Brake Rotors, help me decide.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Doing a full brake replacement/upgrade, bought the car in June and know nothing about the brakes except they aren't up to their potential.


Brake rotors is where I'm kind of stuck. I've narrowed it down to a few choices so far.



1) Detroit Axle drilled and slotted, cheapest I'd feel comfortable paying, just not sure about their quality.

2) Raybestos 300 "S-Grooved". I trust the Raybestos name to deliver a quality product.

3) Baer Sport Series drilled and slotted. These cost a bit more than both options above, but don't mind paying it if there's a tangible gain. Baer obviously is a recognized name in brakes for a reason.

4) R1 eLine drilled and slotted. About the same price-point as the Baer Sport series, not sure if there' much difference in quality either way?


5) Hawk, another step up in price, wondering if the added money brings any more to the table for my use?



Opinions or experiences with these choices? Any options I'm overlooking?


Will be going back with Brembo low-metallic pads, Motul 5.1 fluid, and thinking Powerstop SS Braided lines.



Thanks.

[FASTFATBOY]

Brake fluid and the pads are what make brakes effective, not rotors.

Flush the system with DOT4 fluid, put on a NAPA Premium or AC Delco rotor and the stock Brembo pads for exceptional street brakes. If you want jaw dropping brakes put on Carbotech AX6 pads.

Whatever pads you use make damn sure you bed in the pads.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

One of my Camaro friends has the R1 Concepts drilled and slotted rotors, he likes them. Personally for me, I like my OEM AC Delco rotors better. Nice and shiney looking after you drive the car. Don't need to spend all that extra money to stop well, unless you're tracking the car or you're just going for the "look" of the drilled and slotted. Nothing beats the Brembo pads and stock rotors.

[Indian_Mack]

I installed the Detroit drilled and slotted one last month. Good quality and great stopping power. They look pretty good too.

[AlisoBob]

Originally Posted by Rusty Shackleford

1) Detroit Axle drilled and slotted, cheapest I'd feel comfortable paying, just not sure about their quality. ~ CHINA

2) Raybestos 300 "S-Grooved". ~ CHINA

3) Baer Sport Series drilled and slotted. ~ USA

4) R1 eLine drilled and slotted. ~ CHINA

5) Hawk, ~ MEXICO

You cant give me chinese parts......

In contrast..... the Camaro's brake system is all Michigan-based. The Brembo rotors and Brembo brake pads are assembled in Brembo's Homer, Michigan, plant.

[CamaroCracka]

If you are going to spend extra money, spend it on upgrading to the ZL1 brakes using the Vette Z06 calipers. Otherwise, OEM replacement units work well.

[ariZona28]

Like tires and engine oil you're going to get a lot of different opinions. I'm a big fan of USA made Carbotech. I have the XP10s on my track C5 Z06 and they work great. The intended use of the car will determine the pad compound you should purchase. Do yourself a favor and check out thier website and then talk to the good folks at KNS. Great customer service. They talked me OUT of overspending on my brake system.

[Trawz]

Originally Posted by ariZona28

Like tires and engine oil you're going to get a lot of different opinions. I'm a big fan of USA made Carbotech. I have the XP10s on my track C5 Z06 and they work great. The intended use of the car will determine the pad compound you should purchase. Do yourself a favor and check out their website and then talk to the good folks at KNS. Great customer service. They talked me OUT of overspending on my brake system.

KNS are good people. Highly recommended. Been buying pads from them for a while now and have been running their titanium pad spacers in the front for a few years now.
They are a big help keeping heat off the calipers.
What they stock there are serious brake rotor/caliper brands. No cheapo "style" brands.

Now, let me back up by saying:
Suggestions on Brake rotors/pads (same as wheels/tires) are going to vary A LOT depending on who is chiming in.
Some of us here do road course track days, so our suggestions on rotors and pads are going to be way deferent then those who mainly drag race, from those who cruse/do shows, and from those who just daily drive.

With that being said, my rule of thumb is: If it is an essential item for the performance/safety of the car, do not cheap out. Tires, brake rotors/pads, oil/oil filters fall under this.

The amount of people who cheap out on tires and brakes terrify me.

The factory rotors and calipers are Brembo and are very good for 98% of use cases.

Definitely change the brake fluid to a DOT4 grade fluid. The factory fluid is not up to being pushed hard.

Braided lines are always a good idea. Goodrich braided lines are great and are what I run. Powerstop lines are a good alternative.

Pad wise, I run currently run Hawk DTS70s in the front and DTS60s in the rear. But I do road course track days and am running the Z06 front brake conversion.
They dust a lot and squeal like hell when they are cold, but they can stop my Camaro all day long from 150mph+.
I had Raybestos ST43s on before and they were great as well.
Carbotech is also a great brand, I just have not tried them yet.
EBS is a good brand I have used in the past as well with good luck.

Like mentioned earlier, the factory Brembo rotors are great. I run the factory ZL1 2-piece front Brembos on mine. ZERO complaints for 3 years now. My rears are also the OEM Brembos. You can get more "aggressive" styles with slotting from Brembo/DBA/EBS/Raybestos/GiroDisc as well if that is the look you want.