Porsche Goes To Great Lengths To Explain Why Its Brakes Squeal

Porsche seems to like using its official YouTube to ‘correct’ the world on certain subjects. Just over a year ago the Stuttgart-based firm decided to post a video about how to pronounce its name properly (as Joey from Friends explained many years prior, it’s Por-sche not Porsch), and now, we have this four minute explanation about why Porsche brakes are supposed to make squealing noises.

Due to the forces involved in braking, vibrations - and therefore noises - from brake components are inevitable. Porsche’s cars are powerful and in many cases quite heavy, so they use bigger pads, meaning the portion of the pad contacting the brake rotor can vary at lower speeds, exacerbating squeal. Then there are other factors like temperature to bear in mind, but the message is clear: the noise does not mean your brakes are broken.

The reason Porsche has gone to these lengths to relay that message? We can’t help but think the top commenter on the YouTube video is on to something: “I’m guessing customers complain a lot.”