Ok Its time to replace my brake pads on my teg. I wanted to upgrade to x-drilled and slotted brembo rotors along with some better pads and some stainless lines. I just wanted the OEM rotor replacements. With better pads, the new brembo rotors (at all 4 corners) and the SS brake lines, will I noitce a big difference in braking? Also, what brake pads do you reccomend for the x-drilled and slotted rotors for a moderatley aggressive street driver (no track). Thanks everyone.

 

everyone here just suggest the brembo blanks and a nice set of pads. i myself went the "rice" way and got some powerslot slotted rotors and axxis metalmaster pads with goodrich stainless steel brake lines for $530 shipped from landspeedracing.com about a year ago.

havent warped the rotors yet and they stop ya like a brick wall when necessary!

 

What do you think about the slotted VS x-drilled rotors debate? For street use would the slotted or x-drilled be better, or would it not make much of a difference? Thanks everyone.

 

Generally for street use, there's no dif between slots & holes. Most will agree, however, that slotted is the newer technology and will exhaust the brake gasses better. The drilled ones are more for cooling, which you won't need unless you racing somewhere. You'll feel more difference with agressive pads (like Hawk or Porterfield) and stainless lines (for firmer pedal feel) than from slotted rotors.

 

I have new Brembo Blanks for sale..because I never had a chance to put them on my GSR... 200+ ship

 

There's a debate? It's proven that any x-drilled brake rotor will crack and/or warp when subjected to the high temperatures that you supposedly need these same rotors for. For street use you will see absolutely zero increase in brake performance with a x-drilled or slotted rotor. On the other hand, your pads may wear quicker due to uneven surfaces on the rotor.

Today's brake pads do not produce the kind of gases that the pads of yesterday did. The old pads needed a way to vent the gasses and that's why they created slotted rotors. Today's pads don't create the gasses, but do produce a ton of heat. You need a solid rotor to absorb that heat and stop you quicker. The less material you have on your rotor due to drilling or slotting, the less mass you have to absorb heat. The less mass you have, the more prone to warping and cracking the rotor becomes. It's really simple physics.

On today's race cars, you will rarely find anything but solid rotors. If a race car running at 120 MPH and slowing to 30 MPH over and over for an hour doesn't need anything more than solid rotors, why would your street car?

If you want to see an increase in brake performance, put on some Brembo OEM blanks, some Hawk HP or HP+ pads, put some good fluid in (I prefer Motul 600), and maybe some stainless steel lines. You'll decrease your stopping distance and increase pedal feel and responsiveness. A set of 4 Brembo blanks from Coletti Motorsports might run you $100.

Take the money you save and spend it on entry fees at a local autocross. You'll enjoy the autocross much more than you'll enjoy looking at your brakes.


[Modified by Shmeek, 8:23 PM 11/24/2001]

 

Shmeek,

Thank you for the response. I think your absoloutley right, I will go with the blank OEM rotors from brembo. Why spend more money on something that won't help, like the x-drilled rotors? I probably won't auto-x this car, its just my daily driver that I wanted a little better braking from, and considering I needed new pads, I was just going to do the enitre brake upgrade at once. (brembo OEM blanks, Hawk pads, ATE super blue fluid, and SS lines)

Also, for somewhat aggressive street use, what pads do you reccomend from Hawk? Thanks, Jason.

 

Good decision, Jason. If you couldn't tell from my post, I autocross a lot. But my autocross car is also my daily driver. I run Hawk HP+ pads in the front with EBC green pads in the rear. Hawk only makes front pads for our cars. Once the rears are gone, I'll be replacing those with AEM rear pads. The HP+ pad from Hawk is their most aggressive street pad. It does grip better when warmed, but it still has a great initial bite even when cold. When you hit the brakes hard, these pads could easily throw you from the car if you're not prepared for it. Hawk does make a less agresive pad as well. It's either called the HP or HPS. Once you upgrade the brakes with lines, fluid and pads it may take a little to get used to as the car will stop much quicker than you're expecting. But that's the point of good brakes....so that you can drive faster longer.

There are other pad manufactures out there as well, other than Hawk. The disadvantage to Hawks are that they dust like crazy and they are a carbon-iron mix. The iron will rust if it's not cleaned from the wheels and body. I haven't had any problems yet, don't have time to wash the car regularily, and have had the pads on since May. Companies like Porterfield and maybe AEM use a carbon-kevlar mix, which will still probably dust, but at least its not corrosive.

I bought my pads from Trey Commander's company, Import Specialists, now owned by Nick Thomas . He has great service and great prices. IM him for pricing. Rotors you can get from Colletti Motorsports, Steve Colletti is the owner and will give you a great price as well. I got my Goodridge brake lines from Lightning Motorsports a year ago for $107 shipped to my door.
www.import-specialists.com

http://www.collettimotorsports.com

http://www.lightningmotorsports.com

Edit: Updated the URLs and info on Trey.


[Modified by Shmeek, 9:24 PM 11/24/2001]


[Modified by Shmeek, 9:31 PM 11/24/2001]

 

Shmeek,

Thanks for al the help! Well the iron used on the Hawk pads doesn't bother me so much because I wash my car often so I geuss I'll just be cleaning the area around my brakes a little more. So you reccomend getting the Hawk pads, and since they don't make pads for the rear, to get the AEM's? Also, with the replacement OE rotor blanks from Brembo, will those rotors alone along with the aftermarket pads (whatever they may be, let say Hawk) help me stop faster than compared to the regular honda rotors on our cars with the aftermarket pads??

 

The Brembo rotors won't help with anything because they are OEM blanks. In other words, they match the specs of the OEM rotors exactly. The reason everyone recommends the Brembos is because you know that you're getting a quality built rotor that won't have hidden defects like many other off brands, and yet the Brembo is cheaper than a Honda rotor. Excellent quality at a reduced price.

What will decrease the stopping distance is the pads. The material in the pad will grab the rotor harder, causing you to stop quicker. You then need a quality rotor that won't warp or crack with the increased heat build up from the pad.


[Modified by Shmeek, 8:09 AM 11/26/2001]

 

I've got the Brembo rotors. Very nice!

 

I like Shmeek now. I'm been telling people for awhile to get off the slotted/x-drilled fad. They suck ***. Period. As for brembo blanks for $200! LOL get them from colletti. Fronts: 28/each, rears: 24.50/each. The link was posted by shmeek.

 

im kinda scared of the dust of rust issue so what do you reccommend as 2nd to hawk?

 

I have the Proterfield R4S pads and they work great! They are a little more expensive but they stop on a dime and I only have the fronts. To improve my brake pedal feel I also changed the brake fluid out to Motul 600 synthetic fluid since I had driven a couple road courses. The brakes never faded (although being that I am still new to road racing I don't feel I subjected them to as hard a braking as I could have) and the fluid never boiled over. I did swap out my front rotors with Brembo blanks since my stock ones had tiny cracks on them.

I am still not sold on SS brake lines. Just changing out the OE brake fluid to Motul made a huge diff for me. And I'm sure that since my car is a '99, that has something to do with it too. If or when my lines start to crack or get old, then I'll switch to SS lines. For now, It's not worth the $$ for me.

 

Just wondering, but why do cars like the 911's still used cross drilled rotors? Again, just pondering.


[Modified by STi -RA, 8:11 PM 11/26/2001]

 

Everyone always says to use Motul brake fluid. This fluid is only supposed to be used as a track fluid no? I read on several boards and through personal experience that any DOT3 or 4 fluid is fine for street applications. What's the deal with this?

 

Because the buyers think they look cool too... YET they still crack

Drilled is OLD technology...pads dont gas like they used to and the holes were to let the gas out.

 

What Chris said is correct but I wanted to add one thing.. go find some 911 race cars, they run blank rotors vs the factory crossdrilled. If they switch them out to blanks, why do import people swear by the cd/slotted? Got me, I don't.

 

Shmeek,
I was just wondering, for normal street use, using the hawk pads in the front and the AEM's in the rear along with the ATE fluid, will the x-drilled rotors crack? The reason I ask is because my friend is willing to trade me his brand new from Brembo x-drilled rotors for my old subs. Will these x-drilled rotors actually decrase the stopping power due to the less surface area? Thanks for all the help, Jason.

 

Did you have something against me before?!?

 

What you see on factory 911s are probably not cross drilled brakes. The holes are actually cast into the brake rotor. Drilling is what causes the stress in the rotor, which leads to cracks and warping. While a rotor with holes cast in it does help reduce the chances of cracking, there is still less mass to absorb heat. If the pads aren't creating any gasses that they can't dispate on their own, why reduce the amount of heat your rotor can absorb? As was mentioned, any Porsche driver serious about stopping is running solid rotors.

Again, the rotors won't change your stopping power, that's the pads. What the rotors do is absorb the heat created from the friction of the pads. If you have less rotor material to absorb that heat, the higher the chances that the rotor will warp and or crack.

For street driving, it is possible that you could generate enough heat to even damage a drilled rotor. How many times have you been on the freeway in rush hour when all of a sudden the traffic goes from 60 mph to a standstill. Have enough of these and suddenly your rotor might warp. Ask why your friend wants to get rid of brand new drilled rotors. He's probably just seen the light.



[Modified by Shmeek, 1:59 PM 11/27/2001]

 

the link for collettimotorsports isnt' working, is that the right address? I too will be getting a set of brembo blanks and new pads. Thanks

 

That is the right address I'm not sure what's going on. Give him a call. A search on this board revealed the number (937) 312-1533.

 

Shmeek: I must disagree with that statement. As you mentioned, you have more pad to rotor contact with the "solid" (i call em blanks, whatever) rotors compared to crossdrilled. Whenever you have more pad contact braking will be increased, partially do to the solid rotors ability to disipate more heat and partially due to the vastly increased friction material to rotor contact. Therefore, "solid" rotors will increased stopping power. If you want to test.. grind off 1/3 of your pad and see if there's a difference With Slotted's however, you don't loose nearly as much contact area.

Also the 911's rotors are cast with the holes in them, the pads to my knowledge are normal pads.

 

I'll go along with that! If there's less area to grip (such as if there were a bunch of holes in the rotor) then the rotor will need to rotate more.

And whooops! Regarding the 911 brakes, I meant to say the "holes were cast into the rotor." The pads better not have any holes in them!


[Modified by Shmeek, 1:57 PM 11/27/2001]


[Modified by Shmeek, 1:59 PM 11/27/2001]