97-99 "S" Brake Upgrade from Suncoast
 

Has anyone done this upgrade?

http://www.****************************************************.com/product/SbrakeKit.html?Category_Code=98625brakes

Simple enough in terms of labor.. and my front pads are shot. The rotors are getting a tad scored and I'm thinking that this may be necessary. Any thoughts?

J

I liked this set as well. I have been thinking about doing it to my 97. Any advice from others or reviews on these would be appreciated.

We have done several, including the four-wheel upgrade they used to offer as well. Kit is a bolt on swap that can be handled by just about anyone with a modicum of mechanical ability...............

but is it worth is in terms of the extra $1k investment? I've done plenty of brakes, clutches, etc, in my time; i'm not worried about the difficulty.

I like the factory brakes, but I'm upgrading the power in my vehicle at the end of the year when i put her away for rainy season.. and i'm figuring i could either just do some standard brakes to get me through my next 20k miles, or upgrade...

Your question is nearly impossible to answer; larger rotors and calipers will give you increased brake swept area, but how much of an adavange that would yeild depends upon the driver, how the car is driven, etc., etc........ We know for a fact that doing all four corners on a car with someone that knows how to drive and uses the car in Auto cross type events was a postive move; but for the "average Joe" on the street it probably wouldn't make much difference as the OEM setup was already pretty good. Also, be aware that using the "S" brakes requires larger rims, which can impact the attractiveness of the upgrade as well.......

I have a 2000 S with a 3.2 liter. Replaced my brakes with new replacement rotors and pads...basically stock for about $350. If you're not into tracking and use your car for basic fun, seems like a steep $ to pay. After I bedded my brakes good and hard, this sucker stops terrific. :cheers:

They don't mention brake proportioning. I'd think you'd want to rebalance the brakes if you're changing the diameter of just the fronts.

Depending on how much power you are adding, bigger brakes are either a good idea or a must.

My rule for upgrades is reliability 1st, handling 2nd, brakes 3rd, and more power last.

No change is required for this type of upgrade.

Forum member "insite" did this upgrade to his 99 and was very satisfied with the results. He was a track junkie and put them to the test. I don't know, I do a fair number of track days and have never run out of stopping power (except when I boiled some old brake fluid) and $1300 is about two sets of comp tires. I probably would do it if I mounted a 3.4L in there due to the higher corner entry speeds. For now I feel like the brakes are the best part of this car. Fresh fluid ;) and quality pads and I am good to go.

So do the S and non-S have the same proportioning valve PN?

Without actually checking, I really do not know, but I suspect they do. What I do know is that we have installed several two and four wheel up grades, and none of them required the proportioning valve to be changed (the kits all came from Porsche). I have also worked on a couple of early cars that did the four wheel upgrade the hard way (swapping out the rear carriers with units from the bone yard) and neither had changed the master cylinder or proportioning valve either.

What I can tell you is that from 97-04, there are only two master cylinders for these cars: with or without stability management systems (PSM). The base and S car carry the same master cylinder....................

I'd be really surprised if they were the same. Brake balancing is dependent on brake torque at the front/rear and weight distribution, which is different between brake designs and car models. Considering all the little "tweaks" that they make between models in the suspension because of weight balance, I'd think they'd do the same with brake balance.

It's not that you can't get away with proportioning that's off somewhat, it's just that the brakes are not as effective as they could be. In fact, it might never even be noticed especially with ABS keeping premature lockup from showing.

Adding more braking torque to the front wheels (bigger brakes, higher friction pads) will tend to lock them up sooner. So the proportioning should be shifted slightly rearward. Normally, a car is set up to lock up the fronts before the backs anyway to maintain stability, so upgrading just the fronts w/o the proportioning wouldn't change the car's balance but it wouldn't optimize the setup either. Upgrading the rears without the fronts, or significantly more than the fronts is when you'd start to run into problems with early ABS activation and a loss of stopping power.

Gotta disagree.

More power, in and of itself, is no justification for bigger brakes.

The car w/ base stock brakes stops from 60MPH in 111'. The same car w/ more power (assuming the weight stays the same) will stop in the same 111' from 60MPH - more power just gets you to 60MPH faster. And, there are very few other car models out there that can do this stop in 111' - stock base brakes are EXCELLENT!

The ONLY justification for bigger brakes is track use where fade is minimized due to better heat transfer because of the larger area of the rotor. This is beneficial because of the constant On/Off brake application with little time interval between applications to lose heat.

On a street car, where minutes pass between brake applications, fade is nonexistant. You spend $1400 and get 4' better stopping from 60MPH.

For a street car, in terms of cost/benefit, you may as well go out and buy 1400 Lotto tickets because there's a better chance you'll get something for your money which you actually can use.

The Big Brake pkg. is mostly a Bling thing for streeters.

Cheers!

To re-quote Billy Crystal (SNL): It is better to Look good than to Drive good. And I look very, very Good.

I'm doing this swap and I admit I am doing it for looks.

Hey guys, don't get me wrong, doing it for looks is OK. I admire the fact that you admit it! There's nothing wrong with looking good - that's why I have capped teeth!

What gets me is when people try to justify it other ways when they too are only about the aesthetic, but would never admit it as if that wasn't justification enough for you to do what you want with your own money and your own car.

You can also just paint your calipers red. I did, but honestly not to mimic the Big brakes, I did it because my car is guards red and the only colr G2 had which I thought complimented the car was red.

In fact, funny story - I met a guy to buy some parts for my BMW 2002 at his place and we both arrived at the same time so did the transaction on the sidewalk. I drove my Boxster. A pedestrian came by, stopped, looked over the car and then in a very condecending manner said "That's just the 2.5 isn't it?" I agreed. Then he said "You have the Big Brakes?" I said no, that the calipers were just painted red. He said "A poseur..?" I said "No, just painted them red... what do you drive?" He said "a Honda" the guy whom I met jumped in - "Enough said..."

BTW, Vath - that wasn't Billy Crystal, that was FERNANDO !

Cheers!

I stand corrected: Fernando!
And you look Mavelous.

I'm with lil bastard on this one. I think it's a waste of money.

no one will be able to tell you have "S" brakes on the front anyway...they look very similar to base model brakes..so to me...there is no bling factor.

if the rotors are larger, you're adding more unspring rolling weight to your hubs...theoretically it could make yoru car slower as you have to accelerate the heavier rotors...maybe it's a smalll difference in weight..but why add it if you don't need it.

I have a 2000 base. shortly after I bought it I did new pads, rotors, rebled the s ystem... and WOW. my car stops so fast it's nuts. I can'tq uote 60-0 times, but having driven a lot of cars - the stock brakes on my base boxster are AMAZING. my cars stops on a dime. i have NO desire to modify them.

I did want more bling though, so I spend under $100 and bought a can of high temp brake paint and painted my calipers. took a few hours, and the results look as good as "S" brakes. I did mine in red, and put on PORSCHE decals... it looks OEM.

my vote is to just service your brakes - put on quality pads and change out rotors if they need it - bleed your lines, maybe upgrade yoru brake lines if you want - and then while you have it all apart - paint your calipers. the painted calipers is what really makes teh car stand out!

good luck. use the money you saved toward future: tires, repairs, track days. etc. :)