What brake upgrades do we have for base Boxster?

[Topless]

Heat, brake fade, and wear are mostly a function of brake components. Stopping distance is mostly a function of weight and tire grip. Your stock base Boxter already has a stopping distance that rivals the Ferrari Maranello or F355. Upgraded tires are the best way to improve stopping distance. Upgraded brake components are the best way to overcome brake fade and brake overheat problems.

[insite]

my stock brakes would fade a lot at some tracks. i upgraded to boxster S / 996 brakes. the fronts are a direct bolt-on (you will of course need new rotors). the rears require either an adapter for the e-brake or a special rotor available directly from brembo. this rotor has the base 986 e-brake / hub surface with the correct offset for the 996 / S calipers.

the rear 996 / S calipers are identical except for the guide pins. the rotors are the same diameter, but are 2mm thicker. you really only need to do the fronts.

at the track, the difference is VERY noticable. on the street, stopping distances are of course the same, but the feel & modulation are superior with the upgrade. i spend a lot of time at the track; for me, this was one of my most worthwhile upgrades. they knocked over 1 sec / lap off my times at TGPR.

[j.fro]

Another option is to switch out the stock hoses for a set of stainless steel hoses. When I swapped mine I noticed an immediate difference in the pedal feel: it was much stiffer. Also, you might try flushing the system and replacing the stock fluid with ATE or another good race fluid.

[arenared]

Originally Posted by insite

the rears require either an adapter for the e-brake or a special rotor available directly from brembo. this rotor has the base 986 e-brake / hub surface with the correct offset for the 996 / S calipers.

Do you have any part numbers or links? I've searched all things Brembo that I could find and could not find these "special" rotors. I assume the rear rotors are 24mm wide. Thanks!

[arenared]

For the original poster, I would not do the fronts without the rears as you will be increasing the already heavy front brake bias and decrease your braking capability although you would be increasing the heat soak capabilities of the front. I would recommend trying more aggressive pads, and if that is not enough (your pads/rotors overheating), then the S brakes would be the next logical step. The special Brembo rotors that 'insite' mentions and I've been looking for are the missing link. BTW, you can sell your calipers and recoup the majority of the costs of S calipers because Boxster brakes are in very high demand by VW/Audi modders.

I also put in braided stainless lines. No detectable difference IMHO. Flushing the fluid is a good idea if you haven't done it recently/regularly.

[insite]

Originally Posted by arenared

For the original poster, I would not do the fronts without the rears as you will be increasing the already heavy front brake bias and decrease your braking capability although you would be increasing the heat soak capabilities of the front. I would recommend trying more aggressive pads, and if that is not enough (your pads/rotors overheating), then the S brakes would be the next logical step. The special Brembo rotors that 'insite' mentions and I've been looking for are the missing link. BTW, you can sell your calipers and recoup the majority of the costs of S calipers because Boxster brakes are in very high demand by VW/Audi modders.

I also put in braided stainless lines. No detectable difference IMHO. Flushing the fluid is a good idea if you haven't done it recently/regularly.

actually, the more one increases the braking capability of the front, the less of a need there is for rear brakes. this happens because the car dives under braking, transferring weight to the front of the car. in an extreme example, the rear wheels would lift off the ground (endo) and 100% of the braking would be done by the fronts. this is of course limited by tire traction.

regardless, the caliper pistons, rotor diameter, and proportioning valve are all the same as on the S. the only difference is rotor thickness / offset. doing the fronts without the rears creates no problem; the system will brake better than the base system.

as for those rotors, do a search at boxster racing board. someone posted the name of the place that sells these. i can't remember off hand.

[arenared]

Originally Posted by insite

actually, the more one increases the braking capability of the front, the less of a need there is for rear brakes.

Actually, the more one increases the traction of the front ..., that is true as you note later. Also, these cars have a relatively low CG, so the weight transfer is not as much as on other cars.

Originally Posted by insite

regardless, the caliper pistons, rotor diameter, and proportioning valve are all the same as on the S.

This is not true. The S rotors are 318mm. The base are 298mm which give about a 7% greater front braking bias.

Originally Posted by insite

do a search at boxster racing board.

I've looked there and elsewhere for years. I have an 'S', so I'm mostly interested in providing the numbers to others when the subject comes up.

[insite]

Originally Posted by arenared

This is not true. The S rotors are 318mm. The base are 298mm which give about a 7% greater front braking bias.

i was referring to the rears. since the rears are the same diameter, with the same diameter pistons, the brake bias would be the same as it is on a stock boxster S. i was inferring that this was a bias Porsche deemed acceptable, so the upgrade wouldn't mess anything up.

I've looked there and elsewhere for years. I have an 'S', so I'm mostly interested in providing the numbers to others when the subject comes up.

i'll see if i can find them.

[arenared]

Originally Posted by insite

i was referring to the rears. since the rears are the same diameter, with the same diameter pistons, ...

i'll see if i can find them.

Thanks, insite!

I looked up the rears, and the base is 292mm vs. 299mm with the S. So, there is some small difference. I was thinking it was more like 20mm like the front. My bad.

There are some very nice gains to be had with shifting the brake bias to the rear. The trick is finding pads with different mu friction but with similar temperature curves. Messing around with different pads to change the brake bias, there is a very noticeable difference in Gs.