Should I add upgraded rotors while doing Track pads?

[gone_n_60]

I'm finishing up my first (of many to come) track season. Last outing I totally wiped out my OEM brakes (fyi started this season with 5k miles on the GT) and had to get some Duralast stand-in's to finish the weekend. So I'm getting new track type pads front and back and was thinking about adding upgraded drilled and slotted rotors so I can start next season with solid braking setup. Two questions 1) is it really worth it? and 2) Pricing on D&S rotors are all over, from $225 to $800??? why and what is reasonable?

thx as always.

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[Howitzer]

Drilled rotors will just crack with the heat from track use - I would highly recommend you avoid them. Slotted rotors can have some slight benefits, but not sure I'd go for them. Most people just run blanks from my limited experience, including myself. I personally have just run the OEM PP GT rotors when I upgraded my own brakes.

So I'd say to answer your question...
No it's not worth it and no those prices are not reasonable for rotors that are going to be used on track.

 

[gone_n_60]

Yike. Searching old posts talking about drilled cracking big time. Once again another vendor sales tale on how "great" your braking performance will be but doesn't tell the whole story. As in don't use these for tracking, ever?! Money saved!

 

[NightmareMoon]

The main advantage with two piece rotors are weight savings, and drilled rotors are completely undesirable because of cracking issues.

Its kind of ridiculous that high end cars come with drilled rotors because buyers are just that clueless.

 

[Andy13186]

The main advantage with two piece rotors are weight savings, and drilled rotors are completely undesirable because of cracking issues.

Its kind of ridiculous that high end cars come with drilled rotors because buyers are just that clueless.

Ive had my drilled and slotted rotors for 30k miles, and 770 rwhp, hit 193 and braked down with them (slowly though) but no issues at all with the rotors. Better 100% of the time that ive had them than undrilled rotors because they have been lighter this entire time and have not given me any problems with how I drive. For most people drilled and slotted rotors will be better because they are lighter and almost no one drives hard enough to crack rotors.

That being said, ive also seen atleast as many cracked undrilled rotors online...

 

[NightmareMoon]

Ive had my drilled and slotted rotors for 30k miles, and 770 rwhp, hit 193 and braked down with them (slowly though) but no issues at all with the rotors. Better 100% of the time that ive had them than undrilled rotors because they have been lighter this entire time and have not given me any problems with how I drive. For most people drilled rotors will be better.

Lol no.

The OP asked about tracking the car. If you actually use the drilled rotors on track, they will crack and fail a lot more quickly than non-drilled rotors. That's been proven over and over again.

The main weight savings is from two-piece rotors, not the holes drilled in them. Modern brakes don't benefit from holes.

 

[Howitzer]

Lol no.

The OP asked about tracking the car. If you actually use the drilled rotors on track, they will crack and fail a lot more quickly than non-drilled rotors. That's been proven over and over again.

The main weight savings is from two-piece rotors, not the holes drilled in them. Modern brakes don't benefit from holes.

Yep...I was going to say the same thing. This is the HPDE sub forum and we are talking about driving them hard.

A one-time high speed gradual braking down with drilled rotors is not a test of durability or performance...Of course you'll still find other rotors cracking if you're doing a generic search - no one says you can't crack a rotor at all. Drilled will see earlier and more sudden failures, especially under hard use.

 

[Andy13186]

They do benefit from holes because they are lighter. Also they allow pad offgassing. Ive never had brake fade even when breaking the rotors in.

 

[K4fxd]

If you are seriously tracking get some 2 piece rotors. They are lighter and because of being 2 piece brake much smoother and cool faster. Where as a bit of buildup that causes your car to shake on 1 piece will still brake smooth on 2 piece. Replacement rings are a bit pricey but so are the regular brembo disks.

 

[Howitzer]

They do benefit from holes because they are lighter. Also they allow pad offgassing. Ive never had brake fade even when breaking the rotors in.

Any weight savings from a drilled rotor...vs a blank (or slotted) would be very minimal...and not worth sacrificing durability for it.

If you want weight savings...you go for a 2 piece rotor design...which you can get without it being drilled. You'll get some actual weight savings, but the cost is very high and in my opinion...for an HPDE...not worth it.

 

[NightmareMoon]

They do benefit from holes because they are lighter. Also they allow pad offgassing. Ive never had brake fade even when breaking the rotors in.

Why do you think outgassing is a problem exactly? (hint: its not)

Holes = less surface area for the pads to grip, so wouldn't that actually hurt performance? Again, the big weight savings are from a two-piece design with an aluminum hat, not from a few holes.

You're not likely to see brake fade on the street (on these cars). All you're saying is you don't use your brakes very hard. Go track the car and repeatedly stop from 100+ for 20 minutes straight, then maybe we'll talk about fade.

 

[TeeLew]

They do benefit from holes because they are lighter. Also they allow pad offgassing. Ive never had brake fade even when breaking the rotors in.

Was it an issue before?

 

[Andy13186]

Was it an issue before?

Had hard brake fade on my 2011 GT with solid Rotors during break in of new pads.

 

[TeeLew]

The discs were not the problem; it was the pads. There is not a single contemporary racing car on the planet which uses cross-drilled discs. Many have some sort of slotting, but not all. None are drilled & this is not an accident.

 

[TeeLew]

A pad with *a lot* of epoxy binding agents will out-gas enough when green to lose performance until that stuff is cooked away, but the pads that use a lot of epoxy are not what you should be using on track. All of the commonly used performance pad manufacturers use processes which minimize the binding agents and many companies use a sintering process to hold their pads together, so there is never any binder present to out-gas. I have experienced what you're talking about, but never with a racing pad.

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