Originally posted by E_SolSi@Sep 15 2003, 02:23 AM
cross driolled rotors are pretty much worthless for anything other than looking "cool"
they dont reduce heat enough to bother mentioning it... all they do is give the gasses that shitty pads produce a place to collect away from the surface of the rotor so the pads dont float (no friction = no brakes)
the only true benefit of cross drilled rotors is reduced weight
but they are more prone to cracking and warping than any other type of brake
slotted rotors also do little to nothing for heat... but they do scrape the surface of the pads every pass and remove any glaze from the surface (shitty pads glaze up under hard braking... glaze = less friction = less braking force) and like the slotted rotors they give the gasses that shitty pads produce a place to escape off the surface of the rotor
slotted rotors do not have the cracking problem that cross drilled rotors do
now seeing that good pads only cost a few dollars more than the cheap ass ones... you might as well use the good ones.... using good pads makes cross drilled or slotted rotors pretty worthless.... proper care will keep blank rotors from cracking warping or anything else... blanks also cost 1/2 or less than cross drilled or slotted rotors... the more agressive the pads the faster they will eat up rotors... so theres another reason to run the less expensive blank rotors
another way to reduce fade is to use a high temp brake fluid (dot 4+) that will not boil untill a much higher temperature (when the fluid boils you get air pockets in the brake line... air compresses... so you dont get the pressure to the brake piston... no pressure = no friction = no brakes)
"big brakes" are exactly what they sound like... larger rotors (more surface area = more friction = more braking power, more heat dissipation = less fade)... big brake kits often come with larger calipers as well... larger calipers alow for larger pads... multi piston calipers put more consistant pressure over the surface of the pad... (more friction = better braking)
ive been racing road course all year on Brembo blanks, Hawk HP+ pads, ATE Super Blue fluid, Goodridge SS lines.... i have never gotten brake fade during 25-30 min track sessions, and the car stops VERY well from pretty much any speed
if you have any more questions feel free to ask