Best performing, clean brake pads

As the title states, looking for clean pads as I concours my 40th, but again don�t want to sacrifice much in the way of performance, since the car is made to perform. I was ok with the factory pads and recently replaced them with supposedly OEM Textars which work great but show serious dust after 10 miles. any suggestions would be appreciated.

OEM Porsche, from what I've gathered so far.

I�ve heard Akebono Euro pads produce very low amounts of dust. I have the Textars too and agree that they dust very heavily. But they stop very well, so I live with it. I�ve also heard that the Akebonos have marginally less stopping power, too. edit: misspelled them as �akabono�

I run Brembo ceramic pads. No dust and great stopping power

Hawk ceramics are decent and very low dust.

Carbotech 1521�s will be the lowest dusting you can find. Hawk ceramics are an option too. less brake dust = less braking performance. �Aaron

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that�s my fear. Trying to find a happy median. I don�t mind cleaning wheels but not after ten miles.

Some of the rennlisters have recommended ceramic coating their wheels. They say its easier to remove the dust. May be an attractive option if you don't want to sacrifice braking power.

I had OEM pads, switched to Textar - virtually identical, both dusty. Switched to Akebono ceramics - almost zero dust, wheels stay clean. Braking is OK, but a little wooden. Definitely tolerable for street, but not the same feel and initial bite as Textar/OEM.

Send me a PM if you would like to try the Carbotech 1521's - I offer a Rennlist discount on braking parts. I have them on my Macan S (front pads) and they are decent. --Aaron

Brembo ceramic pads. Great feel / low dust.

I went with ATE, very happy with feel and performance, but plenty of dust.

If I had the ***** I'd put my 996 on the same CSG's that my BMW uses. Not much dust, no noise, super linear modulation, medium torque, and more heat resistance than you can actually use... but drive them cold and they eat rotors alive. Ceramic pads are the only way to really kill pad dust but all the ones I've driven before have weird modulation characteristics. I'd love to hear that the technology has matured and I'm wrong in 2024.

I run Hawk (I think it is 438) on the GT3 and they are both virtually dust free and very good for stopping power on the street. I run them on autocross and they are fine. While there are better pads for track use, it sounds like that isn't your need.

Well thanks guys. The Akebono and Brembo pads sound like the ceramic choices. But now I�m intrigued by the Hawk pads just mentioned. Sounds like I have a little more research to do.

Now that I’ve put some miles on Porterfield R4S pads, I’m impressed. Decent cold, really good warmed up. Crazy bite at the limit. Great for diving into corners and late trailbraking. Almost zero dust . Better than Akebono, Textar. Excellent street pads.

Porterfields are a great pad,,, order early they seem to disapear during the spring summer..

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They may end up being my �forever� street choice for my 996.

Where are you finding the best pricing on Porterfields? I think I�ll give them a try. They sound like exactly what I�m looking for. How much do I need to replace? I only have about 1000 miles on all the other little parts, sensors shims, etc. I�m guessing I should change the caliper bolts??

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Pelican has ‘em for $340 f/r and other places will run close to that. Porterfield-brakes.com if you order from the source. AP917 front AP738 rear If the caliper bolts aren’t damaged or corroded, they should be just fine. They aren’t torque-to-yield. Everything else should also be reusable. Changing brake pads on a 996, if you haven’t done it before, is wicked simple. Bleeding is also simple if you have the basic equipment.

I couldn�t get them to come up on Pelican. Will try again. I did the first r&r and have a Motive power bleeder so no bfd.

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Pelican does have the Porterfields, it's just very hard to find them on their site. I was going to order a Serpentine belt and oil filter/sealing washer from Pelican, but couldn't find the Continental brand belt for cars with A/C. Double check to make sure this is what you need for your car, but it's showing up as compatible with 2000 996.1 and numbers seem to match @hatchetf15 's part numbers https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...P-917-R4S&fc=Y https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...P738-R4-S&fc=Y

Pelicans site can�t confirm the rear pads fit. But Porterfield�s says they fit an �04 Carrera. Porterfield doesn�t list a 40AE, but I believe the brakes are the same as any C2. I think I�m safe, just don�t understand Pelican�s non confirmation.

OP - 40th is narrow body caliper, so same for C2/C4/40th. Pelican doesn’t always reflect correct p/n in catalog, but the guys at the warehouse know and will contact you if something doesn’t make sense.

Does anyone have experience with Endless MX72 on the street?

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Not yet. I have a a set of front and rear on order from Japan. I was told that it�d take a month or so, because it was made to order. I bought them because they are touted as excellent pads for street and track use. I don�t know anything about their dust production.

Put on a set of Porterfield yesterday. Going to PCA concours in Sacramento tomorrow. Will report back on my findings, dust wise. Performance driving assessment will have to be later. thanks for all the input guys.

I have a like new set of Textar OEM pads for sale. $100, shipping on your dime. pictures available. Less than 500 miles, mounted on brand new rotors. $215 on Pelican, plus tax and shipping.

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Anything to report?

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This^. A good ceramic coating on your wheels and calipers is what I�d recommend

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Any update on the performance and dusting of the Porterfields?

Dust was much better than the Textars. Won my class at PCA concours at the new Sacramento dealership. Haven�t driven her real hard yet but a little spirited during last weekend gave me the impression that they bite at least as well as the factory pads. Happy overall.

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I'm about to pull the trigger on the Brembo ceramic pads. Can you elaborate a bit on your feeling? (or anyone else running the Brembos) I'm running now the Textar, very dusty, but with great brake feeling and power and I would like to keep the performance as close to that as possible Thanks!

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I'm getting ready to do the brakes on my 996.1 (pad wear light just came on). Are you still happy with the Porterfields? I plan to get OEM discs (current discs are original drilled rotors). I guess there are several brands that have been used as "OEM" -- SHW (currently listed as OEM/preferred on Pelican), ATE, Sebro. Assuming all three of these are roughly equal quality/performance, I'ld like the ones that have the best coating to prevent the rotor hat from getting surface rust. I don't believe the original Porsche discs are coated very effectively -- my first 996 I bought CPO with 6000 miles already had surface rust on the rotor hat. I read in another threat that ATE is coated -- so will probably choose ATE. If anybody has experience with rotor coatings would love to hear your feedback. Pads -- I know the Textars are excellent, but I plan on getting the Porterfield over Textar just because they are cleaner (less dust) and (I think we've concluded in this thread) also perform better than Textar. Thought it would be better to post here given my Porterfield inclination than to start a new thread. Would love to hear feedback about either the disc or pad choice.

I believe the Sebro disks are coated. The ones I bought (997 Turbo) were coated until the coating burned off.

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Very happy with the Porterfields. I haven�t washed the car since before the concours I previously mentioned. Did about 75 miles round trip to Sacramento Porsche along with maybe 150 of assorted spirited driving trips and the wheels still look good. Not spotless, but light dusting. Performance when pushing hard is great. I used Sebro rotors at the recommendation of my Indy and am happy with them as well. I believe the hats are coated as there is no corrosion visible and they are a grey color that isn't bare steel.

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Although I haven't really romped on them yet I'm happy with the Porterfields as well. There is dust on the wheels but it isn't much and the brake feel is stellar at moderate to mildly enthusiastic speeds.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm ordering the Porterfield R4-S pads and Sebro rotors. I'm also ordering 1) New Caliper bolts; 2) Brake Pad Springs/Pins/Clips; 3) Rotor Brake Disc screws; 4) Brake Pad Sensors; It is it a good idea to replace all that stuff? Also, on Pelican, there are two types of brake pad dampers: This one: https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...PassCat=Y&nb=Y And this one: https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...PassCat=Y&nb=Y Do I need these dampers, and which ones of the two?

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I�ve put about a month�s worth of daily driving on the Endless MX72s and here are some of my observations: Although brake dust is still being produced, there is much less brake dust than the Textars. Cold bite is a bit noticeably poorer than the Textars, but improves with one or two applications of the brakes. Despite the poor initial cold bite, I think it will still stop quickly enough with heavy press of the pedal during emergency situations. When the pads are warm, the bite is insanely good and has made it clear that my all-season tires are not grippy enough. I installed these pads without the piston-damper shims and they squeal awfully loud when they�re cold. I don�t know if they�ll still make noise when those are installed, so you�ll have to be wary of that.

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The dampers in the first link are for your front brakes. The dampers in the second link are for your rears. You�ll need 4x front dampers. The rear calipers are also require 2x dampers per pad (4 pads => total of 8 dampers), but I can�t recall whether the rear dampers are the same size, or differently sized like the fronts. My guess is that they�re the same size, so if you can�t wait for someone else to verify, get 8x of the rear dampers. edit: I�m wrong about the rear dampers.

Rear pistons are 28mm and 30mm You need 4 of these and 4 from the previous post. Everything except the pads and bolts are perfectly acceptable to reuse. https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...=c&SVSVSI=0671

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Thanks very much for the feedback. I didn't even realize the dampers should be replaced (the first 996 brake video I watched didn't mention them), just happened to see them on Pelican's site. I've use Pelican a lot and like them, but they need to do a LOT better job on clarifying what the parts are for. The dampers aren't even marked front or rear. I'm going to do front brakes only first, so I'm going to replace pads, discs, dampers, bolts -- not bothering with the spring/pin/clip per your advice. This video is for a 993 rear brakes, but it does talk about the dampers (and also parking brake replacement/adjustment): You Tube

I'm replacing the discs and rotors now with the Porterfield R4S Kevlar pads. I have a couple questions: 1) How do you pull out excess brake fluid out of the reservoir? Even after taking out the removable piece under the brake fluid cap, there doesn't appear to be any way to get to the fluid with a siphon bulb? 2) Why does every video I watch of pad removal show them just pulling the pads out, completely free from the dampers? My pads won't come out at all until I separate the pad from the damper with a scraper, which has been difficult to do, especially for the pad on the far side of the disc. Is there an easy way to separate pad & damper and why don't videos show them being stuck together? Reservoir with almost no room to siphon: Dampers bonded to the pads:

1. You need to remove that screen basket from the MC reservoir. 2. Because people are stupid.

If you remove the caliper bolts and pull off the caliper, the pads and dampers will come out immediately. Because I lean more towards the stupid side of the spectrum, I remove the basket and as much fluid as I can. I recheck reservoir each time I spread the pads (each caliper). Unless your pads are worn through and fluid has been frequently added over time, the visual check is usually just for peace of mind. There shouldn�t be much worry of overflow if you�ve gotten as much fluid out of the reservoir as you can.

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That reservoir photo is with the little plastic basket removed. Is there a second part that needs to be removed? What�s blocking it seems pretty solid, so I haven�t really tried hard to pull it out. If there are two parts that come out, then that explains it.

Real world results with Porterfield R4S pads. These are my wheels after a trip of 2,155 miles; 20% freeway / 70% curvy secondary roads / 10% romping in the twisties. It never rained so this is a full trip compilation of dust. The Porterfields don't have the initial grab of the OE pads but are much more progressive; press harder, stop more, simple as that. I like the feel. But they do produce dust over the course of two thousand miles! I'm calling it 'patina.' If you squint they just look platinum colored front wheel rear wheel I wiped a spot clean for comparison

Just did my first serious spirited drive with my Porterfield pads. Totally happy with both the performance of the pad and the cleanliness of the wheels. 150 miles of high speed and heavy braking. great day, great pads. I�m buying a set for the wife�s BMW as we speak.