I was truly astounded to feel the weight of two new cast iron brake rotors/discs (circa 50 lbs), what is the absolute cost to make the upgrade to OEM Ceramics or very similar and weight comparison if anyone knows it please ?

 

Suncoast Porsche. Very expensive but offers a 50% reduction in weight.

http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...=996ttceramics

 

Yeah $16,000 is a bunch of loot to lose 100lbs. Spend some time on the Weight Loss thread. Lot's of (cheap or free) ideas there, if you haven't done much yet.

 

IMHO, current ceramic brakes are more for bragging rights than for functionality. At the track they have not proven to add much if anything in the braking department, they do reduce unsprung weight which would improve handling, but have a short lifespan. For the cost, this does not add up unless you have money to burn. For a street car they do reduce unsprung weight so would improve handling, and will give long life, providing they are not accidentally damaged somehow, as they are rather delicate. Still, a very expensive upgrade. Braking improvement is better had by upgrading to the 6 piston GT3 front calipers and 350mm discs. With pads that would be in the $3000 or so range.

 

brembo GT R (not nissan) brake kit is a worthy alternative. then spend rest of change on weight reduction.

 

That unsprung weight may also help with acceleration, but $15k (from Suncoast) is a lot of cheddar for the weight savings and boost in acceleration.

It may be more economical to buy lightweight wheels (Champion Motorsport?) and find the lightest, decent tires.

/m

 

If you're lucky, you can find a set of used 997 PCCB's for about $5k, which is what I would set out to do. The loss in unsprung weight is really hard to beat, particularly if you already have lightweight wheels...but it's hard to argue that this is cost effective in any way, shape or form.

If you're already a weight weenie and have worked through the list of easy/obvious stuff, then PCCBs remain a holy grail finishing touch...and I think that the 997 version is probably what you'd want to pursue given a choice (due to issues with the earlier variant of PCCBs).

One question I have is whether or not they would work properly on a 2001 TT since this car wasn't engineered to have PCCBs at all (since it was an 02+ option I believe). I just want to make sure the rest of my braking system (master cylinder, etc.) would be compatible with the PCCB hardware. Take care!

 

If you're looking for a full retrofit, contact me for pricing. There is a promotion which might reduce the price a bit.

 

A bit? Is that more than a smidge? j/k

 

The weight reduction in acceleration is a tiny fraction of the benefit. Rotors (and wheels) are unsprung weight (unless they're inboard). Its the weight reduction over bums thats the big savings. Allows the shocks to keep the tires on the road better = more grip on bumpy pavement. (Technically, you can get away w/ less damping w/ less unsprung weight. How much advantage you get w/ non-adjustable shocks there is I don't know. Depends on if they're over or under damped from the factory.)