DCAWD.com

From the looks of it, I might be needing new rotors if I plan on doing any kind of stopping this spring. I was hoping to get DCAWD's take on what type of rotors (or which rotors) would be best suited for a daily driver that gets a little crazy a lot of the time.

Drilled, slotted, both? One piece, two piece, red piece, blue piece?

Stockers. Get 'em at Autozone for teh cheap. Pat yourself on the back for saving teh monies.

Most everyone I've talked to that uses (abuses?) brakes either on the track or at the auto-x on the regular recommends stock rotors for heat dissipation and longevity vs price.

Just my .02USD, ymmv.

I concur. A lot of the discussion on NASIOC on this boiled down to using stock rotors and calipers with SS brake lines, racing (or otherwise upgraded) fluid and upgraded pads. Apparently many people with this type of setup have run numerous auto-crosses and/or track days without any problem. Stock seems to work just fine so why pay more, right?

--Alan

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Actually, depending on what pads you are going to be running, the stockers may or may not cut it. I ran some ebc reds before and they just ate up the stockers. I switched to some slotted/drilled racingbrake rotors and didn't have the same problem.
I ran SS lines, RBF600 fluid, EBC red pads...all on the stock calipers and it stopped MUCH better. Better grip and very little fade.

This time around I am going to run brembos w/ HPS pads, ATE blue fluid and DBA4000 STi slotted rotors all around.

But best dollar for dollar value is stockers, aftermarket pads, lines, and fluid.

I've read many places that you should avoid drilled rotors: they eventually have issues with hairline cracks.

once I need new rotors I'm going to spring for 2 piece, but then again I have a little old WRX.

Have you had any issues with the current brake setup?
If not why fix something that is not broken?

On the miata I run $15 rotors from napa.

moxnix wrote:If not why fix something that is not broken?

QFT
I need this tatooed on my check writing hand...

Okay... well, I, guess stockers it is then. Thanks!

I bought slotted rotors for the Miata and they turned out to be shit.


I vote for stock, since this isn't a track only car.

Drilled rotors having cracks after track use? No Wai!
Now I need to spend $500 on new rotors or switch calipers...

C.N. = No drilled rotors.

Slotted are just fine

I had slotted rotors, SS lines and EBC pads on my Si. they worked out just fine

Was there any improved stopping power?

Nope. The only thing they do is help cool the brakes down to avoid fade (which, I suppose, does help braking in certain situations Basically, the only time you'll probably have fade is on a track like Summit Point after a few laps. Fluid, lines and pads make the biggest difference you will see every day.

I bought some shitty ones, because they overheated at one point, and have developed a horrible wear pattern across the service. Their stopping power has significantly decreased over time. They were also not the most expensive things on the market. The pads are suspect too.

biggest bang-for-the-buck change is pads, second is SS lines. fluid and upgraded rotors are only really useful if you're doing track days. even AutoX class won't pound on brakes enough to warrant expensive rotors. fluid is cheap and only a minor pain to do, which is why most people go ahead and do a fluid flush/upgrade when they do SS lines.

FWIW IMHO YMMV

Mr Kleen wrote:fluid is cheap and only a minor pain to do, which is why most people go ahead and do a fluid flush/upgrade when they do SS lines.

It's kinda hard to get around flushing the system if you crack the lines like that. And it doesn't hurt to do it routinely either. I think the recommended default is every 18 months.

Alright I picked up a front set of slotted rotors from Jackie because Annapolis Subaru doesn't carry stock STi rotors. Apparently they cost too much. $300+ each she said.

Libra Monkee wrote:Apparently they cost too much. $300+ each she said.

Seriously? An OEM rotor for an F150 is almost $200, yet they stock those. You'd think it wouldn't kill them to keep one pair around.

Frequently
Often
Repair
Daily

You need a good stock of parts to do that.

zaxrex wrote:Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

fixed.
(see wat I did thar?)

Mr Kleen wrote:

zaxrex wrote:F er
Only
Runs
Downhill

fixed.
(see wat I did thar?)

i concur.

Mr Kleen wrote:biggest bang-for-the-buck change is pads, second is SS lines. fluid and upgraded rotors are only really useful if you're doing track days. even AutoX class won't pound on brakes enough to warrant

i disagree -- i think the stock brakes (on the sti) fade pretty easily. but you have to be driving them really damn hard (repeated triple digit excursions). slotted rotors would fit the bill perfectly, but i haven't had any reason to even change the pads on the car yet. i think we just hit 25k.

Mr Kleen wrote:track days.

avriette wrote: repeated triple digit excursions.

Only difference I see in the two statements is in the people saying it.

If you are repeatedly doing 100+ and throwing down the anchor, your ass had better be off public roads.

Mr Kleen wrote:I've read many places that you should avoid drilled rotors: they eventually have issues with hairline cracks.

I ran drilled brembos on the Z for four years with no probs. Thing is, you get what you pay for. My understanding with the cracks related to drilling is it's part of the drilling process. If you get regular rotors and just start drillin' holes in 'em, they will develop cracks (these sorts of rotors used to be available on NOPI etc; it's been a loooooong time since I looked into it). I don't think Brembo's are cast, but I recall reading somewhere that they have a special way of actually doing the drilling such that the stress points don't lead to fractures.

On great benefit of drilled rotors is never glazing your pads again. I loved that. However, I don't think I'd ever run drilled rotors again. I like the idea of more material, and I'd opt for bigger wheels and beefier rotors (and I think right now I'd lean in the Endless direction). However, I ride a motorcycle now, so, uh, I have no problem with drilled rotors.

Seems to me we have a lot of room to go in calipers technology wise, whereas rotors are pretty well at the limits of what we can do with them on the street. I'd like to see liquid cooled calipers (and by this I mean a reservoir and circulating coolant, not just hydraulic fluid) and monobloc calipers on cars.