Obioban's 2005 IR/IR Coupe

[Obioban]

Finished up installing an 817.3 DSC unit in my coupe last night. Pretty excited for that!

Install was more of a PITA than I expected. I installed new DSC pressure sensors while I was in there, because I really don't feel like being in there again for a while :P

I also rebuild one of the 996 calipers, because I had pad failure at my last event of the seasons last year, and it melted the seals.

[blazenXLT]

We did 6 months in an apartment while our house was finished, it was painful. 75% of our stuff was in storage along with 2 of 4 cars. All worth it for the new place though, hope your build goes easy (or at least as easy as a build can go)!

[Obioban]

Washer tank was leaking so I replaced it (no, it wasn't the seal-- tried that first).



Also stuck the M3 on quick jacks for winter project mode. No lift, as we sold our house and are living in an apartment while we build our new one.

While I was working, this showed up. I've never been more comparatively slower (Plaid vs on jack stands).

... truly absurd acceleration in that car.

[Slideways]

Lol, that's a fair point. Though the ST40 uses a standard D609 pad, I'm sure I could find you something. I can order StopTech stuff piecewise at work -- makes it tempting to see what I can put together.

993 Porsche Textar pads work with the ST40s with a bit of trimming to the pads. Stoptech has different calipers for different purposes - more track oriented anodized and painted for mainly street and light track use. Brembo paint quality on the Boxster S/996 calipers is about the same as the Stoptech calipers and any brake fluid not completely removed will ruin the finish on either. Turner MS used Stoptechs on their E92M race cars, so better than what they are made out to be.

[r4dr]

If you just refinish the calipers, use brembo seals, use brembo disks, and don't care about having a good street pad, the stoptechs can be okay

Lol, that's a fair point. Though the ST40 uses a standard D609 pad, I'm sure I could find you something. I can order StopTech stuff piecewise at work -- makes it tempting to see what I can put together.

[Obioban]

You can use Brembo and Girodisc rings with ST kits. You're right about ST rings not lasting.

If you just refinish the calipers, use brembo seals, use brembo disks, and don't care about having a good street pad, the stoptechs can be okay

[r4dr]

You can use Brembo and Girodisc rings with ST kits. You're right about ST rings not lasting.

Personally, the only part of the ST kit I would keep (other than the hat, since that's a pain to get made custom) is the Trophy caliper.

[Obioban]

Clear, thanks. Which kits are you referring to here? To that I mean, which ones do you have this experience with?

The rotor and pad selection are the same regardless of kit, but I have ST40s.

I also once tried stoptech rotors on the M3's Brembo BBK, because they're half the price... and they lasted ~1/4 as long as the Brembo rotors.

I don't know which 6 piston setup my friend had with the terrifying knockback, but it was bad enough that he sold them and replaced them with an AP Racing BBK.

[Albino09]

-There's no actually great street pad options-- just various levels of meh.
-The rotors last 1/2-1/4 as long as the brembo rotors
-the finish on the calipers fades and looks like crap quickly
-the 6 piston setups have scary levels of pad knock back.
-the seals go bad ~5x as fast as the brembo seals, resulting in the need for many more caliper rebuilds.

Clear, thanks. Which kits are you referring to here? To that I mean, which ones do you have this experience with?

[Obioban]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by that? Do they fade? Make a bunch of noise? Crappy feel? Stoptech offers many new "Grades" of kits (Trophy, Race, etc) so I'm curious where they are lacking.

-There's no actually great street pad options-- just various levels of meh.
-The rotors last 1/2-1/4 as long as the brembo rotors
-the finish on the calipers fades and looks like crap quickly
-the 6 piston setups have scary levels of pad knock back.
-the seals go bad ~5x as fast as the brembo seals, resulting in the need for many more caliper rebuilds.

[Albino09]

I have stoptechs on the m5, and they’re junk. IMO people that think they’re good have never had a good bbk to compare to.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by that? Do they fade? Make a bunch of noise? Crappy feel? Stoptech offers many new "Grades" of kits (Trophy, Race, etc) so I'm curious where they are lacking.

[Obioban]

Any luck on finding 17s that will clear your brakes? I noticed that Stoptech claims their 332mm kits will fit 17s (I feel like you never know until they are in hand). I hate to say it since I have no first hand experience, but I feel like for every person I hear say they love their stoptechs, I hear someone have a complaint. Brakes are an area I'd rather be 100% sure...

I have stoptechs on the m5, and they’re junk. IMO people that think they’re good have never had a good bbk to compare to.

[loudspeaker69]

Interesting. 125k on mine, so I think it could use a refresh. Now I want to drive a higher mileage car with a refreshed diff to see what that feels like.



That's good to hear.

And maybe "extra notchy" is not the best way to describe it. What I'm talking about is the feeling that happens when you try to switch gears fast and don't let the drivetrain "settle". The shifter becomes harder to push into the gate and when it finally does go in, you can feel the drivetrain clunking through the shifter. Doesn't happen on every fast gear change, but it happens often enough to be annoying.

I think you both have convinced me to start planning a diff refresh. Need to spend some time deciding what I want on the car first though.

I feel the same.
Lots of diff clunk (and through the shifter) when the diff is torqued to spec and using the current/correct bolts and the driveline is all updated in the last 20k miles.

Hence, I was interested in Ian’s choice of the Wavetrack just for having a better diff and eliminating the clunk.

[blazenXLT]

Any luck on finding 17s that will clear your brakes? I noticed that Stoptech claims their 332mm kits will fit 17s (I feel like you never know until they are in hand). I hate to say it since I have no first hand experience, but I feel like for every person I hear say they love their stoptechs, I hear someone have a complaint. Brakes are an area I'd rather be 100% sure...

[heinzboehmer]

Is your CSB replaced? I'd do that first, if not.

Yup, all bushings on the car have been replaced under my ownership.

Might be worth going over everything before diving into a diff replacement though.