Performance Brake Rotors for the Hatchback!

maddmatt02

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Not really referring to brake fade when I'm talking about a better pad, but more so a better bite. Kind of like upgrading the oem tires that were designed for EPA ratings for a tire that grips better.
I know. But if the rotors get hot enough to fade, pad won't matter. So the drilled rotor has more surface area so should cool better. Less overall friction area but if its the difference between working brakes and not... I'd choose the working brakes with less friction area. Not everyone can afford what it costs for a nice BBK with increased cooling AND friction area... Lol
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Guardian7

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A few years ago I had a front rotor warp on my wife's car, a practically new Toyota Matrix so we
decided to try drilled and slotted rotors on the front only. My first impression was lots more stopping power with less pressure on the brake pedal, my second impression was brake rotors that stayed cool helping to prevent warping when tire shops improperly torque lug nuts, my last impression was ten years later the rotors still looked and worked perfect. After that I was a fan of drilled and slotted rotors, I've also learned the technology can actually improve surface contact because brake dust and gases created by friction are able to escape out from between the two surfaces during braking, and brake pad vendors are now cross cutting their brake pads for the same reason. The other selling point for me was we paid the same price for drilled and slotted rotors as what standard replacement would have cost at the local Auto Parts Store and wife's car was safer to drive.
 
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LSM-HB-6MT

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A few years ago I had a front rotor warp on my wife's car, a practically new Toyota Matrix so we
decided to try drilled and slotted rotors on the front only. My first impression was lots more stopping power with less pressure on the brake pedal, my second impression was brake rotors that stayed cool helping to prevent warping when tire shops improperly torque lug nuts, my last impression was ten years later the rotors still looked and worked perfect. After that I was a fan of drilled and slotted rotors, I've also learned the technology can actually improve surface contact because brake dust and gases created by friction are able to escape out from between the two surfaces during braking, and brake pad vendors are now cross cutting their brake pads for the same reason. The other selling point for me was we paid the same price for drilled and slotted rotors as what standard replacement would have cost at the local Auto Parts Store and wife's car was safer to drive.
Looks great! Can you post a pic that is of the whole car? I would like to see what lunar silver looks like with red calipers. Thanks!
 

glbg

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New Performance Rotors are now installed on our 2017 Civic Sport Hatchback, the front rotors are 11 inches and the rear are 10.25 inches. The 12mm Caliper bolt torque is 25 ft. lbs. and the 17mm caliper mount bracket bolt torque is 80 ft. lbs. The lug nuts for the wheels are also 80 ft lbs. On the rear brakes I actually just removed the 17mm bolts and pulled the complete brake assembly off to swap the rear rotors, you may be able to do the same on the front and save some time.

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I might consider this when it is time for me to change. On my other 3 cars, I have replaced them with the R1 Concepts Cross Drilled And Slotted Rotors.
 
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totopo

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Until your brakes are overheated, absolute stopping power is completely determined by your tires. Even the stock pads can easily get to ABS braking.

I don't understand why everyone searches for such sharp initial bite. like you want an on-off switch for the brakes. I can understand not wanting mushy brakes, but as long as you can get to ABS braking, I find it easier to modulate brakes on and off the track if you have some sort of travel. It also makes it easier to drive comfortably.

Slotted/crossdrilled rotors do work. They reduce rotor temps at the cost of like a 25%+ increase in brake pad wear. (Antanaitis, David, and Anthony Rifici. The effect of rotor crossdrilling on brake performance. No. 2006-01-0691. SAE Technical Paper, 2006.) Though from what I've seen, slotted rotors seem to be more popular these days on race cars than drilled.

Rotor warping is a myth. http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

Even though they do work, unless you are on the track experiencing brake fade I don't personally see the point of slotted/drilled rotors.
 


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Until your brakes are overheated, absolute stopping power is completely determined by your tires. Even the stock pads can easily get to ABS braking.

I don't understand why everyone searches for such sharp initial bite. like you want an on-off switch for the brakes. I can understand not wanting mushy brakes, but as long as you can get to ABS braking, I find it easier to modulate brakes on and off the track if you have some sort of travel. It also makes it easier to drive comfortably.

Slotted/crossdrilled rotors do work. They reduce rotor temps at the cost of like a 25%+ increase in brake pad wear. (Antanaitis, David, and Anthony Rifici. The effect of rotor crossdrilling on brake performance. No. 2006-01-0691. SAE Technical Paper, 2006.) Though from what I've seen, slotted rotors seem to be more popular these days on race cars than drilled.

Rotor warping is a myth. http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

Even though they do work, unless you are on the track experiencing brake fade I don't personally see the point of slotted/drilled rotors.
[edit] stupid question, read the article and got my answere for everything. Carry on.
 
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Guardian7

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Thank you for the article from stoptech, they make awesome brake parts. There are many articles on drilled and/or slotted rotors with varied conclusions. My own experiences have been very good especially on cars that do not have the stopping power of today's all wheel disc brake systems and benifit from more stopping power. Here is another article outlining some of the pro's and con's of slotted rotors and/or drilled rotors. There are also variations on the market such as dimpled rotors and curved slots.
http://www.intuneautos.com/brake-pa...ors-reduce-the-life-of-my-brake-pads-and-why/
 
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totopo

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bleh
 
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BarracksSi

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Big +1 to the Stoptech article. Across my four cars over the last 27 years, I only "warped" the rotors in the first few months of my first car -- and it was due to the abuse I put them through on a daily basis (stop hard, leave my foot mashed on the pedal, and never let them cool, thereby baking pad material onto the rotor).

Generally speaking, and in this order, improved braking comes from:

1. Tires. If you need shorter braking distances more often, get better tires. If these aren't enough, then move to...

2. Pads. You can change the bite and temperature range of the brakes by getting different pads. I had semi-race pads on my EP that had a nice, grabby feel (great for auto-x) and could stand up to anything this side of an extended FATT session. If you're still getting fade (and I hope you're only driving this hard on a track and not on the street), then...

3. Fluid. Fresh, high-temp fluid will help avoid boiling. And if you've ever boiled the fluid, you should replace it as soon as you can. In fact, if you do a track session, it's a good idea to flush-n-fill with new fluid beforehand, and then flush-n-fill again afterwards. And if THAT isn't enough...

4. Bigger brake kit. And figure out how to balance the brakes correctly, too. You don't want bigger front brakes that overwhelm the front tires and invoke ABS long before the rear wheels have reached their maximum braking power. Stoptech has a good reputation for bigger kits that maintain correct front-to-rear brake balance.

Drilled or slotted rotors? I'm kinda "meh" about them. Maybe I'll try a set when I wear out the original rotors on mine. At the rate I've been going, though, I might be selling or trading in this car with these same rotors on it.
 
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Guardian7

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I've had the brakes smoking on my 2015 SI several times after doing 1/4 passes and trying to slow down before running out of pavement at a local hangout. You simply have to slam the brakes at the end of the high speed pass to keep out of the dirt. I would like to go with a big brake kit but that's a lot more expensive than rotors at this point.
 


BarracksSi

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I've had the brakes smoking on my 2015 SI several times after doing 1/4 passes and trying to slow down before running out of pavement at a local hangout. You simply have to slam the brakes at the end of the high speed pass to keep out of the dirt. I would like to go with a big brake kit but that's a lot more expensive than rotors at this point.
What a terrible place to race. I think there was a quarter-mile runout at the strip I used to go to (and an ambulance, and cleanup crew, etc etc).

Anyway -- which pads did you abuse? Stock, or a higher-temp compound?
 

silverrascal

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OP: What brake pads are you going with?
 
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Guardian7

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The road turns into dirt at the end of the quarter mile way out in the the desert so you can keep going on dirt, no hassle from the law since it is very secluded, was using all stock rotors and pads which after two runs were really smoking!
 

BarracksSi

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The road turns into dirt at the end of the quarter mile way out in the the desert so you can keep going on dirt, no hassle from the law since it is very secluded, was using all stock rotors and pads which after two runs were really smoking!
Secluded or not, it still sounds like a crappy place to race. Nobody should need to be standing on their brakes after a run.

Get some higher-temperature pads* and you'll be fine. If we're on the Stoptech kick, get some Sport #309 pads. I ran Cobalt pads on my EP, but the GT-Sports I used are discontinued; I'd get their XR-4 or XR-3 if I bought Cobalt pads today. They also have a chart on this page showing comparable pads from other manufacturers -- worth checking as a reference:
https://www.cobaltfriction.com/category_s/1919.htm

Keep the stock rotors and fluid (but if you boil the fluid just once, change it for fresh stuff). I was using ATE fluid and switched between Typ-200 and Super Blue, which made it easy to see when the system was flushed. However, Super Blue has been pulled from the market because some dumbasses were putting it in the washer reservoir... just because it's blue like washer fluid.

* Not that anyone has asked in this thread yet, but I'll preemptively warn you guys to NOT get race pads and use them for daily driving. The kind I'm talking about don't start working until they're well over 100 degrees -- like 150+, last I looked. Yeah, you won't be able to fade them during track days, but the rest of the time, especially in winter, they'll be so cold that you won't get any response.
 

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New Performance Rotors are now installed on our 2017 Civic Sport Hatchback, the front rotors are 11 inches and the rear are 10.25 inches. The 12mm Caliper bolt torque is 25 ft. lbs. and the 17mm caliper mount bracket bolt torque is 80 ft. lbs. The lug nuts for the wheels are also 80 ft lbs. On the rear brakes I actually just removed the 17mm bolts and pulled the complete brake assembly off to swap the rear rotors, you may be able to do the same on the front and save some time.

20170310_210219.jpg


20170310_211106.jpg
Definitely looking great! Nice job on the decal too. Would you happen to have a side profile shot of the car? To see how they look from afar?
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