They are absolutely worht it. They are now a POSITVE on Resale cars. Most people are looking for PCCBs and the Gen II PCCBS are a must. Its almost a closed case on Gen II PCCBs on GT cars.

If you notice most of the people who say they arent dont have them. Another thing is there are TWO stories with PCCBSs and if the "experts" arent quoting BOTH stories then they probably dont know the whole story. I have had 2 generations of PCCBs and tracked both. No Problems with either. The base issue is the pads. ON Gen I the way to keep the rotors in great shape was to use CGT stock pads on the track. THEN the Gen I's last as almost long as they were advertised. Dont use them and you could find your rotors deteriorating quickly. Use the WRONG pads and it was a disaster. Down here in SoCal One of the POC officers Kevin Reynolds had a 996 GT3 and tracked the crap out if with the stock Gen I PCCBs and had no problem. He eventually gave the car to his wife and she continues to track the car.
Gen IIs are even better. You have more room for error with pads. Check with your local guys and get the right pads for your track. Here they are the green pads. There have been almost NO issues with Gen II PCCBs on GT3's. On a track car you absolutely want to lose unsprung weight. Its the best place to have lite weight components. Thats why you spend $5k or more on wheels. So if you are serious about your car youre going to check the PCCB box on the order form. As stated by someone else they are a BARGAIN compared to Fcar Ceramics. They are in the 22K range for the same size. Because of back problems I havent tracked my 997 GT3 as much as the 996 but there had not been one iota of problems with either. Dont ask someone who DOESNT have a boat if boats are fun. The truth is its NO PROBLEM to move to irons if your PCCBs wear out. SO this PCBBS are TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS THE SKY IS FALLING is bogus. Not only can you change to iron should you not take proper care of your PCCBS but the dealers are running package deals that are far less for a set of PCCB rotors. They are fantastic brakes and there is no reason for you NOT to order them if you are getting a new 911. If cost is an issue then maybe a spec miata would be a better choice. I.E. if youre specc'ing a $100K or more 911 then $9k for the best brakes in the workld should be a no brainer. You can replace them for $3k OR you can take care of them and enjoy miles and miles of fade free laps at your favorite track.

 

I hope yo are right, I just ordered them.

 

This is from TODAYS latest Excellence

"The Latest PCCBS are just incredible, perhaps the best brakes I have leaned on"

 

Thanks for all the input. I've also read other forum discussions on this issue.

Here's what I've read thus far:
PCCB brakes are about 40lbs lighter, are yellow as apposed to being red, provide almost equal stopping power, produce less brake dust, cost roughly 5k/rotor to replace, and are less resilliant to abuse.

Some further questions:
- How much do the steel rotors cost to replace? (must factor this in if I opt to buy ceramic and need to replace with steel ones due to premature failure)
- When did the Gen II PCCBs come out? Would an 05 997 911S come with Gen IIs?

For me, since I probably wont be tracking the car much and since I'll be buying used, am willing to buy an 05/06 997 911S with the ceramic brakes. Reduced brake dust alone is reason enough to justify, from what I see on autotrader, a minimally higher asking price. The key is, if the cermaics fail, I could just replace them with steel ones.
Hopefully, that isn't too expensive.

Thanks for all your inputs.

Joseph

 

Joseph

IMHO if you are not going to track the car, the issues of ceramic wear and cracking will not be an issue.. I took great care of my rotors but think they were defective and fell apart ...i always used oem pads for the ceramics and changed them at the dealer ..

i have been told by several sources that the rotors that work with the genII ceramic calipers are the gt3 cup steel rotors...not sure how much but they are hard to find...

i looked into getting 997 gt3 rotors but they will not work a/t dealer.

I do love the ceramics but i also had a 997s with steels and never faded. and there are many trackies who love the steels without fade..so i would not get the ceramics again..although i can afford them would rather spend the money on a spec maita as a second track car (which i am going to do) or other mods...
good luck...either way you will be happy with the car...

 

BTW Stock pads that come with the car are exactly the wrong pads to use at the track. WHy Porsche used these pads on these
brakes is beyond me ESPECIALLY with Gen I's. The stock GT3 pads on 997s are not the right pads to track with either.
For Gen IIs the correct pads are Porsche Motorsport GREEN pads. You will have the most success with these.
And if you continue to use the wrong pads over and over such as OEM pads you are headed to
failure.


Any 997 has Gen IIs -the first car with Gen IIs was the 996 Twin Turbo S. A steel set of rotors really good ones that are track worthy are less than $3K. Some vendors offer PCCB replacement kits. But like I said I have heard of dealers offering PCCB
replacement kits for $5k for the Ceramic rotor kits.
If you are not going to track your car then PCCBs will last forever. The only time you can get into trouble with PCCBs if you use the right pads is going OFF the track. You can embed a pebble between the pads and the rotor and scar the rotor. If you are going off the track ALOT you may need other things like instruction instead of worrying about your PCCBs.
Again, this is kind of important and a big deal since this is becoming almost a must have. Dont ask someone who doesnt have them.Go to someone who has the brakes and used the brakes and tracked the brakes. There are all kinds of horror stories (mostly false and mostly 4th hand) and it doesnt do you any good to get incomplete or just plain incorrect data when you are the one getting ready to make the purchase.
In the GT3 world there are fewer and fewer that are going for steel. More factory racing series are racing with PCCBs in Europe. When Gen Is came out the factory cars and customer race cars went to iron. That isnt the case so much any more and there is a good reason. These brakes rock and they drop weight in the most important place you can lose weight. You get better turn in and accelleration and all the good things that go with low weight components.

 

Thanks OldGuy and Mkk62.

I'm buying used so although I may not be tracking the car often (if ever), I do have to worry about what previous owners have done with their PCCBs.

Right Now, there are several 05 997S with ceramic breaks on autotrader.
One of the sellers has tracked the car twice. I didn't know enough then to ask
what kind of pads were used but I think he used the stock pads since he said the car was inspected at the track and was proclaimed to be trackfready as is. So it seems that he may have over stressed his rotors since he used stock PCCB pads. The question is, how can one determine if a used 997 911S with the ceramic rotors/pads have been damaged or are cracked? Since I would like the PCCBs, I'll have to ask whether the cars have been tracked with stock pads. Is there a way for one to check if a car has been tracked?? How do I know if they're telling the truth?

I'll stop by a local Porsche service department soon and ask how much
PCCB rotors and pads would cost to replace as well as how much would it cost
to swap them out for the steel/iron/red (normal 911S) types.

I dig the PCCBs because they're lighter but mainly due to reduced break dust.

Thank you for your help.

Joseph

 

Joseph,
Look at the rocker panels under the car. If they are roughed up and scratched that is a sure indication the car had been tracked aggressively. If they look good then he is probably telling you the truth. I would go ahead and set aside some money for new pads. The rotors on my 996 GT3 were cracking and according to the service bulletin that is a normal sign of wear. I have not seen Gen IIs that have cracked. I have not seen any service bulletins on GenIIs either.
When you decide on the final cars I assume you are going to have a good PPI. At that time you can have the pads removed and see if they are the OEM ones or other Pagid pads. If he only tracked the car a couple times then the pad doesnt matter. If he tracked ALOT then a really close inspection is necessary. Just make sure you get everything inspected. I live 210 miles north of San Diego and would be happy to meet you somewhere to look at them if youre willing to drive north a ways. I could go to the end of hwy 14 which is 110 miles for me if you want to drive up the 5 then the 405. Or if youre willing to make a road trip all the way to Ridgecrest about 2.5 hours, I and a buddy of mine will inspect them just to give you piece of mind.
Just do due diligence and hang out on the Rennlist GT3 board. There is alot of PCCB info there by people who drive them hard.

 

I went with the HUGE Brembos instead of going ceramic. I would assume that they are heavy, but they stop like crazy from 160mph (like on the main straight at VIR into turn 1 hairpin). They refuse to fade too, with race pads and race fluid. I like 'em. Just a mention. Also, since you're talking the 'look' of a yellow caliper being a positive, consider the look of the Brembo 15" 6 piston for less money. Just a thought... Note: These wheels are 19", for perspective, and I only have them on the front.

 

blakt, those are the chit!

 

I agree Mike I love those wheels.

 

I have driven both...but only own one...that said, I like the steel rotors as I can use cup rotors that are half the cost for tracking and they are very predictable in their wear and expense needs. Also, when really being beaten on...anything can break...I would rather just pay less for the replacements. That said, resale-wise...PCCBs are a pretty big boon to the price of any car equipped with them...so financially in that regard they are better.

 

Thank you. I think they're pretty dope too. I really am pleased with them, and I LOVE walking up to the car when the light is hitting them like in the pic.

Old Guy, if you are talking about my wheels, they are Volk TE-37s, and are actually relatively cheap... and really really (like Champion really) light. Good track wheel.

 

I haven't read every post made here, but the changing out of track and street pads takes just a few minutes on the Reds. No wrenches required like on the PCCBs.

There are some great high performance pads available for the reds at reasonable prices as well.

 

better? yes
worth it? no