Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

PCCB Calipers

Norfolk & Idea

Well-known member
Joined
15 Jan 2016
Messages
2,122
I feel I should know this but I don't, so..... Is there a difference between the red calipers and the PCCB yellow. I understand the yellow PCCB calipers are yellow to alert the wheel remover to CC discs but wondered if the actual calipers are different in order to accommodate different pads.

The reason I'm asking is because at some point I'd like to go PCCB. I've had my car tuned to circa 630hp and I've noticed the current brake set up (standard red) start to go off a bit when hauling up that extra kinetic energy.

It's all fine and dandy pumping your car up to a gazzilion hp but I've discovered you really need to do likewise with your brakes and chassis.

So after the PCCB brakes and GT2RS centre lock set up it's the suspension. She'll kill me. Yikes! :)
 
Even if you have steels Surface Transforms can sell you ceramics discs with a conversion kit which adapts your existing red callipers to use their ceramics which are a bit larger than Porsches' ceramics.

http://surfacetransforms.com/porsche-997-brake-kits#turbo

:thumbs:

Perhaps we can organise a group buy if there are any others members who perhaps want them? I'm certainly v.interested in these but at £8k just for the kit its a bit too much IMO.

I think £6k would be fair.

I'm actually in touch with their sales director, Peter Studer, so if any one else wants them I can always see what the best price is if we buy a few kits.
 
The short answer is yes.
The ceramic disks are larger & so are the pads.
As I recall, the carriers are obviously different & the front calipers bigger.
I can't say for sure, but I think the rears are the same size.
 
Clanky said:
The short answer is yes.
The ceramic disks are larger & so are the pads.
As I recall, the carriers are obviously different & the front calipers bigger.
I can't say for sure, but I think the rears are the same size.

The OP has a 997.2 : the short answer is actually no.
On the 996, the answer for a Turbo is most certainly yes (4 pot callipers on the steel, 6 pot on the ceramic) but on anything else the worst case scenario is having to space them.

Meanwhile, PCCB is not a definitive solution and there is certainly no reason to spend £14k on disks to make the thing stop. First thing is to switch to racing brake fluid and add the GT2/Gen2 GT3 rear cooling ducts and fit race pads. If you still need more cooling then look at modifying 996 Cup front ducts to fit your 997.

There isn't any real gain in stopping power from ceramics (the car's stopping power is constrained by tyre grip once you have the right pads and adequate cooling in there).

Regardless - even if you had positively convinced yourself that you must have ceramics on the car, you would go with a straight swap to the Surface Transforms ones that IMI A mentioned rather than splurge on PCCB. :thumb:
 
Wow, thanks fellas. Some really interesting leads here :thumbs:
 
IMI A said:
Even if you have steels Surface Transforms can sell you ceramics discs with a conversion kit which adapts your existing red callipers to use their ceramics which are a bit larger than Porsches' ceramics.

http://surfacetransforms.com/porsche-997-brake-kits#turbo

:thumbs:

Perhaps we can organise a group buy if there are any others members who perhaps want them? I'm certainly v.interested in these but at £8k just for the kit its a bit too much IMO.

I think £6k would be fair.

I'm actually in touch with their sales director, Peter Studer, so if any one else wants them I can always see what the best price is if we buy a few kits.

I saw a used set of PCCBs and discs for sale for £4.5k a few months ago. I think that was a very good price.
 
^^ Good deal but I think with brakes especially ceramics you should buy new unless you know the vendor well so you can 100% verify mileage covered and condition.

Interesting tit bit I picked up on another forum is when switching to ceramics you apparently have to re-programme the ABS.

I get really keen to have these but then cool off once I've thought about how much they cost. The steels on the 997 turbo are amazing - only issue with them is that they do go off and fade after prolonged track use. Am I right in thinking ceramics do not fade?
 
IMI A said:
^^ Good deal but I think with brakes especially ceramics you should buy new unless you know the vendor well so you can 100% verify mileage covered and condition.

Interesting tit bit I picked up on another forum is when switching to ceramics you apparently have to re-programme the ABS.

I get really keen to have these but then cool off once I've thought about how much they cost. The steels on the 997 turbo are amazing - only issue with them is that they do go off and fade after prolonged track use. Am I right in thinking ceramics do not fade?

I've certainly never seen them fade, & regarding the ABS, I can't see why it would need reprogramming. It detects the slip from the reluctor ring, not the disks.

Another thing to bear in mind is the difference in unsprung weight is very noticeable on the fronts. It makes the car feel lighter & more responsive to turn in.
Cosmetically, you don't have to worry about them rusting up in storage either.


:thumb:
 
IMI A said:
^^ Good deal but I think with brakes especially ceramics you should buy new unless you know the vendor well so you can 100% verify mileage covered and condition.

Mileage is actually inconsequential. I know of a car that had 172K miles on it and still had the original PCCBs and they were still perfectly serviceable. Aside from obvious delamination, the only accurate way to determine wear is to weigh them. Each disc has a minimum weight printed on the bell.

IMI A said:
Interesting tit bit I picked up on another forum is when switching to ceramics you apparently have to re-programme the ABS.

That would be a neat trick without spending £12K on the Bosch motorsport ABS unit. The standard units can't be reprogrammed & besides, it's totally unnecessary given that the only reason to do so is if you are changing the relative rolling radius ratios of the tyres.

As an aside, the unsprung weight advantage of PCCBs can easily be negated on a steel brake car by using wheels that don't double as boat anchors like the OEM ones do.
 
Read re programming ABS when going from reds to yellows on one of the US forums. Perhaps its because the PCCB are 380mm at the front and standard steels are 350mm? I think the chap had all the work done by an OPC. :?:
 
Mmm, I suspect he's either mis-understood what they did or they've charged him for something that wasn't/can't be done. The cars have identical ABS units regardless of the brake disc material or colour of the calipers. My 996 was a PCCB car originally (350/350) & I've gone from that to steel 350/350, 360/350, 362/350 & finally its current 380/360. Never had an ABS problem during all those incarnations & I wouldn't have expected one. People don't really understand what ABS does & how it does what it does.
 
NXI20 said:
The cars have identical ABS units regardless of the brake disc material or colour of the calipers. My 996 was a PCCB car originally (350/350) & I've gone from that to steel 350/350, 360/350, 362/350 & finally its current 380/360.

Nick, going slightly off topic, did you use the original calipers in its final incarnation?
I have a pair of new Brembo Cup two piece 380mm rotors that I would like to get some use out of...any recommendations to upgrade from current steel/red calipers?
 
Stuart Mackay said:
Nick, going slightly off topic, did you use the original calipers in its final incarnation?
I have a pair of new Brembo Cup two piece 380mm rotors that I would like to get some use out of...any recommendations to upgrade from current steel/red calipers?

Hi Stuart

Yes, same original PCCB calipers used on all iterations of my brakes. For the 380mm discs, you need to open the throat at the bottom of the caliper by a few millimetres so that the disc will clear it but it's not major surgery and perfectly safe. Make sure that your chosen pads will clear the bells before you embark on this though! Add 15mm spacers & longer bolts and enjoy a huge step up in stopping power.
 
not ceramics, but i can reccomend gyrodisk 355mm all round with 6 pot motorsport calipers up front and standard 4 pot turbo calipers on the rear. I also use oagid rs29 pads

Good brakes for me anyways!!!

I have a 996 turbo
 
My steels stop me quite well at 200+mph... Never had an issue tbh
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,360
Messages
1,439,514
Members
48,719
Latest member
Porsche Die Hard
Back
Top