ABS and brake recommendations

Hi, Small question, should ABS light blink/flash when ABS kicks in? Slightly bigger question, recommendations for disc and pad combinations for my 996? And in general, what are the other recommended items to be overhauled (aside from fluid) ?

The ABS light only indicates a system failure, and doesn,t come on when the ABS kicks in. Did you see this thread? http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=392661&mpage=1&#395455

Thanks Richard, the manual mentions this but I wanted to check as most other systems blink/flash when activated. Yes, I spotted that link too but I thought the focus was mainly on pricing rather than a broader discussion on what people have used good or bad. I was hoping to open that debate a little.

My vote goes to Sebro disks, and Textar pads. You can't go wrong with them. Textar are the same as Porsche fit, but you don't pay extra for the Porsche box. If the wear indicators are removed carefully they can be re-used, but definitely fit new dampening pads. It's up to you wether you change the caliper bolts, but have a couple of spares handy. If they haven't been fitted with anti-seize compound they can be a bu**er to loosen. The workshop manual says to change them, but most people don't bother. HTH.

From my research there's nothing much to choose between the various OEM discs/pads but price, as Richard has said the Textar pads are the most popular non-Porsche branded option. For discs there are several OEM makers the branded ones are Sebro/Zimmerman/ATE and then some unbranded ones and I've seen no bad reports about any of them. AFAIK they are all German made http://www.sebro.eu/homeengl.html http://www.otto-zimmermann.de/index.php5?Itemid=136 http://www.ate.de/generator/www/com/en/ate/ate/general/home/index_en.html If thinking of upgrading the brakes it's not cheap. The Porsche option is usually to just go bigger but I believe if you want to move to GT3 or Turbo brakes on the front you'd also have to change the uprights and that would be expensive. The other option is to go with something like a set-up from the US firm http://www.performancefriction.com. I thought long and hard about this as you can get a set of front 2-piece discs with their Carbon Ceramic pads plus Carbon Ceramic pads for the rear (for use with standard discs) for similar money too what you'd pay Porsche to fit a full standard set. Part Box in the UK sell them http://www.part-box.com/index.php?cPath=968_1058_1069 It would work out at about £880 inc 15% VAT for the Performance Friction parts + on top for a complete new set-up you'd need new rear discs and all the shims and bolts for front and rear so about another £200 making £1100 total in parts. For me it just wasn't worth twice the money when the standard brakes are pretty good for road use. If you do a lot of track days then the Performance Friction set-up would really pay off as they should last much better and when the disc needs replacing you can just buy the disc and not the center to save a bit. But for me if the standard brakes aren't good enough on the road then it's probably because I'm going too hard in the first place [ ]

Anyone ever used these guys? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Porsche-Boxster-996-Front-Brake-discs-OEM_W0QQitemZ350132071753QQihZ022QQcategoryZ10408QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Yes. That's Marque 21 based in Dorset. I bought all my shims and pads from them and would of had my rear discs from them but they hadn't got them in stock at the time. Their prices were good and they were friendly and helpful on the telephone when sorting out which bits I needed. I used them on recomendation from other members. Last time I checked the prices were the same if bought via eBay or their web site.