pads seem to wear a little faster than the outside pads (at least in the 996tt). If the outside pad looks marginal, it's a good idea to take the wheel off and inspect the inside pad as it may be a bit more worn.

penguinking

the results are in - went to a track event at road atlanta this past weekend:

ran with the stock brakes and ATE brake fluid. this car has some SERIOUS brakes - i was impressed how well the car brakes. only problem was that i feel like im having to really hammer that pedal to the floor to get the car to stop. even small things like driving around on the road, i have to push the pedal down a noticable distance before the brakes start to go into action. nevertheless, the brakes are there. it just takes some excessive pedal movement. do you think pads will help in that area?

Brian P

Yes, with better pads, you might not have to push as far or as hard. Don't forget though that you are driving a relatively heavy car at very high speeds. Your pedal is going to go a bit further than what you are used to.

However, usually when I get lots of brake travel, I take that as a sign that it's time to bleed the brakes.

Noel

Sounds like you may have boiled some fluid and now have air in your calipers. A quick bleed will solve this temporarily. It may be time to upgrade to track pads if you are boiling fluid with the stock pads or add some cooling.
A couple years ago, I measured my caliper temps just off the track with street pads and then track pads. The temps were about 120 degrees cooler with track pads. I credit this to spending less time on the brakes since the car slowed much quicker with the track pads.

Noel

BigHeadDennis

Absolutely! The probable reason you have some pedal travel before the brakes bite is likely that your pads are worn. The more worn the pads, the more leeway there is before they bite. New MB brakes have a computerized pre-braking application - the brakes automatically snug the pads up against the rotor so that they can bite instantly, thereby shortening braking distances by some small amount.

When you intall new pads, the brakes will "feel" a lot firmer, even though the brakes are just as FIRM with worn pads, it just takes pedal movement to GET the pads up against the rotors. Try it, you'll see.

BTW, it's unlikely "boiled" brake fluid if you're still feeling it on the street, and/or if you have a firm pedal after that initial soft movement. Boiled fluid means that the brakes feel spongy all the way through the application.

If you DID boil the fluid, obviously bleed/flush the brake fluid, and get some better pads. As I said previously, stock 996 rotors and calipers are impressive... add some good pads, and you should be all set.

Enjoy!

vty,

--Dennis

Ed Newman

Also keep in mind this is not a light car. The brakes may be impressive compared to an old 911, but this car weighs 3000-3500 lbs. That is alot of mass to stop particularly for racing or track. Look at the cup car, the brakes are MUCH bigger and the car weighs ALOT less.

BigHeadDennis

And don't forget that cup cars have much better brake ducting, don't they? But keep in mind that Cup car brakes have to stop the car in a RACE, for much longer sessions or enduros than a guy driving in a Driver's Ed track event for 20-30 minute sessions, with lots of cool-down opportunities. FWIW, I've shared the 996 with my wife at Watkins Glen (it's her car, actually), for multiple sessions over three days, on SLICKS, and WGI is a hard-braking track, with absolutely no brake fade. It's also in technique... its easy enough to boil the fluid in one session with an inexperienced driver....

vty,

--Dennis

penguinking

it wasnt boiled fluid - i flushed the stock fluid out with ATE for the second day. i am however noticing what you are referring to - if i give the brakes a light tap before pressing hard on the brakes, it pushes the pads snug up against the rotor so it feels firmer when i press the pedal.

btw, whats a good place to get better brake ducting? GT3 ducts sound interesting to me -or is there a DIY solution that works well?

mitch236

If you are thinking about serious tracking in your 99 996 with racing tires then the first upgrade should be oil delivery modification. Check the boards for this one. You will suffer oil deprivation in your car with track tires without the mods.

BigHeadDennis

Well, to clarify, the official Porsche warning is for driving on the track with true racing slicks, and NOT with "R-compound" tires. And it's for sustained high lateral-g curves, especially left-handed ones. If one does a search on this topic on a couple of different forums, one will find some interesting info. Some say that this problem extends into the 3.6 engines as well; that the X51 package fixes the problem; the Porsche Motorsports fix for 3.4 engines voids the engine warranty; this problem can be avoided by making sure the oil is topped off (highest level possible); Brey-Krause is introducing a spacer for the sump that allows 0.5 extra quarts of oil that will alleviate the problem; the problem is rare; the problem can be avoided if one stays off of NASCAR bankings; etc. etc. etc....

vty,

--Dennis