996 Turbo brake upgrade options

[BrendonJ]

Hi All,

I'd be grateful for some reccomendations/companies/fitters for 996 turbo brake upgrades (and costs please).

I know a few reccomend the 996GT3 6pot upgrade but do they need bigger discs? And pad reccomendations please (are RS29 the default for turbos as they are on GT3s?)

Cost is a driver. Ideally I'd like to get something good but not silly expensive. The car will be doing a few trackdays a year, a couple of European trips and is running about 520hp so will need to cope with that type of work.

Many thanks,
BJ

[mikep240]

I got my brakes sorted by Uber9s. RS29 front pads, PFC rears, cooling ducts and SRF fluid. I kept the stock Porsche genuine discs, as I didn't want the unsprung weight increase or cost involved in going to 350s.

The brakes have much improved bite from either cold or hot, the only downside is squeal from the front pads at low speeds. Mega for the road (apart from the aforementioned squealing), a huge improvement on track too, but it is still possible to suffer some fade if too brutal with them. Overall, a good compromise I think. Ping a PM to Nxi20 on here to enquire more.

[Digga]

Mike at Sports & Classic certainly recommend the GT3 callipers as an upgrade, but I've no idea what discs they run on. However, I do know that when I last spoke to him, he had a good used set for sale, which might be an option.

[Jibaro]

some freshly refurbed 6 pots have just been advertised on 911uk, trying to stop myself from buying them, please remove the temptation!

[BrendonJ]

mikep240 said:

I got my brakes sorted by Uber9s. RS29 front pads, PFC rears, cooling ducts and SRF fluid. I kept the stock Porsche genuine discs, as I didn't want the unsprung weight increase or cost involved in going to 350s.

The brakes have much improved bite from either cold or hot, the only downside is squeal from the front pads at low speeds. Mega for the road (apart from the aforementioned squealing), a huge improvement on track too, but it is still possible to suffer some fade if too brutal with them. Overall, a good compromise I think. Ping a PM to Nxi20 on here to enquire more.

Thanks Mike, what was the rough cost please of that. And am I correct that basically you just replaced the pads then? (and new cooling ducts)

[mikep240]

BrendonJ said:

Thanks Mike, what was the rough cost please of that. And am I correct that basically you just replaced the pads then? (and new cooling ducts)

I can't remember off the top of my head the exact figure, but it was circa £1k. Miles cheaper than going for 6 pots and having to buy RS29s for them on top, but granted, not as good a final result. I guess you get what you pay for. Overall, I reckon it is a pretty good compromise which could haul the car up from 150mph pretty well at Goodwood, though after 10 laps of this, they complained a bit. Given a rest, they then came alive again with no repeat. The cooling ducts are massive!

I would definitely talk to Nick, Nxi20 on here.....

[e8_pack]

I did the GT3 upgrade.

You will need 997 turbo discs, calipers and longer GT3 caliper bolts.

I bought all the other little bits and fitted them myself along with fluid and it cost me about 1500 all in, including discs, pads and calipers.

Improvement was night and day, no longer papping it coming up to round a bouts!

[NBTBRV8]

I upgraded mine back in the day to GT3. They look fantastic and fill the wheels nicely, but if I am going to be honest without you are tracking the car regularly I would recommend RS29s in the standard callipers with 996 GT2 front ducts and SRF fluid. I found this was a great improvement over standard and didn't have any issues with brake fade before moveing to GT3. It was just that the GT3 set up looked so good.

Really the GT3 option just take the heat better, they don't pull it up with any noticeable improvement. I also found that the pedal was a bit longer too with GT3 callipers.

[Digga]

NBTBRV8 said:

I also found that the pedal was a bit longer too with GT3 callipers.

This is a fairly key point; without changing things like master cylinders, you will find this.

I do a lot of mountain biking and always run Hope Tech hydraulic brakes; two-pot on the XC bike for local beater rides and four pot on the All Mountain and Downhill bikes. All three have the same levers (same integral master cylinder and reservoir) and the smaller callipers always have more instant bite and feel. You only gain on the bigger units in terms of high speed retardation and heat dissipation (fade resistance).

[BrendonJ]

e8_pack said:

I did the GT3 upgrade.

You will need 997 turbo discs, calipers and longer GT3 caliper bolts.

I bought all the other little bits and fitted them myself along with fluid and it cost me about 1500 all in, including discs, pads and calipers.

Improvement was night and day, no longer papping it coming up to round a bouts!

Nice. Are the 997 turbo discs bigger than the standard (350mm?) discs?
Would you still have the list of part numbers and costs by per chance?

Many thanks

[Slippydiff]

The 997 Turbo front discs are 350mm. RE the price quoted for doing the job some years ago, the front calipers were cheap back then, ie circa £600 + vat for a pair. Porsche being the wonderful (some may say astute...) company they are, cottoned on to the fact that the 6 pot Mk2 calipers were a nice (not to mention cheap) upgrade. They couldn't have any Porsche part being considered cheap, so they raised the prices.....

Then they raised them again ......

When I checked on Friday afternoon, they cost the princely sum of £1032 for EACH caliper, plus vodka and tonic ....
add in discs, pads, new hardlines from upright to caliper, anti rattle springs and longer bolts, and it's no longer a cheap upgrade, but it is the best off the shelf conversion out there, pedal travel not on issue on both the Mk1 GT3's I've equipped, and there is NO comparison with the 4 pot set up IMO.

Edited by Slippydiff on Sunday 21st February 11:43

[e8_pack]

I bought mine 2nd hand refurbished for £800 in Nov 2013.

996 GT3 Calipers - £800 (ebay new refurbished)
GT3 Performance Friction 06 pads - £200 (porsche calipers) - (on offer)
GT3 Caliper Pin Kit - £42 (porsche calipers)
4 off 996 GT3RS caliper bolts (dealer)
2 off 997 OEM discs - £306 (design911)
4 off 997 disc bolts - £2.40 (design911)
ATE Super Blue 2l - £29.40 (design 911)

Shims were 102 but just reuse your old ones.

[e8_pack]

I then used spacers and 997 rear discs to bring the bias back in line. Though didn't notice it really.



I changed the disc direction BTW! But you get the idea..



I have 997 wheels on my 996 so ignore them:

[e8_pack]

Rear spacers, came with longer caliper bolts.

[e8_pack]

Slippydiff said:

The 997 Turbo front discs are 350mm. RE the price quoted for doing the job some years ago, the front calipers were cheap back then, ie circa £600 + vat for a pair. Porsche being the wonderful (some may say astute...) company they are, cottoned on to the fact that the 6 pot Mk2 calipers were a nice (not to mention cheap) upgrade. They couldn't have any Porsche part being considered cheap, so they raised the prices.....

Then they raised them again ......

When I checked on Friday afternoon, they cost the princely sum of £1032 for EACH caliper, plus vodka and tonic ....
add in discs, pads, new hardlines from upright to caliper, anti rattle springs and longer bolts, and it's no longer a cheap upgrade, but it is the best off the shelf conversion out there, pedal travel not on issue on both the Mk1 GT3's I've equipped, and there is NO comparison with the 4 pot set up IMO.

Why was I asking the price of the calipers ? Because I have these for sale :

http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=109588

It appears they're sold, but if the deal should not complete, please form an orderly queue ......
I'll let you have them at a special price Brendon, lets say £1700 as you were unwilling to budge on the purchase price of your Mk 2 996 GT3 wheels when I bought them off you some years ago

Edited by Slippydiff on Sunday 7th February 14:22

I don't think the pedal travel is any different on account of the 6 pots having the same piston surface area, just over more pots and acting on a larger diameter. IIRC

[BrendonJ]

All,
Many thanks for the useful advice , much appreciated.

If I get these from ebay I will need to get the discs as well.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/151959069583
What's the best option for Porsche/other supplier 350mm (?) discs please (the 997 oem ones mentioned from design911 at £306?)


Slippy,
Many thanks.If your complete disc/caliper set don’t sell yes I’d be interested. And for the record you got the deal of the century on those wheels at £800. I had to buy some more and they cost me £3,000 a few months ago!

[Digga]

Slippydiff said:

e8_pack said:

I don't think the pedal travel is any different on account of the 6 pots having the same piston surface area, just over more pots and acting on a larger diameter. IIRC

Agreed.
Wasn't aware you got a free bottle of diet Coke with every new pair of discs ! !

Thanks. That's worth knowing for future reference.

[martyspain]

I've been thinking about brake upgrades too. Does anyone have the 9e brake upgrade package fitted to their Turbo? Any info on costs etc.? It sounds like a comprehensive upgrade, but their website is very coy on pricing.

[sportsandclassic]

Hi,

Both the 996 GT3 and 996 Turbo use the same master cylinder so no need to worry about that.

I have a set of used 996GT3 front 6 pot calipers which I was going to get re-furbed and sell on if anyone is interested ?

Mike

[sportsandclassic]

sportsandclassic said:

Hi,

Both the 996 GT3 and 996 Turbo use the same master cylinder so no need to worry about that.

I have a set of used 996GT3 front 6 pot calipers which I was going to get re-furbed and sell on if anyone is interested ?

Mike

SOLD