Ceramic brakes?
Discussion
As per the title.
What are peoples real world experiences?
Are the stories of exploding discs just old wives tales or harsh reality?
How long do they last under normal condition? Maybe the odd track day chucked in.
Most importantly what are they like to drive with? Do they work well from cold?
Finally has anyone had to shell out for replacements? If it's not to rude a question, has youe wallet recovered from the shock yet?
Many thanks in advance.
What are peoples real world experiences?
Are the stories of exploding discs just old wives tales or harsh reality?
How long do they last under normal condition? Maybe the odd track day chucked in.
Most importantly what are they like to drive with? Do they work well from cold?
Finally has anyone had to shell out for replacements? If it's not to rude a question, has youe wallet recovered from the shock yet?
Many thanks in advance.
to answer your Qs:
What are peoples real world experiences?
Very good from me, car is a 07 GT3, no problems so far and fantastic performance.
Are the stories of exploding discs just old wives tales or harsh reality?
Mine have not exploded yet.
How long do they last under normal condition? Maybe the odd track day chucked in.
They should last as long as the car. I would be surprised if you need to change them up to 100k / 10 years.
Most importantly what are they like to drive with? Do they work well from cold?
I live in Dubai so haven't sampled them in sub 20 degree weather. They are fine for me and work well from start up, I'd ask others for UK weather experience though.
Finally has anyone had to shell out for replacements? If it's not to rude a question, has youe wallet recovered from the shock yet?
I've not even had to change pads yet, so no cost at all for me (car has done about 22k). I did enquire as to the cost of replacing before buying the car, roughly £3.5k per disc IIRC. Ouch.
What are peoples real world experiences?
Very good from me, car is a 07 GT3, no problems so far and fantastic performance.
Are the stories of exploding discs just old wives tales or harsh reality?
Mine have not exploded yet.
How long do they last under normal condition? Maybe the odd track day chucked in.
They should last as long as the car. I would be surprised if you need to change them up to 100k / 10 years.
Most importantly what are they like to drive with? Do they work well from cold?
I live in Dubai so haven't sampled them in sub 20 degree weather. They are fine for me and work well from start up, I'd ask others for UK weather experience though.
Finally has anyone had to shell out for replacements? If it's not to rude a question, has youe wallet recovered from the shock yet?
I've not even had to change pads yet, so no cost at all for me (car has done about 22k). I did enquire as to the cost of replacing before buying the car, roughly £3.5k per disc IIRC. Ouch.
My experience from 25k - 38k on a Cayman S.
- Fine when cold but can be a bit noisy, the noise comes and goes.
- Excellent braking in all conditions.
- Discs look like new and pads have 8mm left ( I believe they are the original pads ).
I've done a load of town driving, a few laps of the ring and some trips to Europe including mountain passes and high speeds on the Autobahn and they have always been faultless ( apart from the odd bit of noise at low speeds ).
You need to be careful when getting wheels changed as apparently the discs can chip easily.
Never heard of 'exploding' discs but I know they can be damaged if they get too hot so always advisable to cool them after track use. I'm not sure how well suited they are to extensive track use, many people seem to change for steels - having said that I believe the Porsche supercup use them and they are supposed to last a whole season.
- Fine when cold but can be a bit noisy, the noise comes and goes.
- Excellent braking in all conditions.
- Discs look like new and pads have 8mm left ( I believe they are the original pads ).
I've done a load of town driving, a few laps of the ring and some trips to Europe including mountain passes and high speeds on the Autobahn and they have always been faultless ( apart from the odd bit of noise at low speeds ).
You need to be careful when getting wheels changed as apparently the discs can chip easily.
Never heard of 'exploding' discs but I know they can be damaged if they get too hot so always advisable to cool them after track use. I'm not sure how well suited they are to extensive track use, many people seem to change for steels - having said that I believe the Porsche supercup use them and they are supposed to last a whole season.
For everyday driving I find them superb regardless of temperature etc, in fact I cannot notice any difference from cold/hot/wet/dry conditions - and I live in NE Scotland which does get cold !!
I find them very responsive and re-assuringly powerful with really good feel.
One of the reasons I went for them was the reduced weight, and the zero corrosion as my car sits around a lot, the almost total lack of brake dust is also a nice bonus and it's not actually black either.
My only issue is that for some reason after washing the car the brakes hardly work at all, and need a few hundred metres of working the pedal to get them back to normal.
I find them very responsive and re-assuringly powerful with really good feel.
One of the reasons I went for them was the reduced weight, and the zero corrosion as my car sits around a lot, the almost total lack of brake dust is also a nice bonus and it's not actually black either.
My only issue is that for some reason after washing the car the brakes hardly work at all, and need a few hundred metres of working the pedal to get them back to normal.
They are excellent!
-No brake dust
-Awesome stopping power
-Larger front rotors
-About 4kg per corner weight savings
-Better steering feel
If you do 5+ track days a year I would go with steel. Otherwise PCCB all the way! Mine just started squeaking a lot at 17k miles. Having OPC check that out.
And yes - replacing them would be expensive. Checked with OPC for my 997 Turbo - all 4 corners £20k.
-No brake dust
-Awesome stopping power
-Larger front rotors
-About 4kg per corner weight savings
-Better steering feel
If you do 5+ track days a year I would go with steel. Otherwise PCCB all the way! Mine just started squeaking a lot at 17k miles. Having OPC check that out.
And yes - replacing them would be expensive. Checked with OPC for my 997 Turbo - all 4 corners £20k.
Edited by mm450exc on Monday 11th June 16:07
The pads on my car are the original pads. They have done 10k miles. Recently I have done a few trackdays both in the dry and in the wet.
On inspection the pads had very minimal wear and a very minimal wear difference between inboard and outboard pads ( 0.5mm ). It pays to keep an eye on them and swap them over to even up the wear. Discs look good as new and I insist on using the two bars provided that allow the wheel to slide off the hub rather than bang against the rotor and risk chipping it and writing it off ( ouch )
They perform superbly in cold and hot with very little dust which keeps the wheels looking good. I originally panicked thinking they would be like cheese on track but this is not the case and the internet bulls
t generator did not help !
I did price up replacements before realising how sturdy they were and got quoted £345 for the fronts which isnt expensive for decent pads but they seem to be lasting for ages so it will be a while before they need replacing.
Everywhere seems to recommend changing the pads at 50% wear and I`ll weigh that up when the time comes. It equates to about 4mm of friction material on the pads.
Realworld - superb and even if something does go wrong they can be replaced with steel alternatives that are equally as good ( albeit a lot more dust ) for the price of one carbon disc.
On inspection the pads had very minimal wear and a very minimal wear difference between inboard and outboard pads ( 0.5mm ). It pays to keep an eye on them and swap them over to even up the wear. Discs look good as new and I insist on using the two bars provided that allow the wheel to slide off the hub rather than bang against the rotor and risk chipping it and writing it off ( ouch )
They perform superbly in cold and hot with very little dust which keeps the wheels looking good. I originally panicked thinking they would be like cheese on track but this is not the case and the internet bulls
t generator did not help ! I did price up replacements before realising how sturdy they were and got quoted £345 for the fronts which isnt expensive for decent pads but they seem to be lasting for ages so it will be a while before they need replacing.
Everywhere seems to recommend changing the pads at 50% wear and I`ll weigh that up when the time comes. It equates to about 4mm of friction material on the pads.
Realworld - superb and even if something does go wrong they can be replaced with steel alternatives that are equally as good ( albeit a lot more dust ) for the price of one carbon disc.
Far Cough said:
Discs look good as new and I insist on using the two bars provided that allow the wheel to slide off the hub rather than bang against the rotor and risk chipping it and writing it off ( ouch )
Sorry to hijack the post but were these bars provided as standard with the car and if not are they easily available? I've got PCCB on my Cayman and I am too scared to remove the wheels without having them. Thanks.Weight saving is less than 4kg in total not per corner........................ as PCCB are half the weight of a comparably sized disc. They are much larger than standard or S discs. I you compare ceramic and steel (modular, grey cast iron really) of the same size, they are half the mass so if the 350mm ceramics are compared with the 318mm then you get less than 10lbs in total.
Bennachie said:
Weight saving is less than 4kg in total not per corner........................ as PCCB are half the weight of a comparably sized disc. They are much larger than standard or S discs. I you compare ceramic and steel (modular, grey cast iron really) of the same size, they are half the mass so if the 350mm ceramics are compared with the 318mm then you get less than 10lbs in total.
I've just put back my ceramics to replace the same sized OEM steels which the very first GT2s came with. The calipers were not changed from the yellow and according to the scales 2x worn steels are 22kgs, 2x ceramics are 11kgs.The weight difference just lifting them up is incredible and the difference to the finesse of the car is noticible even before you're off the driveway.
They have better initial bite than the steels but having not really used them hard due to newness yet can't comment on their absolute feel under proper braking.
SM
Sandy59 said:
For everyday driving I find them superb regardless of temperature etc, in fact I cannot notice any difference from cold/hot/wet/dry conditions - and I live in NE Scotland which does get cold !!
I find them very responsive and re-assuringly powerful with really good feel.
One of the reasons I went for them was the reduced weight, and the zero corrosion as my car sits around a lot, the almost total lack of brake dust is also a nice bonus and it's not actually black either.
My only issue is that for some reason after washing the car the brakes hardly work at all, and need a few hundred metres of working the pedal to get them back to normal.
+1I find them very responsive and re-assuringly powerful with really good feel.
One of the reasons I went for them was the reduced weight, and the zero corrosion as my car sits around a lot, the almost total lack of brake dust is also a nice bonus and it's not actually black either.
My only issue is that for some reason after washing the car the brakes hardly work at all, and need a few hundred metres of working the pedal to get them back to normal.
Supermono, therby backing up exactly what I said and what Porsche marketing say. Half the mass of a COMPARABLE sized steel disc. In your case the saving is there. The saving over a Cayman S is much less.
I would love a set, I think they are great performers and the lack of creeping rust over time is a BIG plus.
I would love a set, I think they are great performers and the lack of creeping rust over time is a BIG plus.
i have them on my C2S, they are superb and I actually prefer the feel to the steels, as i drove a GT2 and GT3 back to back with Steel and Ceramic and much preferred the ceramic.
I do notice a difference in the cold, expecially when cold and wet! But you adjust your driving to counter the effect.
Lastly, if you do mess one up or need to replace all of them you can always switch to steels!
i think callaghan just replaced his fronts, so may be able to give an idea of price!
I do notice a difference in the cold, expecially when cold and wet! But you adjust your driving to counter the effect.
Lastly, if you do mess one up or need to replace all of them you can always switch to steels!
i think callaghan just replaced his fronts, so may be able to give an idea of price!
Bennachie said:
Supermono, therby backing up exactly what I said and what Porsche marketing say. Half the mass of a COMPARABLE sized steel disc. In your case the saving is there. The saving over a Cayman S is much less.
I would love a set, I think they are great performers and the lack of creeping rust over time is a BIG plus.
weight savings on a CS or CR is 7 lbs in total for all 4 corners........... 3.18 kg of rotating massI would love a set, I think they are great performers and the lack of creeping rust over time is a BIG plus.
endurance is on another planet, since they are so over-sized/brakes for such a light car.....
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