Brake rotor upgrade

Ok, I have no experience with Buicks, but I know that in my WS6, the slotted/cross drilled didn't stop any better than a normal rotor. Now, the f-bodys had the crappiest rotors I've even seen stock, so the upgrade DID accomplish one very important thing - It kept them from warping. I would think pad choice would play a bigger part in stopping with stock calipers than a slotted / cross-drilled rottor. This is from f-body experience, so that that for what it's worth :)

- Matt
 
That was my experience, too, on a totally different car. I put drilled/slotted rotors on the front of a Mazda 323 GTX I used to own. They did nothing to improve braking performance, but they did end my problem with rotor warping. I've been told that braking power only really improves with MORE rotor mass (i.e. bigger/thicker rotors) because that increases heat absorption. Drilling and slotting only removes material from the rotor, so that would be bad if you stay with stock-size rotors. But if you go to BIGGER drilled/slotted rotors, maybe you get the best of both worlds.
 
Slotting and/or drilling started due to the degasing of the pads. It gave the gas a place to escape and kept the pad in contact with rotor, sorta like hydraplaning, and kept a clean surface on the pads..... no glazing. That is where the performance improvement came from. Todays performance pads and high grade pedistrian pads don't suffer from this condition as methods to bond the friction to the backing plate have improved.

As for the warping problem, this is two fold. One, NEVER clean wheels with rotors hot and 2. ALWAYS TORQUE THE WHEELS ON. This becomes even a bigger issue with aggressive driving and the rather small 10 1/2 rotors used on the f/g bodies.

The advantage of bigger rotors is also two fold 1. is leverage, it's easier to stop a 13" wheel than a 10 1/2 wheel given the same speed and stoping device (caliper). 2. is swept area, thats where the larger surface area comes in, more time to cool off.

I would stay away from the drilled and slotted rotor. Besides, they like to crack.
 
Bob - I found this place had them cheaper:
http://www.raceshopper.com/sp_rotors.shtml

Also - I guy I know in Texas who put them on his TTA and the car definitely stopped shorter - about 27 feet if I recall. He did some non-scientific controlled testing for a vendor that wanted to market these rotors. The TTA calipers and brakes are better than the GN, but I think it was a good comparison. It also depends on what pads you are using.

I'm looking at them for the TTA.

Of course, the better answer is to give Uncle Jack $1,200 for the Baer upgrade!
 
I don't know how much difference it really makes, but I was told that if you have to make a hard stop, get off the brake pedal as soon as you can. If you come to a stop and sit there with the brakes on, the part of the rotor under the pads will stay much hotter longer than the rest of the rotor which can cause warping. I try to put the trans in N or P and get off the brakes after a real hard stop (or use the ebrake to hold the car still) - I figure every little bit helps.
 
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