I mean look at them....so....so pretty.....my precious....front Powerstops on my Atlas.
Pad/Rotor Replacement? Should I go Drilled/Slotted.
- Thread starter Crash Bandicoot
- Start date
A recent drill pattern of mine. My requirements are: the holes closest to the edge are at least 1/4" from the edge, the holes overlap circumferentially over as much of the pad width as possible, and each hole is adjacent to a vane. It doesn't take lots of holes to be very effective.
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Yeah I try to ignore the trolls, thankful they’re flying over my state so I don’t have to deal with them in person.
When the rotor gets too hot the holes become a weak point and will crack from the expansion/contraction of the metal. In addition, if the pads get to hot the holes will cut into the pads. For normal driving rotors that have been casted with the holes is fine. Drilling after is bad. Drilled used to help the gasses escape but there's zero reason to have them now except to claim they look cool.
4WD
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Yeah … had a GMC Canyon 4WD V8 with undersized discs and drums in the rear. Pretty weak for even moderate trailer weights - so coming down from 65 mph they had some fade. Callahan slotted/drilled rotors with PowerStop pads were much better for the three years I ran them. The coated rotors were not expensive so I was (feature) lukewarm anyway …
Also ended rust made worse by brackish water crossings.
HPS+ works quite well and are recommended for track use. The regular HPS pads are recommended for street. Car is a dedicated track car. @2500# and 12"F/11"R rotors, I never run out of brakes or suffer fade. Car is still street legal, and on the street these pads are noisy. I'm on my second year with the same pads, so the wear is not bad at all. Might be a different story on a heavier car.
I also did that once with Saturn s rotors. I marked each location with a marker, being sure I was not over the structural area of a cooling vane.
I did it with a drill press, then followed up with a stone and chamfered each hole.
Worked fine, no cracks but I would not do it again. Not much gained and the liability is not worth it.
And no reason when quality slotted and/or drilled rotors aren't that much money. I would never drill my own rotors.
Everyone has different needs, wants, and expectations. I drill my own because I don't like how the pre-drilled ones are done. I tried grooved ("slotted") rotors once, but did not like how the slots were basically gone at the end of the rotor life, though that could be seen as a wear indicator.
The improvement in braking action and consistency is well worth my time at the drill press. I started drilling my rotors some 30 years ago and will continue to do so until I can't anymore.
The improvement in braking action and consistency is well worth my time at the drill press. I started drilling my rotors some 30 years ago and will continue to do so until I can't anymore.
What specifically don't you like about the OTS drilled patterns etc.? Just curious.
Yeah I know they track, I think they are dual pad actually. I heard good stuff about them and Ferodo DS2500. Will see. I am trying to kill my Bridgestone DriveGuards on BMW that I got brand new on the car when I purchased it so that is limiting factor in the first place. I heard from few guys STopTech Sport are good, so considering I will do track 2-3 times this year, decided to give them a try. Next year when I beef up suspension and get some real rubber, will try that and Ferodo.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
F1 brakes? Sure, those are designed around a v. specific conditions that aren't relevant in a discussion about a daily driven street vehicle. How about for a more relevant comparison Mercedes AMG, BMW, and Porsche offering drilled rotors on stock street cars stock?
For looks, nothing more. They have zero benefit to braking systems but DD cars should not be seeing track temps on their braking systems to where the drilled holes crack.
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To my point - they are fine to run and cracking on drilled rotors shouldn't be an issue for a DD. If you think they look cool, great! Plenty of articles/info out there supporting that drilled/slotted can dissipate water better than blank rotors so your "zero benefit" doesn't seem to be the case. The cons always seem to be that they cost more, wear out quicker, can be noisy, and you can't re-surface them and of course in high-stress racing environments drilled rotors can form cracks as has been pointed out in this thread. I always like this kid's videos and he echo's what some have said that drilled rotors can crack but again, for DD I don't see this as an issue for folks. I run slotted on my VW and have been v. happy with them.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Since the format change I don’t always know who is responding to what member … but the reason I posted the F1 rotor was to show another angle/view and project the enormous R&D cost and manufacturing costs going towards cooling.
I can tell you there will be no minds changed in this thread - it’s become it’s own “rotor”
I was so impressed with them on my Atlas fronts that I did the whole f/r set including their pads on my Lexus. Very good so far.
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