Yet another newbie looking for input on brake pads/rotor brands

[paulofto]

Let's see..... particlewave has over 5000 posts and has helped hundreds, yes hundreds of fellow Boxster owners with a multitude of issues and has never steered anyone wrong. mmassey0125 has just over 30 posts and proceeds to diss particlewave.

particleave is 100% correct concerning OEM parts, mmassey0125 apparently has more money than common sense. Paying double for exactly the same part in a different package is simply silly.

[Deserion]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

To end all the bickering.

Buy zimmerman rotors and textar pads. They arent too expensive and you wont have to worry. Done

Seconded. Also Sebro, Balo, or ATE rotors are a good choice.

[bmsamson]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

To end all the bickering.

Buy zimmerman rotors and textar pads. They arent too expensive and you wont have to worry. Done

Ignoring the 'bickering' I'm struck by the fact that none have endorsed the Brembo pads/rotors, though they seem to be a viable option for calipers. I'll have a look at these and see where they come in, price-wise. Thanks for the input.

[Todd Mac]

As far as additional parts, I believe new caliper bolts are recommended and the originals have a star type pattern so a special socket to remove them - and the new ones have an allan looking head so another special socket for that. (I picked the sockets up at Lowe's for ~<$3 each).

Also, you may want to get new brake wear sensors as I broke one taking them out (~$10< each).

I also bought the damping pads, which you may or may not need/care about but it's another item you would do since they old ones (on my 04 S) came out attached to the pads and were not reusable. I don't recall if the base brakes use them but I think they may not.

I reused the rotor screws the hold the rotor in place while you re-install the lugs. And I re-used the pin and metal pressure piece that holds the pads down (mainly because that part didn't ship with the rest of my items and I'm impatient).

I didn't do the rears yet but I believe the same will be needed there (though the damping pads are different).

Good luck.

[marsheng]

All brake manufactures are making brakes of an acceptable standard. They all work and each company has their reputation to uphold.

Back to basics. There are hard and soft pads, there are "clean" and "dusty" ones.

Hard brakes wear the rotors and soft wear them less.
Dust and clean, I guess depends on what they are made from.

So rather that argue about OEM etc, from drivers experience, what are good soft pads that are low dust. That is what I would prefer when I need to change mine. Maybe the original poster can specify what choices he wants. OEMs provide a generalized product, users can be more specific and then get a better product that suites their choice.

Now there are a few considerations to make this general. If you do a lot of track work, you really want to choose the best for the application and then asking others at the track is your best bet.

The other one is, do you have a 10 mile long steep down hill you have to navigate on a regular basis and have an automatic. If yes then you would need to some research on which will do the job best. Not all will take the extra heat. Probably talk to the race guys.

As for drilled rotors, they are drilled in case you smoke the breaks. If you overheat them and they make smoke, there now is a boundary layer between the pad and disk which reduces braking. The holes vent the smoke and give you some braking back.

Always try and use drilled or slotted.
.

[thstone]

Any rotor will work fine. They all perform the same for daily street driving.

Buy OEM equivalent pads like Textar or Ate.

I have reused the caliper bolts for at least 12 brake changes. They will be fine to re-use.

And no, you don't need unicorn tears for brake fluid.

No reason to overthink this.

[MrBen]

I second akebono low dust pads and the meley rotors. Great product fast shipping good price. No Porsche stickers on box but I throw the box in the trash anyway. Pwave is a great help on here gained a lot of wisdom from his contribution. The other dude needs to relax listen and learn

[marsheng]

I go by the this

Rules are for fools and a guide for the wise.

As you get older you tend to make better choices.

Keep in mind that OEM parts is a price/functionality equation. It is not necessarily the best. They are all making goods to a price. If you have specific requirements, aftermarket will normally win hands down.

[MWS]

I've always considered parts falling into three categories...OEM, better than OEM, and worse than OEM...or to put it differently, there's a baseline (OEM) as well as inferior and superior. Given this, OEM isn't the "gold standard" but it's the "known standard" whereas quality of other parts are subjective and opinion can be swayed by reviews, marketing and hyperbole...all of which making decisions difficult. Personally, if I'm either being lazy or have no reference point to gauge quality, I buy OEM, if I have time (or interest) to research, or if I have some knowledge of the function of the item, I try to buy "superior to OEM"...but I'll admit that I have bought some items thinking that they are "superior" only to find out that they aren't.

Price is another monster...cheap (usually) means inferior, but expensive doesn't necessarily mean superior; additionally some superior items can be less expensive than OEM and some inferior items (maybe smart marketing) can be more expensive than OEM. Point is that price has nothing to do with quality, but if your looking to buy "at a price point" I suppose to each their own (although I never would). Finally, regarding the "Porsche tax"...they charge what they can (or want) and how that price is determined is a mystery...I suppose there's a lot factored into their pricing, or maybe it's just a monkey throwing darts at a board with numbers on it. Are their parts overpriced? Maybe, or maybe not....but it is the "known" on the quality spectrum.