Looking into new front and rear rotors for my '94 GSR. Just curious as to if their is a real difference (besides cost) between, say Brembo or similar higher end name, and a no-name brand. I would like cross-drilled or both drilled and slotted. Just wondering if this is a bad idea to go cheap on rotors (see link below). Thanks, any USEFUL comments would be great, regarding suggestions on different brands, etc. I have looked into a big brake upgrade, but the only one that I can really afford right now is AEM's, which relocates the stock caliper for, supposedly, up to 30% more braking power, but it seems like people are having some problems w/ them. Any pad recommendations too (I DRIVE my car, brake fast a lot, etc.). Have had EBC green's in the past.
Thanks
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...33564
^any good
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...33564
^another possibility

 

i would stick to the brembo blanks for a street car. the x drillled or slotted wont really help you unless you do some track times.

 

I am not familiar with the Tenzo Rotors. There are several things you need to ask about the rotors. Are they QUALITY Rotors?
Brembo has a good name but keep in mind that Brembo and uses good quality cast-iron and casting design is good as well, but they only makes the Blanks. SOMEONEELSE put the hole in there. Are the Hole and or Slots balanced? are they positioned correctly so as not to drill through the cooling veins? These all make a difference. the idea of cross drilling a rotor is really to increase the effective surface area of the Rotor and allowing air to pump in from the center outward carrying Heat with it (CONVECTION) By drilling THROUGH the cooling veins kinda defeats the purpose. Well in the case of brembo they don't have typical cooling veins. So it might not make such a difference as with Curved veined Rotors.
Typically a Cross Drilled Rotor should have curved veins NOT Straight.
As for the TENZO Rotors as for the over all design I think the Two piece Rotor is a much better design. The Aluminum Hat is effective in protecting the Hub bearings from heat damage. The thing that would worry me is the quality of CAST IRON used in thier construction. Are the cooling veins Curved or straight? Did you realize these are REAR Rotor? Also the Tenzo Kit is a BIG BRAKE kit and this will provide more brake torque and therefore possibly a better stopping distance (depending on yout tires)

You will need new pads as well and make sure you get the right pads. Eitherway you go just make sure you use NEW pads and bed in the rotors and pads according to the Manufacturer's spec. Imporper Bedding accounts for more than 85% of rotor failures IMO.
Even on a street car (although you don't NEED them) Cross Drilled Rotors will help in decreasing Heat in the system and will shorten your over all stopping distance. Wet weather braking is also improved.
If you are looking in to crossdrilled Rotors if you want to go with brembo then find a GOOD company to do the drilling. It's a hard choice between the two. I personally would SAY NONE as if they are not of good quality or poorly machined you are risking your life.

Brakes are not the place to cut corners.

 

stay with blanks. Cross-drilled rotors are over rated. How does material with less surface area help you stop faster? How many true race cars use them?

 

I would definitely stick to the brembo blanks opposed to the other two ebay choices. There are many archived threads that I read which have tons of information on cross drilled/ slotted/ brembos/ autozones etc.

 

x-drill rotors also shorten your pad life, think cheese grater...

 

Less rotational mass= less inertia. This means less force to overcome meaning shorter stopping distance.

MORE effective surface area = better cooling by CONVECTION.

CHEESE Geater= higher friction coefficiant= MORE Brake Torque
What provides more resistance? A flat piece of metal or a "Cheese Grater"
Further more the effects are not nearly as severe and a poor comparrison.
Better Cooling = less chance to fade... FADE is similar to hydroplaning= NOT GOOD. PAD fade means that the heat is too high that the Friction coefficiant of the pad has decreased MEANING Less brake Torque meaning LONGER Stopping Distance or Not stopping at all until you find another force equal or greater and OPPOSITE to the motion of your CAR.

A good Cross Drilled Rotor will INCREASE Effective Surface area of a Rotor. SAME concept of Ventilated Brake Rotors Vs Solid Rotors.
A Vented Rotor had MORE effective Surfae area than a Solid Rotor Even though the edge of the rotor is virtually eliminated.
Effective Surface area is the Area of the Rotor in which air can come in direct contact with the metal. This promotes a HEAT TRANSFER and REMOVES Heat from the System.

Cross Drilled Rotors get a bad rap due to cheap copy cat rotors made of poor quality Cast Iron and Poor Construction technology in an effort to cut costs needed for producing a GOOD Rotor.


Modified by Tsukuba 699 at 12:20 AM 6/7/2004

 

Tsukuba 699

 

cross cast rotors are nice, I don't like the idea of drilling into a rotor personally

plus you should have a VERY hard time fading out your rotors on the street as long as you take care of your entire braking system, the track is another place entirely

 

I vote for brembo blanks

 

oh god, not this bs again

http://www.altimas.net/forum/s...32327

 

PatrickGSR stands really strong on autozone blanks. He does his research and wouldnt buy something if he thought it wasnt safe compared to an OEM product. Im going to give them a try next time...and hey you can get an lifetime warranty on them too

EDIT: I think he said the are like $28 a rotor

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmjerk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">PatrickGSR stands really strong on autozone blanks. He does his research and wouldnt buy something if he thought it wasnt safe compared to an OEM product. Im going to give them a try next time...and hey you can get an lifetime warranty on them too

EDIT: I think he said the are like $28 a rotor</TD></TR></TABLE>'

Yep they are $28 a rotor. For its price.

 

they mention some where in hondatech forums of brembos for like very cheap , you should check it out

 

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

Yep they are $28 a rotor. For its price.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually, they sell for $21.99+tax per rotor. I have them on my car and think they are a great value.

 

SO you guys are telling me its dumb to spend all the money on the big time brembo brake systems, i should just buy the brembo blanks and get them drilled and slotted? i have a daily driven 94 ls and those new rotors will work with my stock calipers or should i get new ones?

 

The big brake systems are what is going to make a difference.

Read this thread

http://www.altimas.net/forum/s...32327

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gsr415 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">they mention some where in hondatech forums of brembos for like very cheap , you should check it out </TD></TR></TABLE>
http://www.importrp.com/ they are a h/t sponsor as well

$29.99 each for fronts

 

Rotors are a wear item, so why spend a ton of money on them when you can gt some cheap blanks from vatozone. You can not tell a difference performance wise between brembo blanks, and some generic one. But i guess you wont get to brag that you have "brembo" rotors.

 

woah, altimas.net

that takes me back

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Two_K Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rotors are a wear item, so why spend a ton of money on them when you can gt some cheap blanks from vatozone. You can not tell a difference performance wise between brembo blanks, and some generic one. But i guess you wont get to brag that you have "brembo" rotors.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are probably right. Your driving probably does not surpass the inadequacies of the Auto Zone Rotor.
But on the circuit I would not put mu life on Aimco products. They are notorious for having safety recalls on their products. A quick internet search would confirm that.
Bang for the Buck I can see your point. If you only drive the car to get groceries SURE it would be fine for that.
Autocross??? If you like the idea of disposable brakes and that's your thing. Then yes.
If you are serious about performance and you fully understand the pros and cons of Rotors and Calipers then you would tend to agree with the QUALITY over quantity issue.
Besides the ISSUE here was BREMBO or TENZO the poster of this thread seems to be interested in Cross Drilled Rotors.
Can you categorically compare the AIMCO rotors to Brembo and say that they are better or the SAME?

How about quality of Cast Iron?
How about Balancing?
How about Venting?
Have you tested them Side by side and found that Brambo is no better than AIMco? Probably not, but I'd put my $$$ on Brembo anyday.
Hoda sees fit to put them on the New Type R. With 4 pot Calipers and Recaro Seats I am sure Honda is not trying to skimp on the Rotors


I have been racing on the circuit for a few years now. I can tell you as a driver, my No 1 concern is BRAKES. 4 pot Calipers and two piece Slotted Rotors are the norm for me. Sometimes I go with crossdrilled rotors. Almost never go with blanks but if I do it is always a QUALITY rotor.

 

don't say there aren't advantages to drilled/slotted rotors, if there weren't, they wouldn't make them on many many OE vehicles/motorcycles. the biggest gain to them would be it's venting ability, secondly they can reduce inertial weight signficantly. i am opposed to using them for street only purposes, because you don't need them everyday.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lewcis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">SO you guys are telling me its dumb to spend all the money on the big time brembo brake systems, i should just buy the brembo blanks and get them drilled and slotted? i have a daily driven 94 ls and those new rotors will work with my stock calipers or should i get new ones?</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is poor advice to say the least. It is not dumb to spend money on good quality brake products. Wether it is a "Normal wear Item" or not.
For a Street Driven LS that sees no track time. OEM blanks are going to be just fine. For that matter, if you want Cross Drilled Rotors for LOOKS go with the Brembo and get them drilled by a good company.

As for skimping on quality because it is a "Normal wear Item" that has got to be the worst advice I have ever heard. Okay in that case, get CHEAP GAS, Get CHEAP Motor Oil, use crapy Brake Fluid and Tranny Fluid, You'll have to change it eventually so why spend the $$$.... Com'on we're not talking about winshield wiper fluid here.

Regaurdless what you buy Know WHY you are buying it and Know WHAT you are buying it. Also remember that most brake systems fail prematurly due to user error. (ie Improrer bedding in, Using the wrong pads with your setup, buying Cheap products... to name a few)

 

Do you have any evidence that brembo's outperform generic rotors? Non of this i can sleep better at night knowing i have brembos b.s.

 

personally I crack cross DRILLED rotors, last time I used them I got some brembo that were cast with the holes in the rotors

you may just want to work out some ducting on blanks, then you wont' have to worry about cracking as much