Brake Rotors - Need your feedback!

[mrslysly]

I need some opinions and feedback on what brands and types of brake rotors you use and how well they perform. Brand, grade/type (econ/premium/heavy duty), drilled, slotted?

The reason I'm asking is the premium rotors I get from car quest and napa don't even last 1 large track without cracking. I cracked a set just bedding in some new carbotech pads, cracked a front one at Road America, and cracked a front and rear one at brainerd. I cracked the left front bedding in the pads and at road america, and the right front and left rear at brainerd. So I'm thinking its not the hubs or calipers. These have all not been slotted or drilled, just solid face.

I can get raybestos, bendix and centric rotors from rockauto.com and I have a discount coupon good thru July 3rd and wanted to pickup a new set with the discount.

[Getsideways]

I use RacingBrake 2 piece Aluminum Hat ,, Open Slot Rotors . They were one of the best Upgrades on my car , Helped with overheating issues , Significantly less wear on the pads , and lighter.
I shoulda invested in these years ago .

[SgtRauksauff]

I got Raybestos front rotors from RockAuto for the corolla, bedded'em in on thursday night, used'em at Brainerd. no problems so far.... I decided to go with the Raybestos rotors since I had Raybestos pads.

I've also got air ducting now, which seems to have helped an immense fricking ton. like, bigger than a metric shit-ton.

[ragdoll]

Audi 2-piece with aluminum hat. Drilled. 14.6" x 1.4"

Stock stock stock

[05Saab]

http://www.r1concepts.com/

This company has an outstanding product and customer service. I bought them for my Saab, but never installed them due to lack of tools and time (I was sent the wrong ones at first, and by the time I received my new ones, I already had the pads on)
But my cousin had the drilled and slotted ones on his big Lexus LS400, and that thing stopped amazing. He piss pounded that car too.

[Getsideways]

Do not buy aftermarket drilled rotors .

[TomKat]

Significantly less wear on the pads

Why do you have less pad wear with that setup?

[05Saab]

Do not buy aftermarket drilled rotors .

They sell drilled, slotted, or drilled&slotted

We had his rotors glowing after we slowed down after a 140mph run down the bluff in LaCrosse....never cracked, shattered or anything. I figure at not much more than a stock replacement part, might be worth it.

BTW, they also sell Brembo OEM replacement rotors and non drilled or slotted rotors

[Getsideways]

Why do you have less pad wear with that setup?
I think its due to the lower brake temps, I dunno if it will make a difference on a vette since those are probably curved vane from the factoy ,, Ours are the super retro pillar design.

[Getsideways]

They sell drilled, slotted, or drilled&slotted

We had his rotors glowing after we slowed down after a 140mph run down the bluff in LaCrosse....never cracked, shattered or anything. I figure at not much more than a stock replacement part, might be worth it.

BTW, they also sell Brembo OEM replacement rotors and non drilled or slotted rotors

Im not dissing the company , But ive owned a full set of drilled/slotted rotors , very accelerated pad wear from the drilled portion.
They held up through a full lapping day and had excellent bite , But used an entire set of front pads in one day , and had small cracks starting at every drilled hole in the rotor which got progressively worse very quickly.

[TomKat]

Drilled rotors eat brake pads like a cheese grater. And they will crack earlier.

[snoxracer183]

I must drive slow, I don't ever have brake problems on any of my cars...

[SgtRauksauff]

'but you see drilled rotors on big-money race cars all the time!'

yeah, and you see them changing them after every event, sometimes even during. big money means they can afford to do that.

more edges to bite harder, and then the whole "outgassing" thing, which really doesn't happen so much with todays manufacturing processes and materials.

Noah, what do you have for venting on those? My calipers were almost the same temperature as Eric's, but my rotors were only around 300°, while his were almost 600°. Granted, different cars and weights, but my rotors are only 9.2" diameter, and only 18mm thick, so there's nowhere for the heat to go once it gets there. The venting helped a MASSIVE amount. i don't remember where I read it, but they did some measurements and just adding some venting they were able to reduce the disc temperature by around 300°. 'course, I dunno what kind of room is even available to run ducting for rear discs on a 'vette..

[mrslysly]

The stock rotors on the front are 12.8 x1.3 inches. Curved vein. I just talked to 4 different brake pad manufacturers and they all said the same thing, the rotors are to thin for the amount of braking force, car speeds, and car weight during track days. They all recommended C6 Z06 brakes, Wilwood BBK or Brembo BBK. Which means finding 18 inch rims and tires for the front.

On the front I only have the stock brake vent which just dumps air into the wheel well. I am going to order a vein brake cooling kit. The kind that mounts to the caliper backing plate and pushes air into the veins instead of just onto the rotor surface. The kit I found also acts as a heat shield for tie rod ends and balljoints. Double duty, I like it.

For the rear I can get the templates to do Z06 style cutouts and get the ducting, but that again is just a vent that blows right into the wheel well and not onto the brakes. I will have to look into a kit for the rear.

Micaiah, I called RacingBrake and they have rotors for vettes, but not the Z51 performance option (which is what mine is). Which is rather strange considering that all the C5s used the same rotors.

[Getsideways]

^ If they all use the same rotors then i guess they have them ha!

After hearing your findings i kinda dought any stock size rotor will cure your issue , Unless the aluminum hat makes a difference , or possibly better metal in the rotor itself.

Best bet is to ask around on whatever the best vette forum is and search options for non ZO6 models.

[ragdoll]

No dought

[Getsideways]

It feels like i just stepped in poop

[djchubbs]

I plan on getting DBA 4000 gold, have heard great reviews for those.

[ragdoll]

It feels like i just stepped in poop

That made me laugh pretty good. :)

[EVILUTION]

If not getting a two piece rotor.... I would buy the cheapest blank rotor you can find. Bumper to bumper has good prices. I've tried a handful of different rotors and currently run a racing brake slotted set. They are no better than any other rotor I've had and the slots create a TON of brake dust.

[Getsideways]

^I think he tried that route and ends up cracking rotors every track day , This is kinda a sucky situation let us know if you find anything from experienced Vette owners .

[ragdoll]

I put stoptech street performance pads on my S4 with some generic "Autozone" rotors and a $4 jug of DOT4 brake fluid and it was a huge upgrade from the tired bits on had on there. I pound the crap out of that car and the brakes hold up great.

You don't need sluts and holes.

[mrslysly]

I am gonna try adding the brake ducting and going with the regular rotors and see if that will take care of it first.

If that doesnt work im gonna see if oem rotors are actually better.

Racing brake didnt have 2piece rotors for my car, just the single piece.

[EVILUTION]

What carbotech pads are you running?

[abot316]

This is why I went with my brake kit back in the day. I warped/cracked rotors on the street. Have you looked at kore3.com products? Looked up threads on ls1tech.com? Tech would be the best reference point on your next plan of action.

[mrslysly]

I use RP2 up front and XP10s in the rear. The RP2 is the same stuff as the XP12 but an endurance pad. Almost the same initial bite and modulation but suppose to last x2 as long.

I ordered some raybestos advanced technology rotors, supposedly their top of the line for solid face rotors. I have the brake ducting supplies ordered as well. Shall see how these hold up for hopefully full autobahn and road america this fall.

[Aardwolf]

Odd to have a crack just doing the bedding. I put C5 calipers on my C4 and have been happy with them. When they spread I'll use some base C6 calipers instead. I had been using Centric rotors from racepages.com they had free shipping but it seems that has ended and the rotor cost is much more. I had been paying $35 a rotor. That brand worked fine.

The last set I got is Pronto and they are okay so far. ($30 a piece) I got a set of drilled rotors for free and I think they are stock. The guy had a C5 and they were in GM boxes. Since I got them for free I decided to use them up. This is what happened:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Aardwolfki/Brakes/crack2.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Aardwolfki/Brakes/crack1.jpg

The Pronto box:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Aardwolfki/Brakes/brake1.jpg

Custom rotor black out kit!

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Aardwolfki/Brakes/brake2.jpg

I toss some BBQ paint on them, it helps with rust. Pic after the paint has been professionally removed:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Aardwolfki/Brakes/brake3.jpg

I run Road America and do have cooling ducts. They are very simple to make.