Fitting Porsche 996 front brakes- a small write up

i have porsche setup and big rears going on in the next week i'll let you know how it goes :)
 
Prawn said:
yea those are the gash ones Tim! the pad guide pins arn't wide enough to take the 25mm disc as standard, so you have to trim them down.

the pistons in them are also only 28 and 30mm, as opposed to 36 and 40mm in the 996 fronts. the rear calipers give an incredibly hard pedal feel, with similar power to a 312mm setup with standard calipers.

I've also been told that they're incredible prone to fade, much like the standard brakes
Click to expand...

yup i did tell him but he's managed to fit them replacing his S3 fronts for less than £400 all in..... and swears they are a massive improvement - he said he had read somewhere that the smaller pistons gave a more solid pedal but also a more improved force on the pad - bearing in mind he deals with quite a few high performance cars through work, otherwise i would have side lined his comments

i dont know enough to comment myself other than what you lot tell me :(
 
Thanks for the link, I had been there before but I still can't find the PM Link! Must Be Blind!!
 
Jesus man.

it's here

pmdaveb.jpg
 
Prawn said:
cheers man :)

I sourced teh calipers myself for £300 posted, and paid Dave a further £500 all in for everything, a 100% bolt on kit, with RS19 track pads, all the lines, anti squeal shims, everything I'd need.

It's hardly cheap, but in my opinion these are better than brembo's, and a few hundred quid cheaper too
Click to expand...


£200 more for the Brembo, I would have. Looks better

Having "Porsche" brakes on another marque is just simply pretentious.

Anyway, nice write up.
 
finesse said:
£200 more for the Brembo, I would have. Looks better

Having "Porsche" brakes on another marque is just simply pretentious.

Anyway, nice write up.
Click to expand...

it's not pretentious at all dude, Porsche are known to have among the best brakes of any cars on the planet..... why anyone would not want good brakes is beyond me....

These calipers ARE made by brembo, they just happen to be better than those supplied with the GT kit. they're much lighter calipers, and being mono block, they're stiffer too.

Being for a porsche, the range of available pads is much greater, and the 330mm larger discs are an improvement over the 323mm discs of the GT's.

I'm not knocking the GT kit at all, it's brilliant, I'm simply saying that what I have here is an arguably better brake kit, for less money.
 
i don't really see how the brembo GT kit looks better either, the calipers are basically the same, but with 4 big heavy bolts to hold them together
 
ok here we go rubbish pics as they were on my phone but here ,,,

Porsche fronts and a 285mm Rear kit...


IMAG0025.jpg


IMAG0030.jpg


IMAG0024.jpg


IMAG0031.jpg
 
Looks nice mate

What front calipers are they? and disc size?

From the line around the front disc they look a bit like 996 rears.....
 
disc is the 312mm and yes 996 rears still bedding in but they seem fine, cars quicker tho as the rear calipers were sticking which i only found out last week so it effected my performance and mpg!
 
best of luck with them then matey!

i sold my 996 rears without even fitting them as I ws told they really wern't up to the job of stopping an A3 from speed, so what they'd be like on a heavy S3 I'm unsure.

how does the pedal feel? what pads are you running?
 
mines a Tdi mate, and there the std porsche ads as dave said use whats in there for now! then after when they run out i can get some more... As said the discs are new and i dont drive it much so gonna take a bit to bed them in! another week or 2 i recon but there slowly gripping better and better!
 
audi upgrades
haha, that's a soot chucker?

Not a bad replica at all mate! It sure had me going!

I guess in that case, 312mm 996 rears are probably more than up to the job!

I was thinking it was a 250bhp 1450kg fatarse!
 
yep near enough is! i have the interior too!

IMAG0033.jpg


Yer mines a nice spec tdi got alot done to it, take too long to list but about 150+ hp at a guess and loads of torque, enough to spin the wheels on 18's haha...

But no doubt yours brakes be better than mine! I have ap 6 pots on the cossie and MAN hey stop on a 2p piece! but on my audi i had the old style hubs with built in carriers so i wanted to get the bigger better safer brakes, hence me changing the hubs and front brakes and as said the rear ones were sticking so the new ones were bought too! these will suit my needs i think if i had 200+hp i'd look into AP's or front porsche's .....

:)
 
Nick do you know what the caliper part numbers are? I'm looking for a set myself but there's so many out there, it's hard to distinguish which are the right ones.
 
finesse said:
£200 more for the Brembo, I would have. Looks better

Having "Porsche" brakes on another marque is just simply pretentious.

Anyway, nice write up.
Click to expand...


Prawn said:
it's not pretentious at all dude, Porsche are known to have among the best brakes of any cars on the planet..... why anyone would not want good brakes is beyond me....

These calipers ARE made by brembo, they just happen to be better than those supplied with the GT kit. they're much lighter calipers, and being mono block, they're stiffer too.

Being for a porsche, the range of available pads is much greater, and the 330mm larger discs are an improvement over the 323mm discs of the GT's.

I'm not knocking the GT kit at all, it's brilliant, I'm simply saying that what I have here is an arguably better brake kit, for less money.
Click to expand...


Sorry to quote something from months ago but it should be remembered that the great grandpa of the S3, the RS2 had Porsche brakes (as well as lots of other Porsche bits), so the precedent and provenance is there!
 
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I was talking to a chap today who was preparing a MK2 Escort Rally car for the Irish tarmac championship, he had just fitted AP Racing Calipers, ali bells and 300mm rotors with race pads, £700 the lot direct from AP, I was expecting him to say at least 2K, great price.
 
JS1500 said:
Sorry to quote something from months ago but it should be remembered that the great grandpa of the S3, the RS2 had Porsche brakes (as well as lots of other Porsche bits), so the precedent and provenance is there!
Click to expand...

Funny, I was thinking that too !
 
The caliper part numbers are 996.351.425 & 996.351.426. they are found on Carrera 2's (Black) / Carrera 4's (SIlver) and Boxster S fronts (Red), they are NOT found on C4S as they get Turbo calipers.

When you get the calipers, you need to swap them left to right by swapping the cross over lines top to bottom with the bleed nipples, this is due to the leading / trailling piston layout, and the Audi having front mounted calipers compared to the porsche rear mounted setup.


9 months on these are still incredible, and I'd still stand by them being better than the brembo kit. They're bigger, lighter, and have a stiffer monoblock caliper :)


I love them to bits! Dave B has stopped doing his kits lately, but you can still find carriers on ebay from vagbremtechclinic I believe they're called
 
This impressed me so much I've just purchased some 996 fronts! Just need to save for the lines,disks and carriers now,and anything else I'm going to need. Spacers perhaps?
 
depends on your wheels matey.

My b6 S reps in 8x18 ET35 JUST clear the caliper with 3mm to spare, so no spacers needed. Some other wheels will clash though
 
Morgan where did you get the calipers from?
 
I bought them from a Porsche spares shop on eBay Dani,same part numbers as Prawns for £369.They should come tomorrow hopefully.
I need a monkeys guide as to where I get all the other bits now!
 
Sorry to dig this thread out again guys,but I've now got the funds to get my calipers repainted and collect everything else I'm going to need. I've searched eBay for vagbremtechclinic but nothing comes back. If anyone is feeling extremely helpful, could they post up some links of what disks,carriers and every other item I should need please. I know this is a very big ask,but I am soo good at ordering the wrong parts :(

Also, as Dave isn't refurbishing calipers anymore,does anyone know of an alternative I could try? I've got Brembo decals to go on instead of the Porka ones too.

Any help is very much appreciated!!
 
1st link to the carriers is correct mate. Second link is for he mk5/8p chassis so no good.

Try those guys for the discs too, you're after some 5x100 330x28mm discs.

For the hoses, I believe the caliper fitment is the same as lcr brembos, so try badger5 for hoses
 
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Ok so I now have the carriers,the quality of them looks very good.
I've emailed Bill about the rest of the parts,he got back straight away but seemed a little concerned about the pad swept area and what diameter disk the carriers were made for. I've emailed him back but no reply as yet,I know he's a very busy man mind.

Would these be the lines I would need Prawn?

http://www.helcarkits.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=363_408_443&products_id=9808

Also, 5x100 330x28mm disks are proving difficult to find. I can't justify the 2 piece items Bill sells as I don't trackday or anything. Anyone know of a place that sells a cheaper alternative???
 
Cheapest solution for discs currently is to have ebc blanks for an alfa brera supplied and redrilled to 5x100 by Hi-Spec, around £150ish for the pair inc drilling I believe for plain discs.
 
I read it is possible to use the 996 4 pot calipers with the standard 312mm discs and standard 17" wheels with the right bracket.
Can't remember exactly where though or find it ...

Just scrolled up and MadAdamski is using 312mm discs.
 
it is, if you use the Boxster front calipers, not 996 fronts, or 986 boxster S fronts.

To be honest though, i don't see the point in wasting your money on a second rate setup. the 330mm 996 front setup fits behind standard S3 wheels perfectly, and doesn't cost THAT much more at all.
 
audi upgrades
I was under the impression that 330mm discs + 996 351 425/6 wouldn't fit if I wanted to keep the standard 17" Avus wheels. My reason for considering 312mm discs was to keep the same braking ratio between front and rear, to minimise increasing the unsprung weight and to retain 17" wheels. It'd also mean that closer to what the designer's had intended for F/R braking ratio.

I tried a S3 with apex springs and 18" wheels and it was awful on potholed Hants roads, with hindsight I reckon the bushes were knackered though as they were squeaking at every opportunity. The car I bought is a lot tighter. I wonder what a properly sorted car on 18s is like?
 
S3 avus 17's fit perfectly over the 330mm discs + 996 351 425/6 calipers mate, I had them on mine, and there is loads of clearance.

the boxster front caliper option isn't ideal, as the swept depth of the discs doesn't match, and you end up with a pad that only covers 70% of the disc.

I ran my 330's for 2 years and they were absolutely fantastic. I certainly wouldn't entertain the boxster fronts / 312's option myself.
 
Hi firestorm, I don't know what you mean by "wrt brakes", I might be being thick,lol.

I'd echo what the other guys have said,don't waste your time on shiny red calipers and half ***** disks. Go big or go home my friend! ;)

I had a fair few problems with my brakes to begin with. First the pad retainer plate rubbed on the top of the disk,so I filed it down a bit. Then everything was cool,I bedded them in as per Bills instructions. Once I'd had them on a while I gave them an emergency stop test from speed,this wasn't so good as when I went to pull away I had an almighty grinding noise! On further inspection I found it was the top of the disk fouling the top of the caliper! I guess the heat expanded the disk a bit,as it is tight in there. Anyway,I had the adapter raised a bit on a couple of washers and it has been super since.

A massive thank you to Prawn for your help mate,very much appreciated!
 
wrt - with respect to
Morgan, where did you get your brackets and brake hoses from ?

Prawn - great thats what I needed to know, always thought the 330mm discs won't go with standard 17s

Thanks!

Ok, I've got the message, the consensus is not to bother going to the expense of changing the brakes if I don't intend upping the disc size to increase the brake leverage effect.

So the options are
1) LCR 323mm, 5x100 pcd
2) 330mm from an Alfa Brera which needs modifying to 5x100 pcd
3) R32 334mm discs are heavy and expensive. 5x100 pcd
4) Standard 312mm discs
5) 2 piece custom discs, mega $£$

My forum and googling trawling has found me :
Creation Motorsport / fitting kit - make brackets for 330mm discs
Gtech 911 - make brackets / fitting kit for 312mm discs

hispecbrake.co.uk will modify the discs's pcd for £60 , will sell custom bells and rotors
Bill @ badger 5 will sell custom bells and rotors

Brera discs seem the way to go, Pagid discs cab be had for less than £70 a pair from ECP (with winner30 code) + £80 for conversion (incl courier)
 
Hi Dan,
too thick ? or the wrong offset ? they're 28mm from what I've seen. Pagid front discs for a Brera:
Brake Disc Thickness [mm]: 28,0; Brake Disc Type: Internally Vented; Centering Diameter [mm]: 70; Diameter [mm]: 330; Height [mm]: 39,7; Hole Arrangement / Number: 05/10; Minimum Thickness [mm]: 26; Pitch Circle Ø [mm]: 110; Weight [kg]: 9,29;

TT Mk1 3.2 / R32
Diameter: 335mm, Height: 35mm, Thickness: 32/30mm

Standard S3 8L discs
312MM DIAMETER x 25MM THICK x 34MM HEIGHT

Where did you get your brackets from ?
 
Dan,
just read your threads - these ****** brakes do stir up some **** ;-)

You have 993 turbo calipers - I'm looking at Boxster S/996 front calipers 996 351 425/6

I'm trying to make sure I get the right parts, nice shiny bits are no good if they don't together.
I'll buy the bits when I have the money and when the bits come up at the right price. At the moment, the priority
is to sort out the unknown map on my car, as it's runnning lean, but brakes will be next on the list.
 
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