Ceramic Brakes - Do Yours Squeak?
 

I assume the GT3's and GT2's all come with the Porsche Ceramic Brakes - not many of the cars in the 997 Turbo section have them so I'll post here.

I'm making an assumption that the brakes/brake pads on the PCB for all 997 models are the same.

I just picked up a pre-owned 997.2 Turbo S. New rear pads were done at the dealer before I bought the car and the front's are around 80%. The owner's manual says these brakes may squeak and that just may be normal...so I'm curious if this is just inevitable with these types of brakes with the stock pads?

I'd love to hear from you guys if this is normal and perhaps if there are other pads that work with the PCB system that prevent squeak.

Thanks!

Not all GT3's or GT2's come with ceramics. They are optional. The squealing school bus noises are not however. Mine have squealed just approaching a stoplight ( maybe some form of GT3 arguing about things like stopping or something). Have removed mine and scuffed them up, done the usual speed stops routine, but no difference. Varies from no squeal, to some squeal (most common after longer drives), to squealing at will. Often any of these lead to the inevitable comments from the peanut gallery " hey, your brakes are screwed buddy". Part of the package.
However the bonuses are much less brake dust, very long pad life (if not a lot of track use), and phenomenal stopping power. Rotor replacements are very expensive, and those who spend a lot of time tracking these cars will usually switch over to steel brakes.

Just had all 4 pads on my gt3 replaced at 18K miles pccb. Rotors in great shape. Tracked I think 14 times this season. Had fronts flipped to get more life. My tech beds these in after installing by doing 4 or so vigorous stops from 90-0 or so.( tough to do safely and not get caught) Then he advises not driving them on street with gentle stops or squeak may return/occur. More firmer stops driving around town. Anyway, so far so good. Not much squeak. Original pads did not squeak at all from 10.5K to when I replaced them due to wear. These ones from Porsche Motorsport seem to work better at higher temps he says as well. No wear after 3 track days on the new ones.

On my 996 turbo S which had PCCBs, the brakes were dead quiet for the first 20k miles. After that, they started squeeking a lot... and it bothered me.

12 tts and I get squeaks every once in awhile. It doesn't bother me much and I usually just give it a hard break every once in awhile and it usually goes away.

Interesting comments above on the mileage (18-20k) where squeaking started/increased. Bought my GT3.1 this spring with 16K and as I recall there probably was some intermittent squealing after awhile, but seemed to show up this summer more often and more intensely after several longer road trips. Even when not on the brakes too much at all, it just seemed to increase at times. Other times no squeal. I'm at about 22k and pads have been checked and still in very good shape with little wear (no tracking). Agree that best is not to do the long slow stops, more agressive is better, and burning them in on occasion can help. Still find they can be erratic with the squeal, but as they are in good condition and working great, I accept this tradeoff. There's several threads here and on RennList the OP can review about PCCB's pros/cons and this issue.

I have only 2800 miles on my PCCB but they definitely squeal occasionally--particularly when easing off approaching a stop. As C4SxM5 said, a quick medium to hard braking alleviates the sound for a while.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

On my 997.2 GT3 PCCB w/ 17.000km's: Rotors and pads both in excellent shape. Seen very few track days, but drive it regularly on fast & largely empty roads, vigorously, as it was meant to be driven. Pads squeak when braking slowly, most of the time. Not a bad trade off, though, for almost zero brake dust, and phenomenal stopping power.

I haven't experienced any squeaking granted that it only has 3500 miles so far. I'm not too concerned if it does happen. I'm glad not to be cleaning the wheels often from brake dust.

Terrance

44k on my PCCB's and I get squealing usually only at small stops like 10-0. Any time my breaks start to squeak too much I just get up to about 80 and stop pretty firmly. Usually takes care of it :)

Yes, but seems like its only if I don't wash the car for a couple weeks. Not sure if that has anything to do with it, or is just the car's way of complaining about wanting a wash.

My first set of pads squealed. My second set of pads came with a thin anti squeal shim and they don't squeal at all.

27K on my original pads, and never a peep. I have been very gentle on them for 99% of my stops, and they have performed perfectly. What is the max mileage on the original pads front and rear that I can expect? Thanks in advance.

My 2010 GT3 would very occasionally squeal on light braking - put 65,000 miles on it, no discernible wear (only one track day). My 2012 CTT has 18,000 miles and nothing. My new 991 GT3 will definitely have ceramics on it.