Upgrading the Brakes
 

I have a 1997 2.5L 996 Boxster with about 47000 miles on the clock.
The front rotors and pads have never been replaced and the time has come to do this.
Since I will have to buy new rotors and pads should I consider upgrading to 996 front calipers/rotors/pads?
Are the 996 calipers a direct replacement for the stock calipers?
Should I upgrade to stainless brake lines?
Is the upgrade worth it or should I just leave everything stock?
Any comments on this or other options are welcome.
Thanks.

John

The stainless steel lines will give you a firmer pedal feel. It's a pretty good upgrade no matter how you drive.
As far as adding 986S or 996 brakes, the big question is about how you use the car.
The advantage of big brakes is not so much about pure stopping power, but rather about dissipating heat so you can stop hard over and over.
For pure stopping power, the right set of pads along with some sticky tires will make those base Boxster brakes feel like they're going to stand the car on the nose.

I agree. The 986 has what many claim to be the best stock brakes available on any car. If you're not tracking the car, you're not going to feel a big improvement in braking with the 986S or 996 brakes.

Your best bet to get the most out of your brakes on the street would be to install an upgraded brake pad, new rotors, and some stickier tires.

Pads to consider are EBC RedStuff or Pagid Orange. Both give excellent initial bite and won't fade. They are intended for sport street driving and occasional track use so they won't squeal like a banshee at every stopsign like most "racing" pads.

Tires will also make a huge improvement in braking and this is often overlooked. Tire Rack is a great place to review and compare performance tires. Of course, the trade off with tires is sticky vs life.

My personal setup is EBC RedStuff pads, drilled rotors, and Kumho Ectsa XS tires (treadwear rating 180). Works great on the street and no problems after 10 track days so far this year (11th track day is tomorrow!).

FWIW, I've got Hawk HP Plus pads with Nitto NT01 tires. The brakes squeal a bit on the street, and they produce a bit of dust, but for autocrossing, they're super. And the NT01's are unreal... of course they sure do wear fast!
Honestly, the name of the game is compromise. More performance = less streetability, and vice versa.

Previously I was on stock 2.7l brakes with textar pads and zimmerman rotors (standard ones). My setup was pretty new, as I just put them in 6 months ago.

Have just done my front S brakes conversion.

Firstly the S brakes (same as the 996 fronts) are directly bolt on. Am now on textar pads and Pagid cross drilled rotors. The rotors are about 4mm thicker and the calipers a good size bigger.

The biggest change I've noticed is the initial bite of the brakes... it's much more progressive than my stock ones... Much more confidence inspiring.. Previously, the initial bite was lacking, then I press harder and end up stopping more than I intended (especially since mines a tip and the tip box also downshifts to assist). Maybe it's just me, but the S brakes conversion is definitely worth the money, although I don't track but do fast fast highway driving. But I regret not getting all the calipers painted first.... now I've got 2 reds and 2 blacks.

Can't tell if the utimate braking power is better or not though as I'm letting it bed in first.. But the stock 2.7l brakes was not exactly lacking in ultimate braking power.

Call Houston at Cquence Brakes. (Google) Ask him to set you up with the 4 position front/rear package new rotors and pads. Get the "Extreme Cross" drilled only rotors and the Posi Quiet Semi Matalic pads. I installed this combination on my 1998 Base. They work BETTER than my stock 2000 S brakes. Everybody who drives the car raves about the stopping power of this set up.
BTW: This brake package only cost me $300 total shipped last January.
I have Kuhmo ASX tires on both cars.

I recently change the 2000 S to the Posi Quiet pads. They do not squeal.

The 2000 S now stops as good or better than the 1998 base. Still have the factory rotors. Had them turned.

We just sold the 1998 about 2 weeks ago so we can't do a side by side comparison like I did before.

If your brake components are working properly the stock setup is probably fine unless you are doing track sessions on hot days of more than 30 minutes. With 60+ track days on my car I just need to make sure the pads and rotors are in good shape and the fluid is fresh. The only time I overheat and boil my fluid is if I leave it in there too long. :o My fault, not the cars fault. Typical track sessions with PCA Zone 8 are 25 minutes and the brakes are fine.

I did it for looks, it fills out the wheel gap nicely. :dance:

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8501/dsc6345.jpg

+1 for the Cquence Extreme Cross rotors! Affordable, work great and look great!

Is it possible to use orginal 16IN wheels with S brakes?

Nope. You will need 17s or larger wheels.

Thanks Topless!

After much consideration ($) I have decided to keep the stock brakes.

I am located in Europe. I'm now looking at rotor and pad options.
I don't think that I will find such a good deal as the one from Cquence Brakes.
Shipping rotors LD is usually a problem if they are not properly packed. The weight sometimes causes the rotors to perforate the card box.
Anyway... thxs for the replies. I'll try Cquence Brakes. At least I may get a quote. In Europe we usually get ATE, Brembos or Zimmermans. Pads we usually go for Textar.
I'll probably end doing Brembos + Textar.

Quick question about upgrading.

If I were to put larger calipers and discs on the front of my 97, would I not be wise to move the existing fronts to the back so as to keep the braking force balanced? Or is this not even possible?

Not an expert but I have read in many forums that when upgrading the front to the 996 brakes (same as Boxster S) you don't need to upgrade the rear brakes.

Also, I don't believe it's possible to move to front rotors/calipers to the back without some serious work.

I'm also curious about your question, and, again, I'm not an expert. So, let's wait for a better answer...

Yes it's possible that silver 3.6L 986 from Excellence has done it and you'll need a few new handbrake parts from the S to fit. I have all the parts just waiting for the right time/money to do it.

Some will question if it's safe to do so to put more rear brake bias but some have also said it puts it at balance from front brake bias on the car.

Balancing your braking forces is certainly a good idea but you don't have to change hardware to get there. Simply running pads with more bite on the rear will move your braking forces aft. Many Spec racers run Pagid orange up front and Pagid Black on the rear. With Box S hardware up front you could run Pagid yellow there and Blacks on the rear for even more rear bias. Be careful when changing bias though. Too much rear bias and the car gets squirrelly under heavy braking with the ABS engaging on the rears first.

Nice cheap brake upgrade. I just got from eBay a set of 997 gt3 brake cooling ducks. Direct fit and are enormous compared to ours and were 36 bux shipped and will go on in about 10 mins. :)

Randall, the following thread contains relevant information to answer your question:

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/28088-more-cost-effective-brake-upgrades.html