Brake Upgrades

I am considering upgrading the factory brakes on my ’01 Boxster. Currently, I am considering 14” Brembo F50’s for the front, and 12.7” GT3 Brembo rears. Does anybody have any experience with this type of upgrade, or know of problems, etc? I 've also heard that I will need to modify the Brembo calipers to accept the brake wear warning sensors. Any advice will be most welcome. Thanks, in advance.

IMHO... With todays sophisticated cars changing brakes is not as easy as it once was.
You may need to also upgrade your master cylinder. There are bigger bore (pistons) on these calipers and you may need a turbo master cylinder to drive them.

Other things to conisder are potential ABS problems as the ABS is "tuned" for your current braking system (or disconnect ABS). If you have PSM this may need to be re-programmed also.

Loren

Thanks for your ideas. The folks at Brembo have indicated that the ABS, PSM and Ebrake systems are all compatible with this setup, and that the master cylinder will work fine as well. The only issue they are aware of seems to be the wear sensors, which I’ve been told may require slight grinding or machining of the calipers in order to fit. As this is a pricey modification (just for the parts), I was wondering what else may be involved.

I hate to disagree with the Brembo folks but everyone I know that has the 14" fronts says you need the GT3/TT master cylinder to reduce pedal effort. Sure the Boxster/Carrera master cylinder will work... but for the money (I would guess $4-6K) you are spending why not go with the master cylinder that was designed for those brakes.

Oh... you have you may also need wheel spacers to clear the front calipers.

Just my $0.02 (again)
Loren

Interesting…….I did ask them that specific question, as well as asking about the wheel clearance issue as well (I have the 18” Turbo factory wheels), and they also said “No problem, the calipers will clear without spacers.” I really appreciate what you describe as your $0.02, as I have been given incorrect information by vendors on other “projects” in the past and had grief as the result, which is why I posted my question before spending the $5K+ for the hardware. Thanks.

I can tell you is that the TT and GT3 use the same front brakes and the GT3 needs 5mm spacers for the wheel to clear the calipers (standard 8x18" SportDesign wheels). I have considered the same upgrade on my Carrera. Another good source of part inter-change-ability is Gert at Carnewal.com. You might drop him a line and see what he can find out from his Porsche factory friends. Here is his email: gert@carnewal.com

p.s. He might be able to get you a better price also.
Loren

Thanks for all your help. I’ll send Gert an email, get his views on the subject, and let you know what he says. As much as I love Porsches, I am always amazed at how much incorrect information is in circulation, particularly from parts vendors.