I like hte Akebono Street Performance pads I found on tirerack.com They make the clear dust, so its virtually none (the rear wheels look abotu the same or worse than the fronts most of the time on their stock type pads!) I went to Auto Zone and got their top of the line pads.

I don't agree with slotted or drilled rotors. I know your argument well, I researched this alot when I warped my front rotors. I believe those slots and drills take away surface area that the pad can grab and therefore INCREASE stopping distances (let the rebuttals begin). Besides, if they do work... they would only really make a difference in a race.. who's racing their Monte Carlo down a backroad braking this hard?

Can someone explain how a stainless steel brake line increase brake performance? Does the fluid move quicker and more smoothly in a stainless teal line than a standard one?

 

Duane,

The purpose of the slotted and drilled rotors is to help heat dissipate when braking at higher speeds, to prevent the rotor from warping and keep your brakes cooler. The actual surface area won't change, because the pads surface area is greater than the slots in the rotors, and the whole point is at a higher speed. The fact that the brakes keep cooler will help in the longer run. I know I do a lot of highway driving and people are idiots around by me, so to keep the brakes cool at a higher speed is a priority.

As for the SS Lines... any time that an object is subjected to internal pressure, it expands. The amount of expansion will be proportional to the amount of pressure present and the rigidity of the holding structure. In the case of brake hoses, we are subjecting Teflon to internal pressures as high as 3000PSI. Because the Teflon is relatively flexible (which makes it ideal for the job in one regard), it will expand under these conditions. This expansion creates additional fluid volume in the hydraulic circuit which is felt by the driver as a soft or mushy pedal.

Rubber overmolding does little to reduce expansion under pressure, as rubber is also a relatively flexible material. A woven braid of Stainless Steel, however, can greatly increase the rigidity of the hose under pressure while still allowing adequate flexibility for wheel end movement. In many cases, this reduced expansion can be felt by the driver as a firmer or more responsive brake pedal.

In addition, the reduced compliance will result in a faster transient response of the brake system. In other words, the time from the driver hitting the brake pedal until deceleration is generated will be decreased by a small amount. The benefit will vary based on each individual application, but in general overall deceleration can be attained more quickly, resulting in slightly shorter stopping distances.

 

As stated... I know why you'd want drilled or slotted rotors... I just don't agree with it.

I figure if it's that great Indy or NASCAR or somethingl ike that would be using it... well... NASCAR probably because Brian France and Mike Helton are @$$'s who keep pushing that 12-4-Q - Actions detrimental to stock car auto racing, at everything they don't like....

I figure the cooling fins on the back are probably a bigger difference than anything else, cooling fins or no.

But lets go along with the slotted and drilled argument... unless you're going to be racing the car in Trans Am or Grand Am circuits or something... are you going to be htat much better off? For day to day driving, will you really see a difference at all? Ask yourself "What kind of driving will I be doing with this car?" and then make your decision. Those drilled and slotted rotors cost 4-5x what a regular, blank rotor costs.

My recommendation is to go for a good brake pad on a good name brand rotor, of any kind... even if you get a drilled or slotted. Don't get "Bob's Drilled Rotors" because he's just hitting the things with a drill press. They will crack, promise. Get a good brand... Brembo, Akebono, something like that... same with your pads. Also, make sure those pads are ceramic... easier on rotor, less dust, stop you better.... thats the way I did it... fair brake rotor (the best one I could get from Auto Zone), and spend the money on those pads.

 

oh i forgot to add, they also look nice :P

everything I feel is personal preference. but I do agree with you, if you wanna save money and probably not even sacrifice performance a good solid rotor with nice pads will go a long way.

 

If you end up switching to the dual piston aluminum brake calipers, make sure that you get the right pads for them.

Those calipers came off of '98-'02 Camaros and Firebirds, and the pad is a little different than our Monte pad.

The rotors are the same though.

-Riggs.

 

Yea, i plan to go for slotted rotors still. I dont like the idea of holes in my rotors unless they are porsche rotors. thats it. Reasons for the slotted rotors is because i like my car and plan to have it for a while, and brake jobs arent fun or cheap. I've heard of slotted rotors with hawk pads lasting past 50000 miles, and thats amazing. Its an investment. the rotors keep your braking system cooler, so that in turn will make everything last longer, and feel safe. My brakes in san francisco take a beatingdue to high traffic and CRAZY hills in the city. those who have seen S.F. up close know the city is one big rollercoaster ride in a car. If you had to do 2 rotor/pad swaps that cost 150 each or one rotor/pad swap that cost 300, your essentially getting the same thing without the headache of doing the job twice. Im also doing it because i plan to upgrade my wheels to 18", and even though itsonly 2 inches larger than what i have now, i know it does take a toll on your brake system due to the larger rotating mass each wheel needs to stop. thats why dual piston calipers would be nice as well. now that i've found a spot to get all 4 slotted rotors and hawk hps pads for 314 bucks, im positive this is a good decision. if you tried to replace all 4 rotors and pads on your car with stock replacements, it would cost about 250-275 bucks (assuming you do the job yourself). thats not much of a price difference if it helps that much more and lasts much longer than stock. thats just my 2 cents.

 

i got my drill and slotted from rotorpros.com for $190 front and back. i got them that cheap cause i ordered them on black friday sale. ss brake lines got them from zzp. threre's a thread on clubgp where alot of people having problem with the ss lines break on them. hopefully i'm not going to have that problem. hawks pads are very dusty i only have mine on 2 days now and i start seeing dust build up.

 

Hate to say it (lol, just kidding), but I agree with Cowboy on this one. IMO, the performance difference between a regular rotor and a D/S rotor is minimal for the majority of driving most of us do. Spend your money, on good, regular rotors, and buy some good pads and good tires.

Here is my thing with that- I could've swore the original intent of slotted rotors was to help vent the gas buildup instead of letting it sit between the rotor/pad. From what I've heard- that is non-issue with good, modern pads anyways.

Secondly- I question if slotting rotors helps cool them or not. Sure you have a SMALL bit more surface area (the depth of the slot x its circumference x the # of slots)- you're talking a crazy small increase in surface area. However, you also have to consider that you also have a small loss of rotor mass as well. So with the same heat input as before (by stopping in the same distance)- with less mass, you would theoretically end up with higher initial temperatures. So does the super tiny extra surface area offset the super tiny less mass? IMO, thats a toss up and not worth worrying about.

Care to expand on that? Take a pad, and place it on a bare rotor where it normally presses- and draw the outline. Now take the same pad on the same size D/S rotor, and draw the outline. All of those holes and slots inside the outline of where the pad sits represent less surface area contact. Not that I think it really makes a difference either way- but the surface area is for sure different.