Brakes - Canada/USA Parts
 

Hey folks, I need some help finding Brakes (rotors and pads) for my 2001 Boxster S. I am located in Canada but looking to buy parts online from somewhere who will ship to Canada. Can anyone suggest a place as well as the actually part numbers and brand... I'm on a tight budget lately so hopefully someone out there can help me out. My rotors might still be good - I'm not 100% sure so I may be able to get away with just replacing the pads. If anyone can help me out please reply or send me a personal message.

Thank you!!

With 30% exchange you might want to just buy locally instead. Otherwise just get a US mailbox at the border and go pick them up there.

One quick way to tell if a rotor is ready for replacement (at least on an "S" and that is what you have) is to feel for a lip at the edge of the rotor. If this lip is 1mm or greater then it below the specs and according to Porsche should be replaced. If there is no lip or it is very small (less than 1mm) and the rotor looks good then it is probably still good.

Centric makes good inexpensive brake pads, I run them on several of the street vehicles in my family. On my Boxster S I am running EBC red but that is because it sees a lot of track use. I had OEM pads before and never had any trouble with them, even after several track days. I just noticed that as I got faster and the brake pad got past 50% wear, the wear accelerated. I have heard it is because more heat gets in the pad and doesn't dissipate as easily because there is less pad material. I believe Centric has an OE formula pad.

Being in Canada though I have no idea what is available.

Steve

yeah, you'll get killed with the exchange and shipping (rotors are heavy). the best way is to find someone with a world impex account and get them at wholesale.

I ran mintex pads on the track for a couple years and no problem at all. don't use anything branded by napa, however - tried a set of those and got immediately ejected off-piste.

factory specs on rotors are 26 mm front 22 mm rear. you can get cheap plastic $5 calipers at canadian tire or home hardware.

Autopartsway.ca usually has quite a bit but they're not showing for the S. Ebay...

I bought these NPN pads from Autopartsway.ca. Funny that you can't link to them from the main site. Had to go into my order history to find the link.

They work great. Indistiguishable from the OE pads (at least to me). I kept my rotors because they are still thicker than the minimum spec of 26mm and are still straight. I just ground away the lip with an angle grinder.

Whats the difference between 'organic blended compound', 'ceramic', 'oem', etc. I understand its what they are made up of - but is there ones less quality and to stay away from etc? Just trying to educate myself a little more... thanks.

I can't help you with how pads are blended, but I can tell you that the Akebono Euro pads I installed when I did a front pad & rotor replacement in April do not dust at all compared with the Textars that were on the car.
I haven't noticed a difference in braking performance, although mine does not see AX or track duty.
I did use genuine Porsche rotors instead of Sebro or Zimmerman.
I figured the originals lasted 15 years, so for the $90 price premium, I went with them. Rotors were ordered from a U.S. dealer and brought home by my snowbird parents.
Pads were from RockAuto and came home the same way.

Rockauto.com for me

Do our cars wear out the rears more or the fronts? It seems rear pads are cheaper than front - is that due to just the size difference or something...

the reverse - supply and demand - fronts wear faster so cost more.

if you want easy, with actual part numbers, and to view a bunch of different makers of pads for your car, our forum owner Pelican Parts can help you (they also ship to Canada) ...

Porsche Boxster (1997-2004) - Brake Pads & Rotors - Page 1

organic - no pesticides or growth hormones were used in the making of this product.

ceramic - made from recycled pottery. --jk :)

We need to fix that! Let's see if we can make you get new brakes WAY sooner than another 15 years.

Working on it... Huron Road and Miramichi Bay Road between Southampton & Port Elgin rock!
Done them a few times this week already!

I learn something new everyday...thanks. On my Elantra because its front wheel drive the front brakes wear out twice as fast as the rears...so i figured since this car is rear wheel drive the rear brakes would wear faster... I also noticed that the Front brake pads are actually larger than the rear brake pads.... why is that? Are the rotors larger too I'm guessing ?

Pretty much any vehicle will have larger brakes at the front axle, as weight bias is thrown forward when on the whoa pedal. Boxster brakes are quite capable. From what I've read, most spec racers will only upgrade pads when setting up their cars.

Do you think its a good idea to invest in higher end brakes for the front and say regulars in the rear? I'm on a budget, can't go crazy on buying all highend parts these days.

I have replaced the fronts with a higher end pad and rotor when they were wore out and the rears were not. When the time came to do the rears I upgraded them to the same as what I put on the front.

I did not really notice any big difference but I just drive street.

Which brand pads and rotors are you using? Where you order from?

Which brand pads and rotors are you using? Where you order from?