What Rotors/Pads have you used or using?
06-18-2007, 08:04 PM
#1
Thread Starter
What Rotors/Pads have you used or using?
I am in need of changing my brakes, now I like the stock look and all but would love to go with Power Slot OR Brembo slotted rotors, look great and will help me out on the mountain runs that I go to all the time, I feel as if stocks aren't holding up as well as I would like them. Plus I will start tracking my car fairly soon hopefully also, so need to prep for that too.
What rotors do you run or DID run? What you like or didn't like about them.
Now in regards to pads, what pads should I go with? Ceramic? I am looking for less dust then AP2 pads and some thing that would work well with slotted rotors for high temps here in Arizona on the track or the mountains.
Last but not least is the color, I seen some new black ones, I am leaning towards silver but the gold looks great, better anti-corrosion from what I understood and I sure as hell would look GREAT on Silverstone... At least in my opinion.
What do you guys recommend?
PS: I had CrossDrilled and Slotted rotors with Hawk Pads on my Prelude and they would brake fade SUPER fast and the rears would chip my brake pads, we tryed 2 different brands of pads too... How ghetto? NEVER AGAIN!
I would like quality this time, ESPECIALLY now that I plan to track it. Plus flying of off the mountain isn't exactly what I would wanna do any ways
Thx for all the help guys
What rotors do you run or DID run? What you like or didn't like about them.
Now in regards to pads, what pads should I go with? Ceramic? I am looking for less dust then AP2 pads and some thing that would work well with slotted rotors for high temps here in Arizona on the track or the mountains.
Last but not least is the color, I seen some new black ones, I am leaning towards silver but the gold looks great, better anti-corrosion from what I understood and I sure as hell would look GREAT on Silverstone... At least in my opinion.
What do you guys recommend?
PS: I had CrossDrilled and Slotted rotors with Hawk Pads on my Prelude and they would brake fade SUPER fast and the rears would chip my brake pads, we tryed 2 different brands of pads too... How ghetto? NEVER AGAIN!
I would like quality this time, ESPECIALLY now that I plan to track it. Plus flying of off the mountain isn't exactly what I would wanna do any ways
Thx for all the help guys
06-19-2007, 02:25 AM
#2
Registered User
just couple comments:
make sure the brembo you getting are not post-cut or post drilled. almost all the ebay oem size brembo drilled disc are drilled from a blank dics, which damage the structural integraty of the unit.(instead of casted with holes from the factory)
are you looking for street pad or race pad?
race pad obvious are harder for the rotor and fluid, since they operate at much higher temperture, but they do stop better i guess.
for street pad, go with hawks' hps pad, or axxis ulitmate, i been running axxis for quite a while now, they are very good street pad if you don't track your car all the time. well, if you do, you should be investing in a second rotor, pad combo, which eventually save you alot of time and money.
axxis ultmate is ceramic with kevlon fiber i think, very dusty but i can't complain for the price per stop ratio.
if your budget permits, go with a BBK or at least a bigger disk, which will have a higher brake torque number and MOST important: higher thermo capacity: which will roughly translate to consistant braking power, much less fade and less rotor temp, which is overall more important than braking power alone.
bbk will set you back a good bit, the pad cost more and they might require you to run a different offset wheel.
make sure the brembo you getting are not post-cut or post drilled. almost all the ebay oem size brembo drilled disc are drilled from a blank dics, which damage the structural integraty of the unit.(instead of casted with holes from the factory)
are you looking for street pad or race pad?
race pad obvious are harder for the rotor and fluid, since they operate at much higher temperture, but they do stop better i guess.
for street pad, go with hawks' hps pad, or axxis ulitmate, i been running axxis for quite a while now, they are very good street pad if you don't track your car all the time. well, if you do, you should be investing in a second rotor, pad combo, which eventually save you alot of time and money.
axxis ultmate is ceramic with kevlon fiber i think, very dusty but i can't complain for the price per stop ratio.
if your budget permits, go with a BBK or at least a bigger disk, which will have a higher brake torque number and MOST important: higher thermo capacity: which will roughly translate to consistant braking power, much less fade and less rotor temp, which is overall more important than braking power alone.
bbk will set you back a good bit, the pad cost more and they might require you to run a different offset wheel.
06-19-2007, 02:54 AM
#3
Registered User
I recommend OEM pads and rotors for street use. If you are going to track the car, stick with OEM rotors. they work better and last longer than slotted/cross-drilled designs.
You can use brake pads designed for higher temperatures, but they typically dust much more than OEM. These are usually referred to as "intermediate pads", and some examples are Hawk HPS, Porterfield R4S and Cobalt Friction GTS. Stay away from race-only pads (like Hawk Blues, Porterfield R4) because they will destroy your rotors if they aren't up to temperature (like what happens on the street). Race pads DO NOT stop you faster, they have greater inititial bite and stay fade free at higher temperatures compared to street pads - when they are hot. When cold, they suck.
Something that you didn't mention, please change your brake fluid to something with a high boiling point (Valvoline SynPower, ATE Super Blue/200) before the track event.
You can use brake pads designed for higher temperatures, but they typically dust much more than OEM. These are usually referred to as "intermediate pads", and some examples are Hawk HPS, Porterfield R4S and Cobalt Friction GTS. Stay away from race-only pads (like Hawk Blues, Porterfield R4) because they will destroy your rotors if they aren't up to temperature (like what happens on the street). Race pads DO NOT stop you faster, they have greater inititial bite and stay fade free at higher temperatures compared to street pads - when they are hot. When cold, they suck.
Something that you didn't mention, please change your brake fluid to something with a high boiling point (Valvoline SynPower, ATE Super Blue/200) before the track event.
06-19-2007, 05:26 AM
#4
as another new s owner ('07), I'm interested in some tips on this too.
I actually tracked my car after about 4k miles on it. Everything was 100% stock down to the fluids.
I did a two day event. By the afternoon of the 2nd day I had completely worn through my rear pads! My fronts were about 3/5 gone. I put on some carquest generic pads to limp home (250 miles on the highway). I drove strait to the dealership and left my car there for them to deal with.
The story I heard from them was that I had extensive heat damage to all four rotors.
Will changing the fluid and the pads to something like the hawk hps pads be enough to save the rotors? I want to drive my car HARD! I know the proper ways to brake and don't slam on my brakes. I do smoothly (in about 1 second) go from starting to brake to just under the threshold of the tires.
I know about brake fade, and I definitely experianced it on my 2nd day and called the day early because of it. But I was running 30min on, 1hour off both days and on the first day I did not notice much significant brake fade during each 30min run, but I did notice a significant loss of performance in my brakes from run to run (after the hour cooldown). During the first run I didn't push the car too much since I didn't know the track too well, but on the 2nd run I was able to get right close to braking at the threshold of engaging the abs (yea I know not to engage the abs as its bad for the pump). By the end of the day, I could not get anywhere close to braking hard enough. I would assume that would be the fluid boiling and I know to change that. I just wanted to be pure 100% stock for my first track event with the car.
The only explanation I can think of for my rear pads wearing before my fronts is that I must have had gas buildup on the fronts and that forced my rears to pick up the slack.
Any advice for an everyday (4 season) car that will get tracked a dozen or so times a year? I'm mulling over a stock S/C kit for a bit more muscle on the straits. I was thinking of saving up and splurging on a brembo bbk + the comptech S/C, but I don't want to jump into an inventment like that without knowing its worth it.
I actually tracked my car after about 4k miles on it. Everything was 100% stock down to the fluids.
I did a two day event. By the afternoon of the 2nd day I had completely worn through my rear pads! My fronts were about 3/5 gone. I put on some carquest generic pads to limp home (250 miles on the highway). I drove strait to the dealership and left my car there for them to deal with.
The story I heard from them was that I had extensive heat damage to all four rotors.
Will changing the fluid and the pads to something like the hawk hps pads be enough to save the rotors? I want to drive my car HARD! I know the proper ways to brake and don't slam on my brakes. I do smoothly (in about 1 second) go from starting to brake to just under the threshold of the tires.
I know about brake fade, and I definitely experianced it on my 2nd day and called the day early because of it. But I was running 30min on, 1hour off both days and on the first day I did not notice much significant brake fade during each 30min run, but I did notice a significant loss of performance in my brakes from run to run (after the hour cooldown). During the first run I didn't push the car too much since I didn't know the track too well, but on the 2nd run I was able to get right close to braking at the threshold of engaging the abs (yea I know not to engage the abs as its bad for the pump). By the end of the day, I could not get anywhere close to braking hard enough. I would assume that would be the fluid boiling and I know to change that. I just wanted to be pure 100% stock for my first track event with the car.
The only explanation I can think of for my rear pads wearing before my fronts is that I must have had gas buildup on the fronts and that forced my rears to pick up the slack.
Any advice for an everyday (4 season) car that will get tracked a dozen or so times a year? I'm mulling over a stock S/C kit for a bit more muscle on the straits. I was thinking of saving up and splurging on a brembo bbk + the comptech S/C, but I don't want to jump into an inventment like that without knowing its worth it.
06-19-2007, 06:05 AM
#5
Registered User
1. Don't go with FI on an S2000 that will see track duty.
2. As you develop as a driver, you will need better brakes.
3. Fluid and pads are the single most important upgrade that you can do to the car for track use.
4. Run dedicated pads and rotors for the track and swap back to another dedicated set for the street. I recommend OEM rotors for both applications.
5. It is typical for S2000s to use more rear pad than front with OEM pads. This differential will decrease with the use of higher heat tolerant material. Newer cars with stability management will eat through rear pads very quickly on the track.
2. As you develop as a driver, you will need better brakes.
3. Fluid and pads are the single most important upgrade that you can do to the car for track use.
4. Run dedicated pads and rotors for the track and swap back to another dedicated set for the street. I recommend OEM rotors for both applications.
5. It is typical for S2000s to use more rear pad than front with OEM pads. This differential will decrease with the use of higher heat tolerant material. Newer cars with stability management will eat through rear pads very quickly on the track.
06-19-2007, 06:42 AM
#6
Originally Posted by CoralDoc,Jun 19 2007, 06:05 AM
1. Don't go with FI on an S2000 that will see track duty.
2. As you develop as a driver, you will need better brakes.
3. Fluid and pads are the single most important upgrade that you can do to the car for track use.
4. Run dedicated pads and rotors for the track and swap back to another dedicated set for the street. I recommend OEM rotors for both applications.
5. It is typical for S2000s to use more rear pad than front with OEM pads. This differential will decrease with the use of higher heat tolerant material. Newer cars with stability management will eat through rear pads very quickly on the track.
2. As you develop as a driver, you will need better brakes.
3. Fluid and pads are the single most important upgrade that you can do to the car for track use.
4. Run dedicated pads and rotors for the track and swap back to another dedicated set for the street. I recommend OEM rotors for both applications.
5. It is typical for S2000s to use more rear pad than front with OEM pads. This differential will decrease with the use of higher heat tolerant material. Newer cars with stability management will eat through rear pads very quickly on the track.
I'm pretty sure I'm at the "better brakes" limit on the stock car. I'm not going to make drastic changes to the car, so for my next event, I will get new pads/fluid, but assuming that might not be enough, what has worked well for tracked S2ks for the track? I don't mind changing out my pads for track/daily driving.
I don't have much experiance changing rotors... How long does it take to change them out and how complicated is it?
I made sure to keep traction control off. I was just so shocked to see NO pad left on the rears while I had a bit under 1/2 pad left in the front. Unless it was all from the fluid, my S was not braking right at all after a good amount of track time. I"m hoping that chaning the pads and fluid fixes the problem, but I'm worried about all that heat.
06-19-2007, 06:55 AM
#7
Community Organizer
Originally Posted by CoralDoc,Jun 19 2007, 10:05 AM
1. Don't go with FI on an S2000 that will see track duty.
2. As you develop as a driver, you will need better brakes.
3. Fluid and pads are the single most important upgrade that you can do to the car for track use.
4. Run dedicated pads and rotors for the track and swap back to another dedicated set for the street. I recommend OEM rotors for both applications.
5. It is typical for S2000s to use more rear pad than front with OEM pads. This differential will decrease with the use of higher heat tolerant material. Newer cars with stability management will eat through rear pads very quickly on the track.
2. As you develop as a driver, you will need better brakes.
3. Fluid and pads are the single most important upgrade that you can do to the car for track use.
4. Run dedicated pads and rotors for the track and swap back to another dedicated set for the street. I recommend OEM rotors for both applications.
5. It is typical for S2000s to use more rear pad than front with OEM pads. This differential will decrease with the use of higher heat tolerant material. Newer cars with stability management will eat through rear pads very quickly on the track.
I have personally seen slotted/drilled rotors fail. This is not good and does a TON of damage. OEM rotors are perfect for the track and don't cost a fortune to replace.
As for FI... To each there own. But I will add that the fastest S2000 drivers that I know are all NA. The extra speed and HP that comes with FI forces one to brake harder and more often than is necessary. Speed at the track comes from being fluid and smooth not from HP or displacement.
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06-19-2007, 07:23 AM
#8
Originally Posted by WhrDLMI,Jun 19 2007, 06:55 AM
As for FI... To each there own. But I will add that the fastest S2000 drivers that I know are all NA. The extra speed and HP that comes with FI forces one to brake harder and more often than is necessary. Speed at the track comes from being fluid and smooth not from HP or displacement.
I would never take a vette over my S, but it would be nice to have a little more top end acceleration.
FI asside, thanks for the info on the brake setup. Thats what the thread was started about and what I"m really interested in for the first upgrade. Safety first... I just mentioned FI because it could factor into people's suggestions for brakes. I would much rather have overkill for braking power and underdo the power of the car than worry about my brakes holding up to the stresses of the track.
06-19-2007, 07:42 AM
#9
Community Organizer
Originally Posted by trump26901,Jun 19 2007, 11:23 AM
totally agree. The two most important things for me when I go to a track are being safe and being smooth (in that order). I came from driving a lotus and the S is just a dream to drive. It just broke my heart seeing how great the S was doing, but the car just can't seem to get any real acceleration in 5th gear. I don't know if you have experiance with driving @ watkins glenn, but I could come through turn 2 accelerating through the 90s, accelerating through the s and top out at 125 before the chicane. I was driving with a lot of vettes and was able to pass them around the turns (comming in and out faster), but any long strait would send them roaring bye me as they just kept.
I would never take a vette over my S, but it would be nice to have a little more top end acceleration.
FI asside, thanks for the info on the brake setup. Thats what the thread was started about and what I"m really interested in for the first upgrade. Safety first... I just mentioned FI because it could factor into people's suggestions for brakes. I would much rather have overkill for braking power and underdo the power of the car than worry about my brakes holding up to the stresses of the track.
I would never take a vette over my S, but it would be nice to have a little more top end acceleration.
FI asside, thanks for the info on the brake setup. Thats what the thread was started about and what I"m really interested in for the first upgrade. Safety first... I just mentioned FI because it could factor into people's suggestions for brakes. I would much rather have overkill for braking power and underdo the power of the car than worry about my brakes holding up to the stresses of the track.
For me, the joy of driving my car comes from the corners.
I agree that a little more power down the strait would be nice but I am not much of a speed junky. Well... Not in that sense anyways. 
I much more prefer to see how fast I can take a particular turn then how fast I am at the end of the strait. I have always felt that strait line power is easy... Muscle cars have been doing it for years. The trick is getting that power and speed through the turns. I am glad that you appreciate my brake/rotor advise setup. This is wisdom that has been passed through my local community for sometime. I'm glad I was able to pass it along, too.
Don't forget to upgrade your fluid, too... I run ATE SuperBlue without issue. It is a necessity with the hotter pads.
06-19-2007, 08:01 AM
#10
Registered User
The otherwise stock S2000 does very well with high BP fluid and high temperature tolerant pads as the only upgrades. If you force-induct the S2000 for use on the track, you will have to have brakes that can dissipate even more heat, a drivetrain that can handle the extra power, tires that can get the power to the ground effectively, and a variety of other modifications to make the system work.