Brake rotors - drilled or slotted?
 

i was wondering which brake rotors were better, drilled or slotted ones?

thanks

slotted

how come?

I have both on my civic and never complained the stop perfectly, I really recommend.

Honestly, for a street car, you're better off going with Brembo blank rotors or something similar. That is, of course, assuming you don't want them just for looks.

+1 dont really need them for a civic

+1 on the blanks. Street cars don't need slotted or drilled.

Instead of gettting new rotors. Do a rear disc brake swap that will make a much bigger diference in looks and stopping power.

I've heard otherwise.

well both are good. and most are combos half drilled and slotted...

cheap drilled rotors can crack and be trash.... just look at there warranty compared to a nice company.
im looking for some right now for my truck. im gonna spend like 250-300bucks for drilled/slotted rotors.
cheap ebays say warranty for 60days or so, good brand says warranty for 50K miles.

I'd just like to point out that drilled and slotted rotors both have less surface area than a blank rotor, meaning there's actually less braking force generated. When you're braking hard enough to glaze the pads over (road racing/autocross), slotted rotors are nice because they actually take a little bit of the pad off with each rotation of the rotor. However, drilled rotors (even ones from companies like Brembo) are fairly easy to crack, and the holes really do nothing; after all, what's there to vent? If you want cooler-running brakes, get larger rotors that have higher surface areas; a higher surface area translates to more cooling.

ya but bigger brakes cost ALOT MORE!!!!!!! for my truck its either the rotors for 250 or the BBU $2,600 2 large pistons or $4,000 6 piston....
um ill stick with the 250 ones.LOL maybe if i had won the lottery id buy the 2 large piston BBkit but i dont see that happening.LOL

i hopefully wont have to use there # 50,000 mile warranty against cracking and warping.

but if i do no problem with getting some new ones. installing them is pretty easy on my truck.


my 99 civic had some drilled rotors on it wheni got it and they never cracked.... they did have some ugly rust along the drilled spots and rotor ends. nothing a wire brush and black caliper paint didnt make purty again ;)

? go on.... Do you have a write up or is this just what you heard?

A lot of places won't put slotted rotors on the lathe, so given a choice between the two I'd go with cross drilled. I suppose you could buy cheap slotted ones and just throw them away when they're not true anymore...but that seems like a waste.

Brembo blanks + Hawk pads is what I run on my 4runner, and had on my Tacoma, will be doing the same to the Civic when it comes time.

well MOST rotors can be saved just by the owner geting there pads changed before they run into the rivets and start grinding on them.... i always replace my brake pads when they are ruffly under 1/2way worn down when i look at them. its just cheap insurance to keeping your rotors in best shape. plus the more pad thickness ya got the longer they will last.... i dont wait until they start grinding like some people do.

get blanks

blanks, more surface area than drilled or slotted, plus better conductive heat dissipation due to more rotor material. If you do decide on drilled, make sure the holes are chamfered for the brake pad material. If anything, just upgrade to larger rotors and calipers from another honda or acura model as well as the master cylinder and perhaps proportioning valve. then maybe ss lines if you perhaps participate in several autocross events or track time trials.

If you rack up the miles on your car, blanks are best. However, if you drive infrequently, slotted rotors, especially high-quality ones like PowerSlots (cadmium-plated) are best. As was mentioned, the pads stay fresh, so glazing won't ever reduce braking ability. Both the Viper ACR track car (600 HP) and the new Cadillac CTS-V (560 HP) come from the factory with slotted-only rotors. Drilled are bling-only and offer no performance gain at all.

Definitely go with the blanks, preferably Brembo's.

Cross-drilled brake do have a tendency to crack along the drilled holes, and slotted brakes will eat pads fast. Also, blanks do in fact have more surface area to grasp the brake pad. If you notice NASCAR and F1 race cars use blanks. The only time I've been able to fade brake pads on a car was with crap pads from Advance Auto running oversized rims. As soon as I changed to new Brembo blanks, Hawk Performance Ceramic pads, bled the brakes and refilled with Castrol GTLMA I had not one issue since. Most of the time the problem lies in the fact that you're using **** brake pads. Also, the slotted have a tendency to warp much faster than the blanks due to not being able to dissipate heat as well due to less surface area. I myself would NEVER turn slotted or cross-drilled brakes on a lathe because of the way they are constructed.

Actually, good slotted rotors dissipate heat faster than OEM blanks and relieve gases that build up between the pad and the rotor surface. Rotors like PowerSlots will look nicer far longer than OEMs because of that cad-plating. A rotor's design can make a big difference between a dangerous one and one that'll last a lifetime. Cryo rotors, for instance, are more resistant to warping and wearing because of their extra hard surface.

What rotors you get for a civic doesn't matter. The first time you slam your brakes, maybe a second time, the rotors are finished. Trust me. I go through rotors every 3 months. Though the pads I get has copper shards in it, and they last for about a year.

What rotors are you using?
That should not happen.

What Trust said, that shouldn't be happening. What pads are you using with what rotors? I'm running stock pads/rotors and have had to brake very heavily a few times, and my rotors remained true. Whether the stock rotors can handle an aggressive aftermarket pad and heavy braking I'm not sure.

just blank

Slotted/drilled rotors if top quality type are definitely the best choice. They dissipate heat faster and don't have as much friction co-efficient to heat up in the first place. Reduced heat means much lower chance of warping your rotors. Clearly, the best choice is bigger rotors/calipers first, then slotted/drilled. It has nothing to do with high speed racing and braking frequency, and everything to do with eliminating over heating for what ever the reason is.

Look at what is on more expensive cars, it is always bigger brakes. Bigger = better, the reason they are not on less expensive cars is to keep costs down and profits up.

A perfect example of this is how GM uses the exact same calipers and rotors on a suburban as they do on the C1500 pick up truck. I was replacing pads on my suburban every 20,000 miles because there was not enough pad there to stop the weight of the vehicle, my rotors went because they were heating up and warping.

Obviously you are not drag racing or road racing a suburban, but in that application a soluiton is bigger rotors/calipers first and then of course dissipating the heat, which is done with slotted/drilled rotors.

im probably going to get bigger slotted and drilled rotors because ive noticed that when i have a full car the brakes dont have the power to stop so i have to shift down to slow down
thanks for the info

I had Power Stop cross drilled rotors and AEM pads on my Accord LXi. They made a huge difference in stopping power and pedal feel. I never had a problem with this setup, would stop on a dime. On my Supra Turbo I had Power Slot slotted rotors and Hawk pads. In both cases the vented rotors made a big improvement in braking. Go with either it really is just about the look between the 2, so long as you get a good brand. Cheap drilled rotors will crack on you.

Just remember you can not "Cut" slotted or drilled rotors, so you get 1 use out of em and need new ones. Regular rotors can be used for a couple times after they are re cut.

just dont buy cheap ass rotors, i prefer oem blanks.

Cryo-slotted rotors will easily out-last most blank rotors. In fact, if you buy good quality rotors like PowerSlot cryos, they will probably be the LAST rotors you ever buy. You pay more in the biginning, but in the end, you save money, especially if you keep your car for many years.

^ Not if you're buying more pads, comes out to the same cost basically in an ideal situation.

Having harder rotors does not necessarily mean the pads will wear faster, but yes, slotted and/or driller rotors will wear the pads down a bit faster. The good thing is that pads are usually easy to replace, whereas a rotor change often requires bleeding every corner - a real pain.

what?

I was referring to pad life, not rotor strength and hardness. I think he was referring to bleeding the system to equip the brake pedal feel with new rotor and pad thickness.

DITO..... WTF rotor change needing to bleed the brakes.... i hope that was a drunk post.LOL

you should always bleed the brakes IMO after compressing the calipers pistons when changing pads. its just added prevention to be sure no air or water into the system. it only takes a few pumps per wheel not that much. its not needed but to me its just better safe that sorry. and if youve never bleed your brakes i suggest you fully bleed the system out till you get clear fluid. old fluid is just nasty looking that can hurt your brakes performance.

Well, I've been bleeding brakes for many years and I can tell you without a doubt that you do NOT have to bleed air out of your brake lines if you do a simple pad change. I guess the same thing is true of a rotor change, but as I mentioned, the benefits of buying good quality cryo-rotors far outweigh saving money on buying inexpensive blank rotors if you are going to keep your car for many years.

You should flush the brake fluid every few years and bleed the fluid if changing or rebuilding the calipers.

I agree, my next set of rotors will be cyro

how fast do you go thru brakes? just curious.... because me myself only change the brakes every year or two.LOL so i bleed the brakes at the same time ;)
but anytime you have a brake line leaking or open/loosen any part of the brake system other than the brake fluid level tank you should always bleed the system to be safe! otherwise you could have air in the system and a soft/ skwishy pedal and very poor brake performance.

I have an 89 Mazda MX6 GT that still has pads that I put on about 8 years ago (It may be due). I also have an 01 Corvette (PowerSlot Cryos) that probably won't need pads for another 6 years. But brake fluid absorbs moisture over time, so regardless of how often you change pads, the fluid should be flushed every 3-5 years. I agree that IF you have a leak or change the calipers, you should bleed out any air bubbles from the fluid, but really, how often does that happen? I haven't seen a leak in a brake line in a loooooong time!

o well my front caliper bolt actually got loose on my 96 civic and started leaking... then on my old crx i had it rusted thru a line, my junk truck blew a rubber brake line, and my impala has had plenty of rusted thru lines.LOL
ive fixed alot of brake lines.


but you must not drive very much. i typically go thru front pads in about 2years.