Brake rotors - experience?

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#1821166 12-Jul-2017 11:37

They both have good tyres. The van because it's so darn heavy. The turbo because it may need to turn and or stop in the wet too.

MikeAqua

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#1821212 12-Jul-2017 12:24

So which one were you contemplating performance brakes for?

Mike

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#1821232 12-Jul-2017 12:55

MikeAqua:

So which one were you contemplating performance brakes for?

Subaru

Coil

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#1821244 12-Jul-2017 13:14

Batman:

MikeAqua:

So which one were you contemplating performance brakes for?

Subaru

OP are you talking about upgrading a STI car brakes to larger brakes? If so Brembo big brake kit is the go, Do remember you will need to get the brakes re biased/balanced. If you have standard brakes id suggest its cheaper to get a STI brake kit or sell the car and go get a STI with all the bits :)

I would suggest Project Mu for your next pads, Regardless of rotor. They are the best performance pads. Dont buy those off brand discs and pads from exeedy (Icer brand and a few other, OE+ is also hideous)

Dont buy them from ebay, If your going genuine go to the dealer or parts specialist (E.g BM Workshop)
Dealers are generally fairly priced for brakes most of the time, There is a lot of room for discount so make sure to push for something from them. Otherwise find another source like BNT.

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#1821292 12-Jul-2017 14:44

If things need to be adjusted then that's in the too hard basket. Thanks. Too old for these sort of things. Need plug and play nowadays.

cadman

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#1821488 12-Jul-2017 19:44

There's no need to machine rotors unless they're scored. It's a total rort to do it on every pad change - if a rotor is warped just replace them - they're usually not much dearer than the machining especially top hat front ones on FWDs.

Don't just bleed brakes - completely replace the fluid (with the appropriate one - see the markings on the cap of the master cylinder - DOT 5.1 is backwards compatible with almost everything except DOT5 which is silicone based. Personally I just use Castrol's Super DOT 4) as it is hygroscopic (readily absorbs moisture). When you replace fluid or bleed, put a block under the pedal when doing so to prevent accidental overstroking of the master cylinder seal into a portion of the cylinder sleeve where it never goes that may be pitted (from not changing the fluid often enough) as it could damage the seal (and then you'll be doing a master cylinder shortly too to remedy the sinking brake pedal).

cadman

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#1821489 12-Jul-2017 19:49

trig42:

Can you buy the rotors and pads and take them to a Pit Stop etc to get them fitted?

I ask because I have a friend in the Auto Parts industry, and don't have the skills/tools/garage to do it myself.

I have a Mazda3 MPS, and it needs new front rotors and pads.

Surely that friend could also show you how to install them? They're really not difficult on driving wheels. There's no tapered wheel bearings to get the right loading on.

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#1821592 13-Jul-2017 05:04

My Porsche has the best brakes I've ever used - they are amazing. Sometimes they make a few squeaks but they work incredibly well - really good engineering.

Porsche ceramic brakes, indicated by yellow paint if you see them around town, are eye-wateringly expensive. It is a fairly common feeling amongst the Porscheristi that the main benefit of ceramic is ... no brake dust, performance isn't better! That's how good the standard brakes are on a Porsche. Most people who track their Porsches prefer steel brakes over ceramic.

On Porsche forums you see people asking about third-party brake components,either wanting better performance or less cost, and it seems to me that most Porsche owners end up sticking with original parts.

Porsche ownership is a different world.

Coil

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#1821595 13-Jul-2017 06:57

BlinkyBill: My Porsche has the best brakes I've ever used - they are amazing. Sometimes they make a few squeaks but they work incredibly well - really good engineering.

Porsche ceramic brakes, indicated by yellow paint if you see them around town, are eye-wateringly expensive. It is a fairly common feeling amongst the Porscheristi that the main benefit of ceramic is ... no brake dust, performance isn't better! That's how good the standard brakes are on a Porsche. Most people who track their Porsches prefer steel brakes over ceramic.

On Porsche forums you see people asking about third-party brake components,either wanting better performance or less cost, and it seems to me that most Porsche owners end up sticking with original parts.

Porsche ownership is a different world.

I used to groom cars back in the day at Giltraps and those Bentleys, Porsches with ceramic rotors definitely still shed brake dust but no way near as much. They are really crap around town those brakes, as soon as they are wet you have a church organ on each wheel.. Like its really bad.. They also cant get contaminated with any chemicals, If they do they turn into polished discs that dont work.

The best bit about ceramic brakes I remember is a Bentley doing a HOT lap of hamptons then the mechanic telling me to grab the rotors with my hands. I did and they were cold. You could never do that to a metal rotor.. Also they weight nothing, picking one up you generally throw it at the roof expecting it to be 30KG and not 2KG.

OEM parts is generally the best for brakes. Given Brembo make most of Porches brakes you can be assured they are top of the line from the factory, Its a very common upgrade for the audi/vw guys to slap on Porsche brakes.

Eyes will be watering to the tune of 35K (IIRC) on a Bentley.

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#1821712 13-Jul-2017 11:06

I had a Suzuki motorbike many years ago with a stainless steel front disk. I'm pretty sure I used only OEM pads. These were very special when the brakes were cold and wet - the harder you squeezed the brake lever, the faster you seemed to go. This is of course not possible - probably just the rush of adrenaline made it feel that way - but even that might not explain it - I thought fear of imminent death was supposed to slow things down. If it had been raining, then the trick was to start riding very slow with with a bit of pressure on the brake lever until you could feel the brake starting to bite as it warmed up and dried out.

Of course the same applies with all vehicles with wet brakes, but I've not experienced anything as awful as that.

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#1821713 13-Jul-2017 11:08

Fred99:

I had a Suzuki motorbike many years ago with a stainless steel front disk. I'm pretty sure I used only OEM pads. These were very special when the brakes were cold and wet - the harder you squeezed the brake lever, the faster you seemed to go. This is of course not possible - probably just the rush of adrenaline made it feel that way - but even that might not explain it - I thought fear of imminent death was supposed to slow things down. If it had been raining, then the trick was to start riding very slow with with a bit of pressure on the brake lever until you could feel the brake starting to bite as it warmed up and dried out.

Of course the same applies with all vehicles with wet brakes, but I've not experienced anything as awful as that.

Sounds like someone's applied a generous coating of high grade lubricant on your rotors!

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#1821714 13-Jul-2017 11:10

cadman:

There's no need to machine rotors unless they're scored. It's a total rort to do it on every pad change - if a rotor is warped just replace them - they're usually not much dearer than the machining especially top hat front ones on FWDs.

Don't just bleed brakes - completely replace the fluid (with the appropriate one - see the markings on the cap of the master cylinder - DOT 5.1 is backwards compatible with almost everything except DOT5 which is silicone based. Personally I just use Castrol's Super DOT 4) as it is hygroscopic (readily absorbs moisture). When you replace fluid or bleed, put a block under the pedal when doing so to prevent accidental overstroking of the master cylinder seal into a portion of the cylinder sleeve where it never goes that may be pitted (from not changing the fluid often enough) as it could damage the seal (and then you'll be doing a master cylinder shortly too to remedy the sinking brake pedal).

Ok. Don't think it's warped. No judder.

Fred99

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#1821736 13-Jul-2017 11:30

Batman:

Fred99:

I had a Suzuki motorbike many years ago with a stainless steel front disk. I'm pretty sure I used only OEM pads. These were very special when the brakes were cold and wet - the harder you squeezed the brake lever, the faster you seemed to go. This is of course not possible - probably just the rush of adrenaline made it feel that way - but even that might not explain it - I thought fear of imminent death was supposed to slow things down. If it had been raining, then the trick was to start riding very slow with with a bit of pressure on the brake lever until you could feel the brake starting to bite as it warmed up and dried out.

Of course the same applies with all vehicles with wet brakes, but I've not experienced anything as awful as that.

Sounds like someone's applied a generous coating of high grade lubricant on your rotors!

Was low-grade and very inexpensive lubricant - aka "rainwater".

There's a reason most brake rotors aren't stainless steel - though I note that Trojan sell rotors for brake trailers which are.

cadman

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#1821768 13-Jul-2017 12:24

Batman:

cadman:

There's no need to machine rotors unless they're scored. It's a total rort to do it on every pad change - if a rotor is warped just replace them - they're usually not much dearer than the machining especially top hat front ones on FWDs.

Don't just bleed brakes - completely replace the fluid (with the appropriate one - see the markings on the cap of the master cylinder - DOT 5.1 is backwards compatible with almost everything except DOT5 which is silicone based. Personally I just use Castrol's Super DOT 4) as it is hygroscopic (readily absorbs moisture). When you replace fluid or bleed, put a block under the pedal when doing so to prevent accidental overstroking of the master cylinder seal into a portion of the cylinder sleeve where it never goes that may be pitted (from not changing the fluid often enough) as it could damage the seal (and then you'll be doing a master cylinder shortly too to remedy the sinking brake pedal).

Ok. Don't think it's warped. No judder.

Then unless they're below minimum thickness or scored, just do the pads.

Edit: Rotors aren't so much a consumable on older vehicles as they are on more recent models where you might not get another set of pads use out of them before they're at their minimum thickness.

MikeAqua

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#1821782 13-Jul-2017 12:38

cadman:

There's no need to machine rotors unless they're scored. It's a total rort to do it on every pad change - if a rotor is warped just replace them - they're usually not much dearer than the machining especially top hat front ones on FWDs.

^^^^This. It was ~$40 more for new rotors for the Pajero than the cost of machining them. The brakes met WOF standard but were starting to pulse a little when hot.

If you machining off surface distortion, the new surface may still have harder and softer patches so surface distortion can develop again quickly.

Do it once, do it right.

Mike

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