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Porsche says carbon ceramic brakes not intended for track days

Porsche says carbon ceramic brakes not intended for track days

The discs can degrade quickly on the track, despite being originally pitched as lifetime components.

Porsche has admitted that its expensive ceramic composite brake systems may not be the best choice for track days.

A website page dedicated to Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) starts off with the sales pitch "proven in motorsport" and explains how the technology provides much more powerful braking forces and shorter stopping distances "even in the toughest road and race conditions."

Speaking to Australia's WhichCar, however, Porsche Australia tech representative Paul Watson warned that "ceramic discs can degrade if you're hard on the brakes" and "if you're doing club days we'd always recommend iron discs."

The discs do boast the ability to endure repeated heat cycles without fade. Such conditions apparently degrade the carbon fibers in the disc, however, and lead to much quicker failure. The company initially suggested its PCCB tech effectively made the rotors a lifetime part, though the latest marketing does not repeat such claims.

Upgrading from iron discs to carbon-ceramic rotors adds around $8,500 to the price of a new 911. A single PCCB replacement rotor carries a list price of nearly $6,500, or 20 times higher than the $330 iron rotors on the basic model.