Hi everyone...

Finally assembling all the parts for my rear drum to disc swap... Can't seem to choose what rotors to go with though..
My front rotors are Brembo Sport Slotted and I love them but they are out my pricerange for the rear..

It looks like it has come down to the two mentioned above.. There is only a $20 difference in price on the rear so I will be willing to pay the extra for the ATE if you people decide its worth it..

So, what do you all think? I know ATE is a well respected brake brand (make the calipers on my volvo).. My main worry with the Brembo though is production location. My slotteds were made in Italy but I have no idea about the blanks.

PS. Going to run StopTech Street Performance pads all round as soon as my Hawk HPS in the front dies..
Also upgrading all lines to SS and sticking with my ATE Superblue/TYP 200

 

Overkill

I had Brembo blanks with my NSX calipers (and stock pads) and they performed excellent.

 

Well I agree it may be overkill, but overkill usually involves a lot of extra expenditure of money etc...
Assume they were the same price right, what would you go with in that case?
I have read that the ATE is about 1lb heavier than the Brembo blanks.. Can this be possibly because of a denser cast of steel? (just postulating here)..


Do you know by chance where the Brembo blanks were made?

 

Not sure to be honest. Considering the % of the braking power the rear brakes do, I don't really see a need. If you want the whole car to have the same look (that is slotted) then I guess go for it. But since you have Brembo up front I doubt the patterns will match 100%. I dunno, I don't think you'll truly see any performance increase from it. But if it's only $20 difference I might be tempted too.

It probably just boils down to what you want the rear rotors to look like haha.

 

Truth be told, the whole reason I ended up with Brembo Slotteds up front is that they were actually the same price as blanks at the time...Was nothing to do with performance etc.

In this case, the ATE doesnt look anything like the Brembo as the slots are quite a bit more superficial and have that strange orbital look to them.. Just a matter of which will last longest, rust least, be best value ... Any performance gains are just bonus

 

Been doing my research, and as it turns out Brembo blanks and ATE Slotteds are both now made in China.. I know that that isn't easy to judge, but my set of Brembo Sport came made in Italy and that gave me certain reassurances of quality...

I guess production of pretty much everything has either gone east or south now, but I wonder why Brembo will put their name on the line with Chinese rotors...

 

Well, today I received a spare set of brembo sport slotteds for the front...

I can tell you that these new ones made in Mexico do not compare to the Made in Italy ones (my last set)... The machining on the italian made brembos was MUCH sharper with deeper slots and a more even finish across the rotor face..
I am actually quite disappointed by these new sport fronts but they did only cost me $107 for the pair..

Concerning the rears, I think I may give the ATE a run if the price of the brembo sport slotted doesnt drop.. The ATE has a better anti-rust finish than the brembo blanks

 

The thing about Brembos is they stop making them or stop making them as well as their original run of rotors. It's annoying.

My suggestion for blank rotors is to use Centric.
Who is Centric? They are the parent company of Power Slot and Stop-Tech. The best part, Centric is usually one of the less costly brands. Also their rotors come with the anti corrosion E coating, so they stay purty.

 

Thanks for the tip mike, I am familiar with centric though.. Had their rotors on all four corners of my Volvo...

The centric blanks come up to about $2 less than the brembo and the brembo in turn is about $9 each less than the ATE..
All within a relatively close price range so money isnt really the issue... Any idea where the centrics are made? I know it doesnt matter anymore but I am just wondering..

 

Off the top of my head I cannot recall. I know they have some of their hoses are made in Italy or China. It's not really a problem where they are made, but the QC. The other thing I didn't mention was they machine most, if not all, surfaces of the rotor. Combined with the coating they stay looking great and makes working on the brakes a pleasure.

You can call up their tech line and ask, although I think its closed for the day.

http://www.centricparts.com/index.php

 

Well, I eventually decided to go with a pair of the ATE PremiumOne Slotteds... Picked them up on amazon for $89 for the pair...
Brembo blanks would have come up to about $12 less so overall not a bad investment I don't think..

Thanks for all the advice rendered... I will be sure to put up a review when I get these things on the car (drum to disc swap required first)..