997.2 brakes.. feedback please

[M5Sime]

Hi all, having had my 997.2 S for a few weeks I cannot help but laugh and love the moment I open the door, smell the leather, start the engine and feel that pure steering.

But... my daily is a 6 series. I had a E46 330 with optional M brake discs and EBC pads.. the Porsche is much harder work (much less servo). I’m ok with that as feel is increased.

But it seems to need heat to get really good stopping power. Plus seems to be very dusty pads compared with other cars. All is Porsche OEM as far as I know.

It seems remarkable to comment in a less than positive sense about Porsche brakes.. I have to use my leg muscle more - fine with that.. just checking - are your 997s needing a decent force to really get the pads working and feel the retardation?

My E46 with EBC yellow was a brake monster (relative) and could be abused approaching roundabouts. I found when warm my 997 is the same, but in traffic can be surprising

[ATM]

I've fitted ebc yellows to a couple of BMW and they do feel stickier to me. Slowing the car with even less pressure on the pedal than before they were fitted and I find them a little on off or slightly jerky. So this could be part of the reason. Also the discs on the 997 are massive. I think the 997.1 S shares brakes with the 996tt. A brake pad is always designed to work within a certain heat range and it's a compromise to get good cold bite. The OEM pads could just be a bit crap and not bite too well cold. There could be other reasons like they may not have been bed in properly when they were fitted. Like you say there is no way to know what pads you have or even discs. Plenty of pattern parts available now for Porsche cars. You could have some rubbish bits on the car.

[Slippydiff]

Before you do anything else, get the car up on a ramp/axle stands and check for seized calipers.
Once you’ve established all’s well on that front, carefully inspect the inner faces of the front disc. You’ll need a decent inspection light and to be able to see the back of the disc properly, not always easy as the caliper and backplate do a good job of obscuring it .

Don’t be fooled by the appearance of the outer face of the disc looking fine !!
All too often the inner face gets heavily corroded and that corrosion gets polished to a finish that has little or no co-efficient of friction.

If the discs are fine l, pull the pads and see what make they are. I’m a big fan of the OE pads made by Textar (part of the Pagid group) and for what they cost from Euro Car Pars (or similar) it’s a no brainer to fit new items.

Bleed the brakes and gently bed the new pads in over the first 150-200 miles (just drive sensibly and slowly build up the pedal pressure and speeds after 50-100 miles)
Report back after the above. Good luck.

[M5Sime]

Thanks for the feedback! The car had a recent Porsche full inspection so hopping anything off would have been noted. I’ll check the details especiallly the inner disc faces.

I believe the braking is there - but once warm. Cold and rolling in traffic can be more of a push than I’m used to 😆

It is the first car I have had where the purity of the feel and especially the steering is so ‘Swiss watch’ That it makes me smile and laugh. Amazing

[Slippydiff]

You may just need to “recalibrate “ your right leg then. They will be a bit wooden when cold, but once warm/hot, they should stop the car with minimal effort on your part and be easy to modulate accurately. Perfect for heel and tiring too.