looking for new brakes

[suby]

i keep seeing these rotors on ebay that are all slotted and drilled. they look sweet but they are fairly inexpensive so this worries me. if it were anything else i would just buy it but brakes are kinda important. haha. what do you guys think bout this stuff? "stop tech, brake labs, break motive"? they look nice but....? im not soooo sure. any input will help. thanks guys. oh i have a completely stock 03 wrx.

[A1337STI]

Drilled rotors are affectively for show Only. DON'T BUY DRILLED.

unless you have a vintage source of asbestos Brake pads, OR you are trying to save rotational weight, DON'T BUY DRILLED!!!!

Slotted on the other hand will help a little bit in wet braking conditions, but you are sacrificing dry braking. Only the contact between your pad and the rotor is creating the friction (mu) that slows you down. Holes and Slots are voids on the disc where contact will not happen. they will also accelerate your brake wear.

If you can afford it, buy PorterField R4 pads. you will out brake any other car that's not on R4 pads (including stock STIs / and Evos) combine that with some Wilwood 570 temp fluid ($10 1 bottle should be enough if you flush in the correct order)

EBC Yellows are also good (i use them on my STI) but there's a huge difference in those and the porterfield R4

PorterField R4
EBC Yellow
PorterField R4S (about 1/2 the cost of R4 its a rallyX / AutoX pad not intended for long stages or longer track sessions)

Hawk Pros i think they are (my buddy uses these in his AutoX WRX, along with the R4s which are better)

ALSO Slotted rotors can not be turned!!!!
you can turn your rotors usually for $15 at a Kragen.

Also the steed braided flex lines are a nice upgrade for pedal fee/ confidence booster :)

[suby]

thanks that answered alot of questions for me. so...whats the whole thing bout letting the gasses free from in between the rotor and pad? and why would high performance cars have slotted and drilled rotors? i get the whole concept of the heat shedding off. and get the whole breaks wearing more also. and not being able to resurface but if the rotor stays cooler it wont wear so much. im just trying to get a feel for all the info.

ps. when we goin to rpm again?

[wolfman79]

You can turn slotted rotors, we do it at the shop on a regular basis. As for the sacrificing dry performance, I and the rest of the guys at work have yet to experience that. If anything I feel that you get even better performance. This is all given the fact that you go with a quality rotor. I am running Hawk HPS pads on my WRX, HP+ pads on the Forester, Ryan and Kenny are running Hawk HT-10 pads.

Slotted aren't needed for street driving, but if you intend on doing any performance driving that will put real heat into the brakes then I personally would go with slotted rotors.

[suby]

thanks! i was going too ask next what type of rotor brand is a good one that will work on my stock 03 wrx. its going to need new rotors soon any way so i was wanting to upgrade a bit.

[yee-buddy]

the point behind slots and drill holes is for heat. these vent the heat much like the fins in a heat sink do. when the brake rotors get really hot, they dont brake as well. an example of this is nascar, when they race at short tracks they have vents soley for the brakes and when you watch their brakes fade and the rotors are red from the heat.

so if anything, slotted are better for all conditions.

[suby]

yeah i got that part. the part that i want to know is does anyone know what brands to stay away from? i think i just didnt explain that very well. these breaks on ebay look good and all but the price is too good... i would think they couldn't sell breaks that could fail.

[wolfman79]

On my 03 WRX I am running Powerslot rotors, I love them. If you can afford to get the Cryo-treated versions then even better. They have put up with tons of abuse, no warpage or run out after 18+ months of hard use. When I blew my first motor the car sat outside in the elements for better than 3 months and the rotors showed hardly any signs of corrosion/rust. They are well worth the cost in my opinion.

[nkx]

the point behind slots and drill holes is for heat. these vent the heat much like the fins in a heat sink do. when the brake rotors get really hot, they dont brake as well. an example of this is nascar, when they race at short tracks they have vents soley for the brakes and when you watch their brakes fade and the rotors are red from the heat.

so if anything, slotted are better for all conditions.

actually, the holes and slots are to aid in evacuating gasses coming from the pads. but most modern pads dont expel gasses anymore. the vents in the rotors are for cooling. ;)

[yee-buddy]

i said rotors. i never said anything about the pads. ;) but yes, youre right.

[A1337STI]

Its way better to create brake ducts, than to go with a slotted rotor if rotor cooling is what you want. Also the DBA 2 peice rotors effectively turn the entire rotor into a fan (one of their rotors do anyhow) which would also be a great choice!

i turned my rotors purple this weekend. :p

[MConte05]

Super cheap Autozone rotors for $30 a pop will do JUST fine, don't buy into the whole hype of slotted/drilled if you are looking for a good street rotor. Nor is it necessary to buy super expensive name brand rotors. It is the pad choice and the bedding process that will make a bigger difference then a rotor choice.

[MrToad]

++1 Porterfields. R4's need some heat so street use is marginal. R4S are excellent. Nothing wrong with stock discs. Slotted/drilled are mostly bling unless its a factory Porsche racer. SCCA membership will give you 20% off on Porterfields direct from factory.
JT

[ras_sto_99]

I've got brembo slotted rotors and EBC Red pads on my 04 wrx, love em. I would stay away from the no name stuff on ebay but you can find some good deals on quality stuff you just have to look around.

[pigpen]

If you don't have heat issues with your brakes, you don't need fancy rotors. The only exception would be getting slotted rotors to keep the surface between the rotor and the pad clean, which is THE reason for slotted rotors. Those slots will NOT keep the rotors cooler. Technically, there is less mass and contact to draw the heat out of the pads into the rotor. this is the reason slotted rotors are particularly nice for offroad. The fastest race cars running with us all have rotors that use the little J-hook style "slots." as nkx mentioned, modern brake pads do not create gases that need an escape route, which was an older reason for drills and slots.

The only real answer I have ever gotten on why performance cars come with drilled rotors is weight savings. I don't fully understand the reason why they don't simply use smaller rotors and calipers for the same surface contact and weight. I don't think it's bling-related, but that is why most people have drilled rotors.

I buy cheap blanks for my STi because I go through a decent number of rotors on track. The differences between cheap rotors and expensive ones are things like better cooling vanes inside vented rotors, better balancing, and sometimes longer wear. sometimes the rotors will be lighter, but be careful about reducing mass which will raise the temps.

if you want better stopping, you need better pads. if your fluid is boiling and you don't have fresh DOT-04 start there. for street/rallyX, stock size cheap blanks should be all you need in a rotor. upgraded pads and fluid should take care of any fade issue you have unless you are running tarmac events with a decent bit of tire or full rallies. or if you are pushing a lot more power than stock, you might have some genuine heat issues. generally, a BBK is the answer after pads/ducts/fluid have been done.

the SS lines are also a good suggestion for making the pedal feel more consistent. I am told the master cylinder brace is the step after that, but I don't have experience with one myself.

I have been working through braking issues on track ever since I upgraded my suspension, which has enabled me to go faster and brake harder. I have turned the last couple sets of rotors blue. The set this year was with brake ducting. I can't use Ferodo DS2500s (which I loved) any more, since I overheated them and they left deposits on my rotors. Same thing happened with Pagid Blue RS4-2s. I'm going to be testing the Hawk DTC-30s on memorial day weekend, but they are barely streetable. I could have solved my issue a while ago by jumping up to a more aggressive pad, but I'm trying to use the same set of pads and tires on both the street and track at least thru the summer.

[Stockline]

i keep seeing these rotors on ebay that are all slotted and drilled. they look sweet but they are fairly inexpensive so this worries me. if it were anything else i would just buy it but brakes are kinda important. haha. what do you guys think bout this stuff? "stop tech, brake labs, break motive"? they look nice but....? im not soooo sure. any input will help. thanks guys. oh i have a completely stock 03 wrx.


if your not looking to upgrade, alot of part stores offer rotors with lifetime warranties. I've never had any street related braking problems with off the shelf parts from Napa, Advance auto or O'reillys. If your looking for the best use per dollar go with stock from the parts store. Paired with ceramic pads and you will have brakes that will last a LONG time. This is determined on how you drive on the street of course, they won't last quite as long if your running 0-60's then 60-0's through every stoplight in town.