It sounds like you've done everything right so far, so I'm going to suggest that it is the pads, since that is the one variable that you've changed that is relatively unknown. We all complain about the OE pads, how they dust terribly and some people feel (not me) that they're not good enough for the track, but honestly, they are great pads with super initial bite even when cold and they do well in high heat conditions. But it's a compromise. I've had super (PF01 I think) track pads before, and they dust worse than Kansas and wouldn't stop the car at all when cold, but were awesome once I got some heat in them. Everything is a trade-off.

slight OT: I was helping my neighbor bleed his brakes. We did it the old-fashioned way, pumping the pedal, and when we finished I pressed the pedal down hard to check it for firmness. This was on his 1998 (or so) Plymouth Grand Caravan Voyager whatever minivan. I mentioned that the pedal seems a bit soft, and he checked for leaks. Nope. Oh, wait, yes, a leak... in the line! His lines had rusted, and the pressure was enough to cause them to burst. He spent about $850 getting new brake lines for a minivan worth about $900. I told him to sell it as is, but he wouldn't. Good lesson in why it's important to flush the brake lines every couple of years. They rust from the inside-out.

Anyway, sorry about your experiences, Brad. Best of luck. I haven't had my car long enough to do any maintenance to it, sorry to hear that the pad changes are such a PITA.

 

Thanks for the comments! I agree that the final variable is the pads and hopefully their being cold is the issue. I have a DE this weekend and we will see. I will put the OEM pads on next week.

The performance of the OE pads are what got me here in the first place. My OE pads (rear) with less than 3000 miles on them, completely failed during a single-day DE. Not just wear, which they did. They outright failed. They cracked up, disintegrated and ruined the rotors. It seems the highly touted torque vectoring system is brutal on brake pads. But PCNA wouldn't listen to me or the dealer, who stands behind me. No pity. No one-time kindness. So I was forced to get new rotors and new pads. Bitter pill to swallow. You would think a $130k car could stand a day at the track. But no.

 

That's weird. I think many people have done several track days with OEM pads and rotors with no issues. I've done four so far and just checked my pads and they look about 50% used. My car just turned 16K. My last two track days were at Thompson which is a track known to be hard on brakes with 11 turns and several tight ones. Sounds like you got a bum deal.

 

The track I went to was Autobahn Country Club, a 3.5 mile track with about 24 turns. I have done this track countless times in other cars from a Mini Cooper S, to an E46 M3 to my Cayman S. Never these kind of issues. I'm so incredibly disappointed that my dream car couldn't handle it.

The dealer looked at the car and told me it should be warrantied since it was likely a PTV issue so they replaced the rear pads and rotors. They did say this was probably a one-time deal. But a few days later they called me and told me Porsche refused to pay and I was stuck with the bill. I called Porsche but got a complete runaround. They told me wear items aren't covered but refused to listen to the fact that the pads FAILED. I never got to even tell my story to a claims specialist. They just stonewalled me.

I'm just really disheartened with the ownership experience so far.

 

BradB - you may have tried this already, so apologies if you have, but I didn't read it in the thread so far. Assuming no leaks and the pads are fine and new, this has worked for me on many cars, including my 911. The following procedure is done after flushing and/or bleeding the system in the normal manner.

Start on outside right front bleeder valve (no pressure bleeder, just OE cap on brake fluid reservoir). Open bleeder valve and have your wife do a slow pump of the brake pedal twice. Close the valve. With engine off, do a few firm and slightly faster pumps of the brake pedal until you feel it firm up. If there are no leaks you should feel the pedal clearly getting firmer. Start the car and do one or two quick brake pumps - almost as if you are making an emergency stop. Pedal should retain the firmer feel. If it does, test drive it and confirm a firmer pedal - you're done. If not firmer, shut off car and do the exact procedure on front left brake outside bleeder valve. Repeat to right rear and then left rear.

I have never had to do this to the rear brakes as my pressure if back up, but it could be done as well. Also, I have stopped using ATE for tracking as I have found it seems to die out sooner than I want. I've switched to Motul RBF 600 and have found I get a firmer pedal after a bleed or flush almost always, not to mention the fluid lasts much, much longer. If the firmness issue continues, you may think about changing fluids to a higher performance fluid such as Motul or an equivalent. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the tips. But I want to get it straight. After I pressure bled with the Motive I followed up with a bleed with my wife manually pumping. (All corners) And after this the brakes feel pretty firm. But it takes two or three pumps to get it there. But basically feels good. When I start the car the brakes feel somewhat softer.

Am I doing what you do? Or am I missing something?

I did use Ate but have Motul on the shelf for the next bleed. Your comments about the Motul giving you a firmer pedal right away is encouraging, but a bit surprising. I never knew that.

 

Yes. It sounds like you are doing what I suggested, sorry I didn't catch it on first read. I suppose you could repeat the manual pumping part a few times and see if you get the firmness back but it may be a waste of time since you've already done it.

Re: Motul comment - didn't mean to imply changing to Motul would solve the pedal feel but rather I don't get a soft pedal while tracking the car (i.e. more driver confidence in brakes). In other words, my experience with Motul has been a very consistent feel throughout the track season. This was not my experience with ATE.

 

Thanks for the clarification! Wish me luck!