Pros and Cons of rotor types?

[AZDSM]

Alright so here is the problem, these power slot or power stop rotors I've had for over a year now have warped on me twice. The first time I resurfaced the rotors, the guide pins were mixed up which caused uneven wear on the pads(that was a my-bad). The 2nd time I resurfaced them was some time in spring. Well halfway through July they started shaking and it was really bad through the good part of August. Come about a week ago they don't shake as much, which I believe was because of the cooler weather the storms brought us.

But anyways, the rotors are cross-drilled and slotted. I've heard good and bad things about either and both on a rotor and I wanted to ask you guys if you knew what is really more beneficial over another style.

What are the pros and cons of slotted? Drilled? Slotted AND drilled? I want to get a good idea of what to shoot for when I get aftermarket rotors for the GSX brake kit that I'll be installing shortly.

 

[Backinajiffy12]

While braking the friction causes a carbon gas to form which does not allow for full contact brake pad to rotor. The benefits of slotted, drilled or a combination of both is that it allows that gas to escape so you have full contact with the rotor. Now Drilled and slotted and drilled are the best ways to go I think. Cause having the drilled hole allows the gas to vent to the middle of the rotor and out. Where is with just slotted it just vents out the part of the slots that are not being touched by the pad. So i would go with drilled or a combination of both. The problem you are having is obviously your high tempos you have in AZ and rapid cooling which causes rotors to warp. I don't know much about your brake setup but i would upgrade to a higher quality rotor.

 

[soldave]

I don't know so much, but I believe that slotted rotors offer better braking ability but are harsher on the brake pads. Drilled are commonly regarded to be better on pads but can have a tendancy to warp over time. That's about the extent of my knowledge on this one.

 

[bane3d]

As I recall, this is how it works, and it's going off 4 year old knowledge and things may have changed:

Drilled:
Pros: cools faster
Cons: too often someone buys a set of rotors, drills them, but doesn't account for the angle of the vents. Then the cross drills will weaken the rotor.

Slotted:
Pros: better braking
Cons: wears through pads faster because they are constantly "shaving" the pads.

Cross Drilled and Slotted:
Pros: cools quickly and has good stopping
Cons: Weakest of all of the rotors and suffer from the same problems of just drilled cons.

It's your choice and I'd like to hear what other people have to say about this.

d

 

[kanderson]

Drilled rotors are more prone to cracking because they have a hole completely through. The reason they are a little easier on pads is because the edges of the holes are radiused, although both drilled or slotted rotors are harder on brake pad life than standard rotors. Another benefit is that this constant "shaving" helps keep the pads from becoming glazed

It seems logical that drilled and slotted would be the best in terms of dissipating heat because they have the least metal, but would also be the weakest.

I would personally go slotted, but a lot of high end car manufacturers use drilled, so they must work well too...

 

[grantman10]

As I recall, this is how it works, and it's going off 4 year old knowledge and things may have changed:

Drilled:
Pros: cools faster
Cons: too often someone buys a set of rotors, drills them, but doesn't account for the angle of the vents. Then the cross drills will weaken the rotor.

Slotted:
Pros: better braking
Cons: wears through pads faster because they are constantly "shaving" the pads.

Cross Drilled and Slotted:
Pros: cools quickly and has good stopping
Cons: Weakest of all of the rotors and suffer from the same problems of just drilled cons.

It's your choice and I'd like to hear what other people have to say about this.

d

Bane has the pros and cons of slotted and drilled rotors explained flawlessly. That is why they do each, hey i think changing pads isn't a big deal, but i want my rotor to last without warping. I have slotted rotors.

 

[Freerevving]

If you've got to have "performance" rotors use EBC's they have rounded edges on the cuts, and they never warped on me and I punished them (sold that car)... the rounded edges also save your pads... but nevermind all that:

The most important thing is to get some good brake pads... my favorites are Hawk HP Plus... they cost an arm and a leg, but they make 10" rotors perform like 13.5".. ... they will also treat your rotors right, and help prevent them from warping

 

[AZDSM]

Thanks for the info guys, I really appreciate it. I'll probably look for a pair of drilled rotors with staggered hole placement. I've seen Brembo ones on a few sites and get a set of Hawk pads as I have heard great things about them.

Does anybody have any experience with the Power Slot big brake upgrade? It isn't a true big brake kit but simply a larger rotor and some caliper spacers to extend it out more. It is the cheapest solution out there but there is one thing that is thrown off with it. All calipers are made to be perfectly symmetrical with a rotors diameter to make for a clean slide through the caliper. However, if you get a larger rotor and use the same caliper, you are essentially breaking that symmetry.

So wouldn't this be the main reason why this cheap upgrade wouldn't be a good solution as advertised or would the extra diameter of the rotor really not affect the pad wear as much as I think it would?

 

[Teflon]

If I were you I would go with just drilled, Slotted tends to eat through brake pads like there is no tomorrow.