Drilled vs Slotted: The end all discussion

[arcticvitz]

...

[Crossbow]

He's not being sarcastic. Cross-drilled rotors are a bling accessory, and not suitable for performance driving. (unless you're on a sports bike, or are a rally driver). Even brembo doesn't recommend their cross-drilled rotors for track use.

Mainly because of this.
http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~greghess/WAM-pub/rotor1.jpg

The seriously ironic thing about cross-drilled rotors, is that part of the population thinks they look cool, while the part of the population that actually knows something about car's doesn't. The actual driving enthusiasts would much rather see a nice 2 piece rotor, or slotted DBA under the alloys, then some swiss cheesed reminder of ancient braking technology.

[Tamago]

what about stock rotors?

[supmet]

http://www.skulte.com/albums/Wilwood/crackedC5rotor.jpg

brakes crack, deal with it.

[Tamago]

i have my original toyota OE rotors, pushing over 70,000 miles with absolutely no brake issues. ever. no fade, no weird pedal feel, no warping, no disc damage (i did change out my OE toyota front pads for Project mu "street" pads at around 48,000miles) nothing bad to report.

i DO understand people wanting to modify their car for the express purpose of modification, but i do NOT understand spending money for no reason. stock solid rotors work just fine in stopping such a lightweight car.

[Tamago]

1) are cheaper

you get what you pay for.. OE rotors can be acquired for around $160 a set. you're only going to beat that with a chinese or indian copy.


2) dissipate heat better

heat dissipation comes from the vanes that are INTERNAL to the rotor, not from the holes drilled in the rotor face. we'll touch on that when we get to rotational mass.


3) last longer

this argument is not provable in every situation.

4) look better

you win this one... but you still have those silly rear drums, so if you're going for style points you look even more silly making the front "fancy" and leaving the rear with drums... :rolleyes:

5) not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure they have less rotational mass as well

yes, less rotational mass. this also means that they will heat up faster than OE rotors when braking. less mass = quicker to heat up



edit: and no offense Tamago, but florida doesn't count for brake wear, you'd have to leave the state to run my daily elevation change.



just because i now live in florida does not mean i've only ever driven in florida or lived here my whole life. i proved this theory with my 2002 corolla when living in seattle as well. bought Rotora slotted rotors and swapped back to OE rotors when the rotoras warped. my driving style has never and will never change. perhaps YOUR braking habits are to blame here :iono:


* The highest point is at Britton Hill at 345 feet above sea level.
* The lowest point is zero feet above sea level.
* The average elevation is 98 feet above sea level.

i don't know where Britton Hill is, and don't really care.

keep in mind, i've put hundreds of miles of racing on these brakes too :laugh:

[Tamago]

The holes add surface area, the larger surface dissipates heat faster. Simple stuff...


This also means that they cool off faster. I've never had brake fade on the first turn of the first lap. But 4 laps in, and that same turn makes your brakes feel all mushy. The less heat you carry around from corner to corner the better you will be able to brake.

and what do we know about brake fade? YOUR PAD COMPOUND is where it's at, as well as your brake fluid itself (high heat capability)

buying drilled rotors to brake better is like shaving your toes to run faster.

[Tamago]

brake rotor warp is caused by uneven cooling. if one area of the rotor cools faster than another, the rotor can warp. rotors with less mass (and more surface area, thank you for bringing that up) will cool faster in areas that are exposed to free air. in stop/go traffic this means you are essentially heat cycling portions of the rotor more often than other portions. great for the track, pretty dumb for the street.

i'm not saying that dimpled/slotted rotors are bad, by the way, but the parts you are buying for next to nothing are not up to OE quality.

consider your run of the mill R-1 (ebay) rotors to be a show only mod. quality plugs will cost more and WILL last longer because they were engineered, not REVERSE-engineered to look cool

[Tamago]

Daily driving pads that don't work too well until they are 600º will only eat up your rotors.


What have you "raced"?

SCCA Solo II mostly.

and a smart weekend racer swaps his pads out after an event so he can have the best of both worlds (streetable braking for the street and pads that withstand heat for racing)

that or they have a trailer queen race car, which wouldn't be wearing knock-off-chinese brake rotors hopefully ;)

[Tamago]

Yes, the riggers of the local Walmart parking lot gives great insight into brake longevity.


So, if you are doing some hard canyon runs, you should pull over and swap pads? Wow!

spoken like a true ricer. front to back.

did you miss the part where i stated that i don't have a problem with slotted/dimpled rotors? because i do not. people buying crap and pretending it's better than OE toyota is what is amusing me in this thread.

i've made my points.

enjoy your slotted and drilled circle jerk.

[eTiMaGo]

brakes crack, deal with it.

Like any part, OEM of aftermarket, cheap or racing-grade, use and abuse will eventually cause some sort of failure. buyer beware. end of discussion.

(yes, moderators are allowed to be assholes too, can't let just a handful fo members have all the fun :biggrin:)