Anybody have experience with them? I found a setup of 4 rotors, 4 pads and stainless steel line for 489.95. Is this a good deal or should I just save for something like Willwood? I really need new brakes, so I was wondering.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IntegraBoy04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anybody have experience with them? I found a setup of 4 rotors, 4 pads and stainless steel line for 489.95. Is this a good deal or should I just save for something like Willwood? I really need new brakes, so I was wondering.</TD></TR></TABLE>

They are good rotors. Unless you track your car, you won't need a slotted or drilled rotor. OEM replacements are much cheaper, and will work the same.

I would suggest Brembo blanks or something. And some Axxis Ultimate pads. or something.

 

Definitely dont need them. Powerslots are nice, but as a street car youll never see the benefit of slotted rotors.

For that kind of money look into http://www.fastbrakes.com 's 11" Front upgrade kit. If youre looking for a marginal upgrade in braking, thats your ticket.

Personally, I was happy just going to new blank rotors and Axxis Ultimates, but thats me. It brakes plenty hard for daily driving.

 

Just go for blanks.

With the stock size of the rotor, you are better off keeping more mass than sacrificing some of it for surface area (slotted/drilled). Pads no longer outgas, and I doubt you need them for cleaning the face of the rotor (like in rally).

Unless you are out for the bling bling effect, save your money.

 

Does anyone know the size of the rotors with this kit? I was thinking of slotted because I will be going turbo soon, and I am going to start autocrossing soon. Plus I like the look of them.

 

I have powerslots (cross-drilled and sloted) w/ steel braided brake lines in my '93 GS-R, and they work great for hard driving, (i.e.-autocross, or just driving a backroad hard). I don't feel as much brake fade from them as opposed to the stock units (IMO). Throw some hawk pads in there and you'll have an alright amatuer autocross set-up.

 

How do they work for daily driving? And how much was your kit? Did you install them yourself?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IntegraBoy04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How do they work for daily driving? And how much was your kit? Did you install them yourself?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Powerslots are pointless for road racing, even more so for daily driving. The only way to increase brake torque with rotors is by increasing the active radius of the rotor.

brake torque = ( disc radius * clamping force * CF ) / 12

With the stock sized rotors, you don't want to sacrifice mass for surface area.

 

So, what if I get bigger rotors, can I keep the stock calipers?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IntegraBoy04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How do they work for daily driving? And how much was your kit? Did you install them yourself?</TD></TR></TABLE>

To me there is no real difference between the powerslot vs. stock for daily driving (unless street racing and braking really hard alot). But thats where they work best, when they start heating up, there isn't as much brake fade in the powerslots from repeatedly braking hard, as there was with my stock brakes.

I got all 4 powerslots (cross-drill and slotted)/pads and new front calipers at a great price through a mechanic friend for around 240 new. And I already had the steel braided brake lines before the rotor upgrade, and can't really remember how much i got them for.

And yes i installed everything myself in my friends garage. Only problem i had was the banjo bolt for connecting the brake line to the caliper, broke in half on me and i had to purchase a new one (really cheap), but anyways be careful with those banjo bolts. As they are hollow and can't be over torqued or stressed cause they will break.(IME)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IntegraBoy04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So, what if I get bigger rotors, can I keep the stock calipers? </TD></TR></TABLE>

AEM is the only kit I know of that offers larger rotors with stock calipers.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
But thats where they work better, when they start heating up, there isn't as much brake fade in the powerslots from repeatedly braking hard, as there was with my stock brakes.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

And you tested this? where?

You know with all the mass removed from drilling and slotting they are more prone to fade, since they no longer have the thermal storage they once had. So yeah, you might get better heat disipation but what good is that going to do once the rotors are heatsoaked?

 

Well it's from autocross experience, actually. I've tried both OEM and powerslot, to find that A: pads don't wear as quickly w/ powerslot and B: powerslot rotors didn't warp after a week of autocrossing them like the OEM ones continuely did to me.

I understand your whole surface area thing, and heatsoak theory. But while your losing area for heat to dissapate too in powerslots, your also increasing cooling capabilities throughout the whole rotor (due to slots and drill holes ALL the way the rotor) therefore effectively elimating heat.

 

If you are warping your rotors at an auto-X you need to look at your driving.

You should not be heating up your rotors to the point of warping doing a 30second to 1 minute run which rarely gets above 50mph.

Explain how slots and drills could effect pad life?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by StyleTEG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Explain how slots and drills could effect pad life?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't know bro you tell me, I've just picked this up from my verteran autocrossing buddies. And have seen it for myself.

And as far as my driving goes, I'm not the only one warping OEM rotors, plenty of my autocross buddies have had the same problem, which is why they invested in powerslots, or Willwoods.

 

Its all in your head. And if all of your buddies are warping the OEM rotors they need to look at their driving too.

I can heat up my OEM/Autozone rotors to the point of glowing at HPDE events, and have no problems with them warping.

Crossdrilled and slotting is pointless on stock sized rotors. Half the cross drilled rotors I have seen drill the holes large enough where they actually decrease surface area AND mass.


Modified by StyleTEG at 2:07 AM 12/15/2003

 

Ok, what about the Willwood kit then? The 11.76 inch rotors?

 

I believe the wilwood calipers don't have dustboots around the piston, and most likely would need to be rebuilt every year.

 

Well, damn. I want to get something better. And I kind of like the bling of the slotted rotors. so what other kit is good then?

 

What are you looking to get?

More brake torque?

Better resistance to brake fade? (better cooling)

Or just something that looks flashy?

 

hey, i actually have a set of front powerslots on my 90. I also use a set of Hawk HPs. This setup works great. With blanks and the HPs i noticed fade after hard driving. With the slots, the fade is much less. thats my personal experience.

 

I run the powerslots on all 4 corners with Goodrigge braided lines and AEM pads. I love the feel and the pedal is now rock solid, even after heated up. When I would get fade under the same driving conditions with the stockers. I think they are an excellent upgrade for the money.

-Ryan

 

Are the rotors better? I just want a better feel when braking. It seems to take forever now, plus my rotors are warped to ****. And since I am going to get new brakes anyways, I just thought I would get something upgraded.

 

yes, the rotors are much better. I actually had a caliper stick for a few months and completly wear down a pair of Hawks. Even after that, the rotor wasnt warped at all and just needed a good sanding.

 

You can't resurface drilled and slotted rotors.

I guess no amount of formulas or explaining the technical reasons on how rotors work is going to change peoples minds.

Go ahead and buy your powerslot rotors and have worse than stock performance

 

thats incorrect. you can resurface the powerslots. i have done it. you put it on a brake lathe and just do a small cleanup cut. call them and ask them about it. plus, its bad to really resurface any rotor, because when you take off that layer of metal, you are taking away some of the mass of the rotor. and that mass helps to absorb heat. so technically, its bad to resurface any rotor, unless you are doing a SMALL clean up cut.