Brake pads

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Has anyone used Hawk ceramic, Axxis Metal Master or VTX metal/ceramic brake pads. All of the above are available for Boxster fitment. My dash light is on and says I have a brake issue. I wanted Akebono ceramic brakes for low dust. I am not planning on tracking the car otherwise stopping power, not dust, would be the issue. Also how long can you run with that light on before you run out of braking? I am not planning on going very far before I install new pads but I do have a bit of a drive to my friends house where we will install these along with new rotors. Thanks in advance.

AKL

[Daniel R]

The light will come on when the pad is approximately 90% used. You will not have a problem driving that far. My light stayed on for about 2 weeks before I could get to changing the pads, and I covered about 600 miles in that time (maybe not advisable, although I drove carefully and suffered no ill effects).

I can't really comment on low dust pads unfortunately, I went the other route and installed Pagid RS-5 up front and Pagid Blue 4-2 at the back. Lots of dust, plenty of noise when cold, but fading them is impossible on the road.

Just on another note, when you do decide on pads, find ones with the hole for the brake sensor, which of course needs to be replaced along with the pads. My pads had no facility to fit the sensor.

Best of luck.

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Thanks Daniel, I will look for the pad with the sensor cutout. You can rewire the sensors lead in order to install pads without cutouts. I believe one of the latest issues of 911 Porsche World, a UK published magazine shows how.

AKL

[Lobo1186]

i just took out the sensors and zip tied them back out of the way... problem solved.

im using EBC redstuff. not bad so far.

[Lightning]

The pad sensor is just a loop of wire that the ECU puts a small amount of current through. When you've worn enough of the pad, you then wear through the pad sensor, breaking the connection, which the ECU sees as a low pad.

If you're going to use track-oriented pads without wear sensor holes in them, save your old broken wear sensors. All you have to do is cut the wires on the old pad sensor a few inches below the connector (at the strut), twist them together, and either solder or crimp splice them together to re-establish the connectivity and get the light to turn off. Remember you will then need to use the two wear sensors in your head to avoid rotor damage...

[Allen K. Littlefield]

I am leaning towards the Axxis Metal Masters for the street. Have had good local club feedback and comparatively low dust but still good stopping power. These have the cutouts for the sensors. $79 for front and same for back so the price is certainly low enough. I will also order two new sensors, $10 ea. All prices at Vertex.

AKL