Slotted/drilled brake rotors any good?

[LokiRx7]

I bought them for the heck of it for auto-x'ing I had some ceramic pads that I bed in properly. I didnt have any cracking issues, but on the street overall panic stopping ability seemed to be affected negatively. After I bed in the pads, I seemed to need to brake sooner than with the oem replacement blanks. It wasnt bad enough to make me not use them. I just needed to pay attention. Some of the stopping issues I had was because the ceramics hadnt heated up properly.

They seemed to have a lot more initial bite. They were very touchy, I assumed it was because the slots were cleaning any glaze of the rotor. But in hindsight it might have just been because they were fresh brakes.

On the track, they weren't too different from OEM. A little more bite like I said, not difficult to drive with, and I dont know if it effected my times in a good or bad way.

That said they were cheap, cheaper than OEM brakes (at least compared to local sources), and they performed well. They had their drawbacks, but werent terrible overall.

Cant say I would reccomend them, to be honest, anyone at the meets who asks I tell to stay with blanks lol! The only way there might be an advantage is if you used a large enough rotor to offset the surface area loss from the holes or slots. But those arent in my budget, and they arent always an improvement. Ive found the biggest factor in braking ability is pad material. And I have heard different things from different people about the 'best' pads.

EDIT ::

If you want a good looking rotor, they are nickel plated or whatever they were. They look GREAT after a rainstorm, they look better than an iron rotor when used (they look like polished aluminum) The only reason they ever rust is if you use semi-metallic pads. However anyone who knows anything about them will laugh at them like they are an aluminum wing.

[YellowJacket]

Originally Posted by ToyotaTechGeek

ok, dude and your opinion is your own. i guess i've always followed the philosophy of FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION. i don't agree with the idea that all brake rotor blanks are created alike. no Made In China crap for me, thanks.

I didnt say form is more important that function. But for street use, you can have BOTH. Nor did I say all rotors were created alike nor did I say centric was China crap (unlike AMICO). You are putting words in my mouth that I did not say to support your point.

I will say it again, on a budget, if you research who you are buying from, you can get a great functionally impressive and good looking rotor cheap. There are TOO many people using these on the street to dispute it and say they are not good.

Centric is one of the largest brake mftr in the world and that tends to say something, and a good number of those ebay sold or third party companies like cquence, for example, are simply buying those blanks then they slot/drill & paint. Much of their stock comes from Canada I am told.

Centric makes blanks for R1concepts, iRotors, Stoptech, PowerSlots and etc. Tons of good press from people using these brands.

I AGREE that if your wallet can afford a $1500 racing quality brake setup then you should have that. I WANT THAT! But I don't. I spent $240 including shipping on my complete set of rotors and ceramic pads. My car stops like I threw a boat anchor out the window. When they warp or wear out, I will replace them. I have no concerns about their quality compared to the OEM solution and find them very quiet, very clean (no dust) and very good looking for the street.

Centric Rotors For The Track???? - i-Club

granPrix
Centric pads and rotors. good? - Brakes/Suspension/Chassis

GTO
LS1GTO.com Forums - Those using Cquence rotors step inside

BMW
Anyone Interested in Performance Rotors--Look Here! - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - E90Post.com

f150
http://www.f150online.com/forums/whe...mild-wild.html

corvette
Opinions wanted; Centric rotors and Posi-Quiet Pads. - Corvette Forum

[ToyotaTechGeek]

Originally Posted by YellowJacket

I didnt say form is more important that function. But for street use, you can have BOTH. Nor did I say all rotors were created alike nor did I say centric was China crap (unlike AMICO). You are putting words in my mouth that I did not say to support your point.

I will say it again, on a budget, if you research who you are buying from, you can get a great functionally impressive and good looking rotor cheap. There are TOO many people using these on the street to dispute it and say they are not good.

Centric is one of the largest brake mftr in the world and that tends to say something, and a good number of those ebay sold or third party companies like cquence, for example, are simply buying those blanks then they slot/drill & paint. Much of their stock comes from Canada I am told.

Centric makes blanks for R1concepts, iRotors, Stoptech, PowerSlots and etc. Tons of good press from people using these brands.

I AGREE that if your wallet can afford a $1500 racing quality brake setup then you should have that. I WANT THAT! But I don't. I spent $240 including shipping on my complete set of rotors and ceramic pads. My car stops like I threw a boat anchor out the window. When they warp or wear out, I will replace them. I have no concerns about their quality compared to the OEM solution and find them very quiet, very clean (no dust) and very good looking for the street.

Centric Rotors For The Track???? - i-Club

granPrix
Centric pads and rotors. good? - Brakes/Suspension/Chassis

GTO
LS1GTO.com Forums - Those using Cquence rotors step inside

BMW
Anyone Interested in Performance Rotors--Look Here! - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - E90Post.com

f150
A full guide to StopTech/Centric rotors, from mild to wild - F150online Forums

corvette
Opinions wanted; Centric rotors and Posi-Quiet Pads. - Corvette Forum

and you are putting words in my mouth assuming that i ONLY support a racing brake set-up. WRONG. in fact, i don't have a race-branded braking system per se. is it capable and upgraded? absolutely! no, i don't use OEM brake pads either. post all of the articles you like. i am one to do my own R&D because most info out there is too subjective for my taste. further i don't really care much to try to compare corvettes to my MkI SC nor any other vehicle for that matter. i strive to maintain OBJECTIVITY first! and then incorporate subjectivity if/when i am asked. driving styles vary. this is why objectivity is paramount for me as i define a problem area then look to make my improvements accordingly.

[YellowJacket]

Glad you are warm and cozy in your objectivity. This whole discussion was not for your benefit anyway.

Pilot: I have made my point.

[kbrew8991]

you won't find drilled or slotted rotors on any of my MR2s, ever, so

[LokiRx7]

Originally Posted by LokiRx7

I bought them for the heck of it for auto-x'ing I had some ceramic pads that I bed in properly. I didnt have any cracking issues, but on the street overall panic stopping ability seemed to be affected negatively. After I bed in the pads, I seemed to need to brake sooner than with the oem replacement blanks. It wasnt bad enough to make me not use them. I just needed to pay attention. Some of the stopping issues I had was because the ceramics hadnt heated up properly.

They seemed to have a lot more initial bite. They were very touchy, I assumed it was because the slots were cleaning any glaze of the rotor. But in hindsight it might have just been because they were fresh brakes.

On the track, they weren't too different from OEM. A little more bite like I said, not difficult to drive with, and I dont know if it effected my times in a good or bad way.

That said they were cheap, cheaper than OEM brakes (at least compared to local sources), and they performed well. They had their drawbacks, but werent terrible overall.

Cant say I would reccomend them, to be honest, anyone at the meets who asks I tell to stay with blanks lol! The only way there might be an advantage is if you used a large enough rotor to offset the surface area loss from the holes or slots. But those arent in my budget, and they arent always an improvement. Ive found the biggest factor in braking ability is pad material. And I have heard different things from different people about the 'best' pads.

EDIT ::

If you want a good looking rotor, they are nickel plated or whatever they were. They look GREAT after a rainstorm, they look better than an iron rotor when used (they look like polished aluminum) The only reason they ever rust is if you use semi-metallic pads. However anyone who knows anything about them will laugh at them like they are an aluminum wing.

lol! I meant to say, I thought the slots were cleaning the glaze off the pads! Hence better initial bite.

[ToyotaTechGeek]

Originally Posted by Pilot

You see these slotted/drilled brake rotor kits on Ebay, such as the ones found here. Anybody have any experience with these type of rotors? Snake-oil gimmick or...?

Originally Posted by YellowJacket

Glad you are warm and cozy in your objectivity. This whole discussion was not for your benefit anyway.

Pilot: I have made my point.

isn't that the point of the OP in the first place? an objective?
no, this wasn't for my benefit, but giving my $.02USD was a contribution to the OP in a quest for knowledge/guidance.

[kbrew8991]

Originally Posted by LokiRx7

lol! I meant to say, I thought the slots were cleaning the glaze off the pads! Hence better initial bite.

proper pads for your setup and usage don't glaze

[Pilot]

AC Delco makes rotors and ceramic pads for the MR2 and four rotors and pad sets cost about 185 (delivered) through RockAuto.com Are they worth paying a few extra bucks for or...?

[scottohno]

pilot, i think you should get them. they look pretty nice, reasonably priced, and come with a one year warranty all for 162 bucks. not too shabby. i did autozone oem replacement and wanna say it cost me like 120 all together with ceramic front pads and regular rear pads. these look better for a little more money, so go for it. im thinking about it myself once i get more cash and a replaced rear caliper.

[q-authority]

Regarding all aftermarket rotors being of equal quality to oem rotors, I would say no. Are they necessarily much worse, hard to say. But every aftermarket set of rotors I have ever tried have weighed significantly more than Toyota oem rotors, so there is obviously a considerable difference in their compositions.

I have usually found that the average aftermarket rotor wieghs about 1.5-2 lbs. more than an oem rotor. That is a significant difference, and adds to the unsprung weight of the car, which if one was being really picky, they would not want. But that is probably of little importance to many people.

I've used aftermarket cross drilled rototrs with Porterfield R4S pads, in the past, and they worked beautifully. No warm-up needed, they stopped the car on a dime, and were almost impervious to water when ocassionally driving through deep water filled ruts, etc. But they also wore out rather quickly. I only got about 35-40k out of them before they started having that warped feeling, which is not necessarily the rotors actually warping, but material build-up on them. I also noticed that very small spider cracks were starting to form around many of the cross drilled holes.

Normal rotors you could take to just about any machine shop and have them surfaced, and then get another good 15-20k out out of them. But good luck finding a shop that can surface cross drilled or slotted rotors. I've only ever know of one personally.

But hey, if their cheap enough, and you just want to try somehting new, go ahead. But regarding the 1 year warranty. It is very unlikely that you will ever encounter a problem with any rotor in that short a period, so it really doesn't amount to much.

[willy swafford]

axxis metal masters all d way! or porterfield.very nice

[Zeffrin]

Street use, get bog standard rotors... look at CJMR2T's response. (edit: Should have said OEM rather than bog standard, I'm used to talking about muscle cars... toyota engineers know their stuff and choose the best materials and set the minimum thickness based on thermodynamic calculations, OEM rotors are best for street use.)

Removing mass is removing places for heat generated to equalise into increasing the chances of deformation/cracking in the remaining material.

The point of drilled/slotted rotors is to provide an exit point for gases which is potentially trapped between the pad and the disc when the brakes a clamped down however for a street user, if you get some nice flat discs.. preferably new but machined greater than or equal to minimum thickness is fine the pads themselves should wear flat.

While slotted/drilled may improve stopping time MARGINALLY the pads/rotors will last a lot shorter time due to the aformentioned shaving of pads and increased warping of rotors.

As for pads well... ceramic has good wear and heat conductivity... but to be honest for street use meh... when I buy pads I've generally been offered a choice between hard (which I assume to be ceramic) which will last a lot longer due to the harder material and superior heat dissipation or soft which wear faster but stop better. I've tried and been happy with both but to be honest with you, on the street I've only ever needed to be soft of the brakes and come to a nice smooth slow stop and so soft pads seem to last potentially years anyway and that one time you do need to stop right now... they do the job nicely. I'm pretty sure soft pads are your standard asbestos based jobs...

the only downside to them is the dust that can accumulate on your rims but whatever, no point going if you can't stop.