C4S Brakes - Think I'm Missing Something

Prior to my purchase I read with much anticipation about the braking and handling ability of a C4S. Having now tested both I can report that the handling is excellent, actually it's beyond anything I've driven round a bend prior to owning it. Brakes though, different matter. Really have to apply them to slow the car down quickly, I would describe them as a bit squidgy and I feel like I'm going to go into the back of someone. My other car is a 2 year old 3 Series MSport, the brakes are amazing in comparison to the Porsche. I drove it the other day and nearly went through the front screen! So, I've checked disks, fine, not much wear, pads seems fine, no vibrations, no warning lights. Spoke to a friend of mine who runs a performance tuning company and he said I need to bleed the lines and change the brake fluid, would you guys agree? Car - 25k on clock, FPSH, a 65 year old former owner who never accelerated hard let alone applied the brake too keenly I beleive. Any advice once again appreciated.

when you say you have checked the discs have you looked on the inner surfaces as they are common for corroding causing problems at times if all ok then i would suggest a brake fluid change...

i had exactly the same problem with my C2. Brakes were terrible! Took the car to a specialist near to me and they said all was fine and loads of pad left. The car was due for a service. I chose a different place to get the car serviced than the company that initially checked the brakes. I told them about my concerns and they again checked the brakes. The inside of all the discs were corroded! new discs and pads required, brakes finally loads better. I don't think however you'll get the performance of the BMW brakes, even with new disc and pads. I have a saab 93 with better brakes.

At risk of asking the obvious - are you sure you don't just need to press the pedal harder? At first blush, 996 brakes are no good, particularly if you are used to heavily servoed brakes in , say, a modern Audi. However, repeated hard use in the 996 and there will be no brake fade. It's a characteristic of the car to some extent.

Agree with Rob. When I swap into my wife Golf I virtually throw us into the windscreen and stop 10yds short of the T junction at the end of our road. They're very over-servo'd compared to the 996... but once you get used to them, the 996's are far better than the the VW's which have no "feel".

+1 when I first had my c2 I thought they were rubbishy the truth was modern cars brakes are overservo'ed there is no feel and no modulation I absolutely hated a recent test drive in an r32 nearly killed myself felt either fully on or off porkers do have great brakes but you need to rediscover your right foot not withstanding the corrosion on the inner discs and then there are the pccb on my turbo!!

I have to say that the inner surfaces of both my front discs are shot to pieces. The N/S has about 40% of the surface left on it and the O/S about 50%. Despite this the brakes are fantastic, have saved me from plenty of potentially tricky situations and always pass the MOT with flying colours. The car always brakes in a totally straight line and doesn't pull either way. Getting the brake fluid changed will irradiate that issue at least. Having said that I feel that a lot of unnecessary attention is paid to things like this and you can convince yourself that things have improved when you've forked out for some work to be done and spent money on the car. I have another car (not a 911) that had covered 160,000 miles on the same brake fluid. I had reason to change it recently and there was little or no change to the braking characteristics of the car at all.

When I first bought my C4 I had new discs and pads put on it and could not believe how poor the brakes were, or at least that was what I thought. ON getting used to the car more I realised I just had to apply more pressure and that they were in fact pretty good. Fast forward to today and still on the same discs and pads they were blooming brilliant, so old dear decided that she couldn't see me and pulled straight out in front of me. I stopped no problem, mind you her face did indicate that she was more pleased I stopped than even I was!!! [ ] Mark

BMW brakes are over servo'd so might feel better because they give the apparent feel of better and sharper braking but they are not. M3 brakes wont last 2 hot laps when driven by a decent driver - 996 brakes will last all day long. Porsches are renowned for having superb brakes - the best in the business, a reputation thoroughly deserved. If you saw the Driver Republic test drive of the Nissan GT-R, 997 turbo and new M3, the M3's brakes barely lasted one lap. Porsche were installing vented discs and mono-block calipers when others were still messing around with drum brakes so they know a thing or two about the subject. However you do need to push the pedal harder as they are not over-servo'd - they are designed for driving round tracks and not shopping round town! The pedal travel is longer to allow for better brake pedal modulation and feel. They could simply be in need of a fluid change over and above the disc change, but you'll still need to employ your leg muscles more than the M3 and Saab.

Well, I sent the car in to my mate at BTM Peformance to check the disks, pads and change the brake fluid. Disks/Pads have been changed within the lasty 4k he thought. I Had it back and they feel better for the fluid change, less travel in the pedal and it's stopping quicker. He did advise me that my Beemer would be over-servo'd and that's why I am feeling the difference. Only had the car a few weeks and I am still driving the BMW around as a commuter so i think I need to get used to them and ditch the BM!! Appreciate all the advice guys.