Pedal Feel That Wins: A Porsche Cayman Driver's First Track Day with AP Racing Radi-CALs

Installing a brake system yourself can feel a bit intimidating at first, especially if you're new to wrenching on your own car. However, as this Porsche 718 Cayman S owner discovered, the benefits of an AP Racing by Essex Radi-CAL Brake Kit far outweigh any hurdles you may encounter performing DIY automotive surgery. Like many of our clients, after getting used to the improved response, he was blown away by the firm and consistent pedal feel he experienced with our kit, courtesy of Spiegler stainless steel lines, AP Racing Pro5000R calipers, and 2-piece floating discs with anti-knockback springs. What's more, he finished his first time attack event post-install at the top of the podium!

In our customer's words:

"Install-wise, it was very straightforward. I’m a newbie DIY’er (routine maintenance) and was able to install the kit pretty easily. Main difficulty was the rear brake line routing since it’s a single soft line compared to 2 OEM hard & soft lines. I ended up taking a few hours trying to get it right without rubbing (18” wheels). After every session on track this weekend I pulled the wheels to verify it wasn’t rubbing. First and second session were good (pushing about 7/10ths then 8/10ths). Third session I pushed 9/10ths and then it started rubbing the line’s rubber coating a little, but only on the driver side. I think the chassis maybe has an asymmetry because the routing was identical (to my eye) on both sides, but had significantly less clearance on the driver side. Pulled the line again, tried making it more flush against the chassis wall. But when lowering the car, the clearance went away under the compression. I ended up gaffers taping it and zip tying it to the brake line bracket like mr.t0fu in that post, and after a bleed, it was good for the rest of the weekend. The passenger side did not need any zip ties since it wasn’t rubbing.

One benefit which I didn’t see mentioned a lot was the rears can be bled without taking the wheels off. This is really handy at the track.

Onto pedal feel, I stayed on DS1.11 pads (had them in stock calipers, now on AP). The pedal felt soft at first on street, but once I got them on track, it was amazing. Very firm like a brick wall, and it happens so soon into the pedal travel. Very confidence inspiring. I did have to relearn how to brake, since the OEM calipers had a more progressive pedal feel that gets firmer and brakes harder as you get into it. The AP kit seemed to hit that wall immediately, but you could go from 1/10ths braking to 10/10ths braking with the firm pedal the whole time. I got used to correlating the firmness with stopping power rather than pressure on the pedal itself, so it took a couple sessions to figure it out. With OEM, I also tended to jab the brakes more, engaging ABS quickly but it stopped quite well. With AP it seemed to like threshold braking more, and didn’t like stopping as much with ABS, which honestly felt nicer because I can now modulate more easily while having the same stopping distance. I can also be more gentle on the initial braking on AP rather than jabbing it like OEM. The pedal feel is truly amazing and stayed consistent the whole session. And now after the weekend, street driving also has the firm pedal. I guess it just needed some proper bedding in to mate the pads and rotor.

I ended the weekend with 1st in my time attack class, so super stoked about it!"

And here are some great shots of his stunning Lizard Green Porsche 718 Cayman S: