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Introducing: Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Brake Kit for the 987 Boxster/Cayman!
Essex Parts Services Background & Porsche Products
Essex Parts Services is located in Charlotte, NC and has been in business for roughly 35 years. We are the exclusive North American importer and distributor for a number of high-end, European brands including: AP Racing competition brake products, Ferodo Racing Brake Pads, Mintex Racing Brake Pads, Spiegler SS brake lines, etc. You can learn more about our company here. For many years our focus was exclusively on professional racing. However, about five years ago we began taking the previously unavailable technology from pro racing and transferring it to the enthusiast and club racer.
We've been sponsors here on Rennlist for about a year and a half now, but we've mainly been focused on GT cars. Our AP Racing 2-piece J Hook discs have become the gold standard in the 996/997/991 GT3 & GT4 markets. These discs are derived from the discs we're using in NASCAR Sprint Cup, IMSA, Grand Am, etc. Their metallurgy is incredibly stout, and they take an amazing amount of abuse. They are also inexpensive and relatively lightweight.
Competition Big Brake Kit Project Background
About five years ago we began developing a line of brake systems geared towards heavy track users. We call them our Essex Designed AP Racing Competition Brake Kits. We currently have applications for a host of popular racing/track day/AutoX/time trial cars: M3, WRX STI, Lancer Evo, BRZ & FR-S, Corvette, Mustang, Focus RS, S2000, etc. These systems are designed with the sole mission of making you go faster, and leverage the latest racing technology to improve performance. They focus on ultra-low weight, extremely durable materials, and inexpensive and readily available spare parts (pads and discs). They are built around components by AP Racing, arguably the top performance brake manufacturer in the world.
With these systems our customers have amassed a lengthy list of NASA and SCCA race and championship wins, time attack victories, rally and hill climb wins, lap records, etc. I'd highly encourage you to take a peek at our blog, which contains a slew of product reviews and race results from our customers. Below are some links to discussions about our Essex Designed Competition Brake Kits on other forums. Not only do these posts show the success that our customers have had with our products, they show the lengths to which we go to support our customers.
Our latest project- Front and rear 987 Boxster and Cayman Competition BBK
We've had quite a few of our GT3 customers ask us for a better brake system for their track toy Boxster or Cayman. They've complained about the OEM brake system's pedal feel, lack of heat capacity, etc. Our goal when tackling a new platform is always to build the ultimate brake system available for that platform. I believe we have succeeded in that objective once again.
Our system revolves around AP Racing's latest technology, the Radi-CAL caliper. You can read all about and watch a video on the development of the Radi-CAL and the impact it has had in racing in this blog post: The AP Racing Radi-CAL Story. AP's Radi-CAL is now widely accepted as the leading technology at the elite level of motorsport. Porsche's ultimate race car for 2017, the 911 RSR, features AP Racing Radi-CAL's. We have now taken this technology and applied it to the 987.
For a full breakdown of all components in the kit, please click here. With our front kit, we wanted to provide a solution for the most demanding environments our 987 customers will likely face, while still having them fit inside 18" wheels. We went with a six piston Radi-CAL , mated it to a 355mmx32mm AP Racing J Hook. The disc we used captured the 2012 Daytona Prototype Championship on the Action Express Corvette DP's (cars capable of hitting 220 mph). It is a heavy duty, 72 vane design that flows a ton of air. Despite being far larger than the OEM S discs, it still weighs less!
Our front system very closely replicates the OEM front brake torque output. That means it will mate seamlessly with either the OEM rear brakes or our rear kit. The piston sizes were carefully determined so there will be no interference with ABS, etc.
To see if your wheels will clear our kit, you can download our wheel fitment template. On the 987 we used for prototyping, our kit cleared the customer's wheels without a spacer.
As with the front, our rear system is built around AP Racing's Radi-CAL and J Hook technologies. The CP9451 caliper is a new design, featuring the same unique features as our front Pro5000R calipers. The 340x28mm disc is ample for anything even the fastest Boxster or Cayman will ever throw at it, while still maintaining a low weight. Our rear kit maintains full parking brake functionality, just like the OEM setup. Weight savings on the rear vs. stock will be roughly 6.6 lbs. per side, or 13 unsprung lbs. removed from the rear of the car.
FAQ
I'll try to head off a few more of the questions people will likely have about this kit with a brief Q & A:
Q: Will your brake kit fit my car? A: Our kits will fit any 2004-2012 Porsche 987 Cayman, Cayman S, Boxster, or Boxster S that came from the factory with iron brakes. Our kit will NOT fit cars that were equipped with PCCB's from the factory, as they have a different spindle/upright vs. the iron-equipped cars.
Q: Why aren't the discs bigger? A: Short answer: Because they don't need to be! Long answer: Our systems are built from a racing mentality. In the pro racing world, teams scrape and scrounge to remove ounces of weight from the cars. Anything that is larger than necessary to get the job done is simply dead weight to drag around. That is how we approach our designs. If you want to go faster and a 14" disc will work, a 15" disc will simply add weight, increase the moment of inertia, and hinder wheel fitment. Sure it will look pretty behind 20" wheels, but that's not what this product line is about.
Q: Are these kits road legal? A: All of the kits Essex sells are designed for off-road use only. If you read the fine print on any aftermarket big brake kit, from any manufacturer, you'll find the same thing...for off-road use only. We don't design our kits to meet any DOT standard, etc., as there is no such standard or requirement in the USA (there is however a DOT compliance spec on brake lines, which all of the Spiegler brake lines in our kits meet).
Q: Do your kits require more maintenance than other big brake kits on the market, due to the lack of dust boots, anodized caliper finish, etc.? A: Short answer: Absolutely not! Long answer: I always get a bit of a chuckle out of this one, because it makes no intuitive sense. Stop and think about that one a moment. If you have a product that is specifically designed to handle the extraordinary high-heat conditions of track use, why would it require more maintenance when used under those conditions vs. brake components that were designed to piddle around on the streets at low speed?
When using your brakes on the track, dust boots are pointless. I've seen many people burn them up in a single session. Once that happens, you're just driving around with some tattered, burnt rubber bits attached to your pistons. We skip making that mess for you to clean up.
Also, many people confuse piston seals with dust boots. All calipers have seals. They're the little rubbery rings inside the piston bores. If a caliper didn't have a seal, your brake fluid would leak out around the pistons! Our calipers use special high-temp seals designed for track use. That means they are less likely to get brittle and wear out when used under high-heat track conditions, therefore increasing the service life of the caliper.
The anodized caliper finish we use also holds up better to track heat than paint or powder coat finishes, which shrink, crack, and change colors. Ever hear the term "Brownbo's" thrown around at the track? The anodized finish will also fare better to a nice splashing of brake fluid, which we all know happens occasionally during bleeds.
To further reduce the maintenance load on our customers, Essex offers a complete rebuild service for the life of the product. You remove your calipers, drain the fluid, and ship them back to us. As AP Racing's only authorized caliper reconditioning center in North America, we rebuild stacks of calipers each year. We will put your calipers through our full reconditioning process. The average cost is roughly $100 per caliper, a very modest price to save you the time and effort, and you'll have the peace of mind that the job was done by a pro.
Q: Are spare parts available and reasonably priced? A: Being a company brimming with racers and track junkies, we're very aware of the costs of running a typical event schedule for the year...event fees, gas, hotels, tires, etc. It all adds up quickly. When we put this product line together, availability and long-term running costs were of paramount concern to us. We did a couple of things to address these issues. First we're buying loads of spares and keeping them on the shelf in our warehouse. Buying in bulk also brings the cost down, so we can pass them along at prices that may surprise those of you who are familiar with AP Racing's premium pricing. Our 355x32mm iron disc replacements retail at $359 each, and our 340x28mm discs are $329 each. When you look at the specification of our discs vs. the competition, their racing heritage, and the longevity you'll get from them, they are a bargain. Most of the competitive discs on the market are 48 vanes or less, weigh more, have less optimized vane design, inferior metallurgy, and have never been proven under the same conditions as the AP Racing discs. Many of my race customers have run an entire season or more on a single set of discs. Check out the feedback on our 2-piece J Hook discs GT3 and GT4 forums if you're worried about value.
Pads are another area of concern for us. We know that brake pads are a very personal choice, and that everyone wants to run something different. As such, the calipers we're using in our systems use some of the most commonly available shapes on the market, produced by just about every manufacturer in every flavor under the sun.
We also stock spare pistons, seals, springs, and other hardware components so they're available when needed in a pinch.
Q: When can I buy these kits? A: Our front kits will start shipping next week, and we are now accepting pre-orders for them. The rear kits will ship in 4-6 weeks, and we are accepting orders for them as well. As mentioned above, it's perfectly fine to install the fronts, and simply add the rears when available.
Summary
In summary...yes this is real, yes this is by far the baddest brake system ever available for the 987 chassis, and yes you can have them on your car!
Also of note...we are looking to develop similar brake systems for other Porsche models. If you're interested in a system such as ours and can make your 718, 981, 997, or 991, available for measurement, please get in touch with us. That said, we are unable to use these components to create a system for the 991 GT3/RS and the 981 GT4. We are still evaluating some different options for those cars.
I think that's about it for now. Feel free to fire away on questions. If you'd like to ask questions directly, you can email me at any time. We are also available by phone at 704-824-6030 M-F, 8am-5pm. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and we're looking forward to contributing more to the 987 community moving forward.
__________________
'09 Carrera 2S, '08 Boxster LE (orange), '91 Acura NSX, Tesla Model 3 Performance, Fiesta ST
Jeff Ritter
Mgr. High Performance Division, Essex Parts Services Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kits & 2-piece J Hook Discs Ferodo Racing Brake Pads Spiegler Stainless Steel Brake Lines
704-824-6030 jeff.ritter@essexparts.com
Good looking kits. Replacement part prices are very attractive.
Not sure how many folks with their "track toy" Caymans/Boxsters are running out of brake with something simpler like a Girodisc set up, good pads and good fluid. Pedal feel can be greatly enhanced with a 997 GT3 MC. But good to know there are other options beyond Brembo and Stoptech for kits with calipers.
I am not overly familiar with those calipers. Are all of the popular pad compounds available?
What are the piston sizes for the front and rear calipers?
Thanks! You hit the nail on the head with your first statement. While not everyone may be fading their current brake setup, many have come to us asking for parts with greater longevity. We've had many customers on other platforms get 2,3,4, or more times the life out of their brake consumables when they make the switch to our kits. If you poke around in the 991 GT3 and GT4 forums, we are seeing this now in those markets. Customers who have made the switch from other brands to our AP Racing J Hook discs are spending far less time and money on their brakes than they were previously, and that is with only discs and Ferodo pads. Throwing the Radi-CAL calipers into the mix takes the whole system to another level.
The system-wide component improvements result in less pad changes, less disc changes, less fluid bleeding, less caliper rebuilding, and less tinkering around with the brakes at the track. There are both substantial cost and convenience benefits. Over the years most of our customers have found that they rather quickly pay our brake systems off in consumable savings alone. One of our customers who helps run Chin Motorsports did this nice cost-savings analysis after installing one of our brake kits on his track car. He found that our system completely paid for itself in 38 days at the track vs. the OEM components, based on the lower operating costs. My favorite quote from his assessment was, "These numbers don't count the constant brake service, cost of band aids & gauze, beer, caliper rebuilds, brake cleaner, and the headache of constantly servicing the OEM brakes!"
None of the above includes the increased fade resistance for heavily modified cars, less heat-related wear and tear on surrounding components, weight reduction, and superior feel vs. other solutions due to the incredibly stiff calipers.
The Pro5000R calipers were introduced about two years ago, and were derived from AP's Radi-CAL calipers that were introduced into professional racing in 2007. Check out our blog post about their history, which includes scans from RaceTech Magazine, etc. You'll see in that article that brake feel was one of the instant and primary reasons for their resounding success, and we know that the 987 has had many complaints in that area. The 911 RSR is currently running AP Racing Radi-CALs in IMSA (see pics below).
The front and rear calipers in our kits are built around common pad shapes that were introduced by AP Racing many years ago. Those shapes are available from just about every pad manufacturer in every flavor. Some of the manufactures that produce these shapes are Alcon, AP Racing, Brembo, Carbotech, Circo, CL Brakes, Cobalt, EBC, Endless, Ferodo, Hawk, Mintex, Pagid, PFC, Porterfield, Project Mu, Raybestos, Wilwood, etc...
Front pad shape: Dimensions= 152.1 x 54 x 18 mm, D54
Rear pad shape: Dimensions= 132.4 x 42 x 16.7 mm, D42
The piston sizes in our front calipers are a bit smaller than our norm, and we had to produce a special run of calipers for the system to be integrated properly on the 987. We're always very careful not to just 'slap on parts from the parts bin.' Our systems are unique for each platform we tackle.
Piston sizes in the front caliper:
27.0mm x 2
28.6mm x 2
31.8mm x 2
Piston sizes in the rear caliper:
25.4mm x 2
28.6mm x 2
Here's the front AP Racing Radi-CAL caliper from the 2017 911 RSR. Our system is as close as one can get to the brakes used on those cars.
Thanks again.
Originally Posted by altonj
Good looking kits. Replacement part prices are very attractive.
Not sure how many folks with their "track toy" Caymans/Boxsters are running out of brake with something simpler like a Girodisc set up, good pads and good fluid. Pedal feel can be greatly enhanced with a 997 GT3 MC. But good to know there are other options beyond Brembo and Stoptech for kits with calipers.
I am not overly familiar with those calipers. Are all of the popular pad compounds available?
What are the piston sizes for the front and rear calipers?
I am very interested in these calipers. My buddy put a set on his supercharged e92m3. Super high quality parts and the instructions were detailed including listing torque specs.
I'm in for updates. I'd like to know what wheels work with these. Unfortunately its the chicken vs the egg syndrome. Templates only work for wheels that have been bought already. I'd wait to buy the wheels I knew would fit.
When I'm ready my first call will be to Clark. I've not bought another brake bad from anyone else in over a decade.
gman,
Thanks for the kind words. We have many customers in your situation constantly. If you're considering a particular wheel, just email our template links to the wheel manufacturer or reseller from whom you will be buying the wheels. The manufacture can use the dimensions to provide an answer, and a wheel seller may have the wheels in stock to physically check the template in those wheels.
We have customers do so all the time. If someone isn't willing to take a few minutes to evaluate the template in order to sell you a multi-thousand dollar set of wheels, you probably should be be looking elsewhere to purchase the wheels! The exact situation literally occurred here two days ago with a Corvette and some Forgeline wheels. The customer emailed our templates to Forgeline and had his answer the next day on whether or not our front and rear kit would fit a set of custom wheels he was hoping to purchase. Give it a try. I think you'll be surprised by how far people will go to help you out. Thanks.
Originally Posted by gman3280
I am very interested in these calipers. My buddy put a set on his supercharged e92m3. Super high quality parts and the instructions were detailed including listing torque specs.
I'm in for updates. I'd like to know what wheels work with these. Unfortunately its the chicken vs the egg syndrome. Templates only work for wheels that have been bought already. I'd wait to buy the wheels I knew would fit.
When I'm ready my first call will be to Clark. I've not bought another brake bad from anyone else in over a decade.
I'm pleased to have purchased the kit ,although i have not installed just yet,i am very excited to soon do so.
i will be reporting with pictures and later real feedback .
The package arrived very neatly boxed up and organized with instructions
It looks awesome ( the whole kit does)...
The ESSEX 355mm Floating rotors are a piece of art ,the calipers another "work of art" i have test fitted them in both my factory 19'' wheels and my track forgeline 18''s perfect fit!
Again im very impressed and looking forward to install and test as i'm back from Brasil .
Thank you very much for the purchase, and for the kind words! I believe you're going to be thrilled with our system's performance.
Could you do us a favor and please post the details on your Forgelines? What are the precise specifications including offset (for example: Forgeline GA3R 18x9 +35.)?
Also, what model year is your car/OEM 19's? I'll add both sets of wheels to our wheel fitment database.
Thanks again, and let us know if any questions arise during install.
Originally Posted by Raph82
I'm pleased to have purchased the kit ,although i have not installed just yet,i am very excited to soon do so.
i will be reporting with pictures and later real feedback .
The package arrived very neatly boxed up and organized with instructions
It looks awesome ( the whole kit does)...
The ESSEX 355mm Floating rotors are a piece of art ,the calipers another "work of art" i have test fitted them in both my factory 19'' wheels and my track forgeline 18''s perfect fit!
Again im very impressed and looking forward to install and test as i'm back from Brasil .
i am happen to be a test subject with my forgeline wheels and 987.2 race car!!
Well Mike, we kind of already have a pretty solid test subject for the AP Radi-CAL's:
Seriously though, shoot me a PM if you're interested in an upgrade. Based on your sig it looks like you have a good deal of seat time and experience with this chassis!
Any idea if this type of kit will be available for the Cayman GT4? I figured running a more compact caliper could facilitate the use of 18" wheels. For reference the Cayman GT4 club sport runs 18" wheels due to the caliper.
04-26-2017, 11:24 AM
Introducing: Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Brake Kit for the 987 Boxster/Cayman!
