C4S brake pads

[foscoe944]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but I'm finding some really knowledgeable people here.

I have an '09 C4S and I want to switch brake pads to something less dusty. I'm strongly considering Hawk HPS. But I'm having a hard time finding this or any other pad that fits my car. Does anyone know if the pads on the gen II C4S's are the same or different as gen I 997 C4S? (front and rear) Or are the same pads as any other model?

Thanks for any help!

[Mijostyn]

Great question! I was just thinking about this yesterday as I was cleaning the brake dust off the back of my car. The pads are the same. As far as I know they did not change the brakes. I have an 06 C4S. There are a bunch of pads out there. The Hawks, Cool Carbons, Pagid and others. Pelican Parts sells all three. My understanding is if you go to a ceramic pad like the Hawk the dust is less but the performance under certain conditions (track) may not be as good. Porsche uses metalic pads which work better under hard driving, make more dust and interestingly, do poorly when they are cold. Several times in the Winter I noted poor braking when just starting out. I have not spoken to anyone who has used Cool Carbons or Pagid. It does seem the Hawk is most popular on this forum.

Anyone with experience please weight in!!

Edited September 20, 2013 by Mijostyn

[foscoe944]

I have some Hawk HPS on the way, the vendor did some research and hopefully they are the correct pads. Pelican has Hawk HPS, but lists them as 2005 – 2008 for the C4S. They have nothing for 09+ C4S. Suncoast lists a part number for pads that is unique to 997.2 C4S and 911 GTS, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t actually interchangeable with other models/years.

The brake dust is horrid. All my driving is around town so I’m sure that contributes but after laboriously cleaning the wheels, they start looking burnt red again from brake dust in just a few days. My track car is a 98 BMW M3, I doubt I’ll ever track the C4S so I just want a good low dust street pad.

I’ll be happy to post pics and measurements of the new pads if they are correct and if you’d like to compare.

[Mijostyn]

Woops, It turns out the pads are not the same. 997.1 S cars use a 996 part. 997.2 S cars a new 997 part which appears different than the Turbo and GT3 parts. So, be careful when you order. Foscoe944, yes, please keep us informed.

[jamesanderson84]

After getting really annoyed with brake dust on my 996 I used a product called Rejex on them. Its a bit of a pain to apply (remove and clean all wheels, apply Rejex and leave somewhere dry for 12 hours, then you can put the wheels back on).

But it worked! Notieceably less build up - and the brake dust that did get on the wheels came off much easier.

I would only do the job if I was taking the wheels off for another purpose - which is why I've not put it on the wheels of my 997 yet...so right now I'm cleaning off the brake dust every couple of weeks.

[dammad]

Did anyone get a Hawk HPS part number for the fronts? Pelican still doesn't list them (only rears?!?) and the Hawk website has "Carrera" or "Targa 4S" to select from, not "Carrera 4S"...

[foscoe944]

Did anyone get a Hawk HPS part number for the fronts? Pelican still doesn't list them (only rears?!?) and the Hawk website has "Carrera" or "Targa 4S" to select from, not "Carrera 4S"...

Yes, Hawk HPS part #'s are: Front HB667F.622, rear HB664F.634. This is only for Gen II C4S, not Gen I.

And I'll say this, I am mostly disappointed in them. Not that the manufacturer claimed they were this, but I was looking for very low to hopefully zero dust. They are only about half as dusty as stock, which I think really isn't enough improvement to mess with. My driving is all around town, lots of stop and go, and I'm aggressive, so they do get a good workout. Perhaps I'm asking for too much, but I have some absolute zero dust pads on my wife's Mini so I know it's possible.

I'd also say they have a little less initial bite than the stock pads, which to me translates into slightly poorer pedal feel. But this difference is small. Another small issue, while they have the cutout for pad sensors in the backing plate, they don't have the adjacent pad material removed in this area. This wasn't too hard to fix, I just drilled a small hole in the pad material down parallel to the backing plate to give room for the sensors and then they slid right in.

So, for only a slight reduction in dust, they require a little modification and don't feel quite as good.

[dammad]

Thanks for the part numbers and feedback. I too was looking for much lower dust, so perhaps I'll look further to see if I can find some for my 997.2 C4S

[foscoe944]

Glad to help. If you do find something really low dust, please let me know.

[Mijostyn]

Has any one tried Cool Carbon pads??

[stronbl]

Has any one tried Cool Carbon pads??

Yes, I have used the Street/Track pads, front and rear. Got them as a "test" replacement for OEM pads and track usage.

Here are my conclusions: 2010 C4S is the vehicle pads were tested. I do all my own brake work since it is so easy on the 997-2.

For track ---

1. Much better than OEM, but you MUST bed them prior to track use. CC has a bedding procedure that I followed. Brake pedal has a firm but not hard feel. Solid may be a better description.
2. they need to heat up to be properly effective (this is true for many other track oriented pads). You can drag the brake on a warm-up lap with your left foot or you can do some moderate brake applications during warm-up. You will notice immediately when the brakes are at a proper track temp due to the increased bite.
3. They may squeal if you do not use anti-squeal backing shims or paste. I used Porsche OEM anti-squeal pads and they work ok but I still get some squeal on heavy braking corners.
4. They are not too severe on the brake disks, but you will need to monitor the impact.
5. Front pads lasted me 4 track events (Laguna Seca, Sonoma, Thunderhill, and Buttonwillow) before I had to replace them. Rear pads are still fine.
6. Minimal brake dust, but not zero.

For street -

1. Prior to first track event, street use (after bedding) was fine. Very little brake dust and stopping was adequate even at cool pad temps. As pad temps increased, bite was excellent. No squeal (again, I used OEM anti-squeal pads).
2. After initial track event, I found the pads to have a slight "glazed" feel when cold/cool. Braking is fine as long as you don't have to make an emergency stop. I tested an emergency stop and found I needed a lot more brake pedal force to make the stop. I then did some short stops to heat up the pads and once warmed up, they stopped great. Perhaps re-bedding them would fix this, but I was too lazy to do so since I could just heat them up from a few frequent stops.
3. I think my track runs heated up the anti-squeal pads glue so the left front became unglued, and as a result I got a squeal from that pad only under a light stop. For example, as you release brake pedal pressure when you bring the car to its final stop at a traffic light or stop sign. A firmer pedal pressure eliminates the squeal. I was about to take the pad out and re-glue the anti-squeal but I waited too long and ended up changing front pads anyway.
4. Brake dust is very minor, much less that OEM and of course less than at track. It is not zero dust, but very manageable to me. As a note, I also use the Armor All Wheel Protectant which also seems to help keep the brake dust to a minimum.

I'm on my second set of front CC pads, same type Street/Track combo and will continue my evaluation. But so far I like them and their price point. They are very good on the track, lot's of braking/stopping confidence, firm but not hard pedal feel. The street usage is OEM level. Brake dust is minimum.

Hope this helps. I may have left out some things so feel free to ask me if you have questions.

[gota911]

I, too, was fed up with the horrendous amount of brake dust from the stock Porsche pads so I installed the Hawk Performance Ceramic pads on my 2010 C2S about 8 week ago.  The brake dust has diminished by 65% to 70% compared to the stock Porsche pads.

 

Just to be clear, these are different compound than the Hawk HPS mentioned earlier in this thread.  The ceramic pads have a lower dust rating than the HPS pads, which is why I chose them.  As others have stated, proper bedding in of the pads is needed. During normal street driving, they do require a little more pedal pressure, but after they heat up a little, the bite increases, which is probably true of most brake pads.

 

Here is a link to the relative ratings for stopping power, low noise, low dust of various Hawk pads.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brand.jsp?brand=Hawk

 

Would I buy the Hawk Ceramic pads again?  Yes, in a heartbeat!  I wish I had made the switch 18 months earlier.  The reduced brake dust on my wheels has shortened my car washing routine by about 20 to 25 minutes, which is why I bought them in the first place.