so i guess the drilling is to dissipate more heat ? and slotting "renews" the pad surface?
is this correct?
what do the more experienced car guys think about drilled and slotted rotors?

I'm about to renew pads and rotors and could use some advice, i prefer the look of drilled

 

I have had both slotted, drilled and drilled/slotted, I think its more esthetic than anything, I love the look but I think bite wise OEM is better...2 cents

 

I got mine and it had drilled and slotted already on them. I love them, much better than my old cars with stock

 

Was going to add if you get them to make sure they have the cryo coating to prevent them from browning over time.

 

it's kind of a waste unless your a hard driver

 

I don't expect you'll see any performance advantage on the road, if you like the look of them go for it.
Some people complain of noise with the drilled ones.

 

+1 on Norri's comment. Slots and holes are for 'bling' only, no difference in performance.

 

iownme, the purpose of the slots or holes really are to release any gas that may build up between the pad and the rotor, ensuring that the pad remains in 100% contact with the rotor. This provides the most pad contact, especially under hard braking. Do you need both slots and holes. By no means. It is more a look thing.

As for braking ability. I will go against the grain here and say that the braking has improved. Not that I go out and stomp on the brakes just because. But, when I have needed braking, with the ceramic pads and the slotted/pimpled rotors, there has been no question about me stopping. If there is something on the seats, a good stop and the seats will be cleared off. I now worry about planting the front bumper on the ground.

But, as I mentioned before, the only way to get gas build up is to do a long and hard braking, getting the pads up to the point that the rotors will start to turn colors. How often do you push your car to that point? I have to admit that there are days where there is a little bit of a whir sound from the slots during easy braking. Does not happen all the time, but you can hear it periodically.

Your call.

 

Thanks for all the input.
I'll go with drilled and slotted. I'm not heavy footed on gas or brakes...but on rare occasions.... :+)
I'll be placing an order in the morning.

 

'Outgassing' of pads is pretty much a thing of the past and it wasn't much of an issue to start with. A panic stop will not get the pads anywhere near hot enough even in worst case.

 

I agree with Thermo on the occasional noise. I have the kit from brakemotive on eBay which is $182 shipped to your door for a complete set of ceramic brakes and drilled/slotted rotors. I believe Thermo and a few others have the same kit. They work great but it seems to me that you can hear them more when they've sat overnight or for a few days without driving the car. The noise is barely audible and is by no means as loud as squeaky metallic brakes; it's kind of like a quiet grinding noise. For me, the noise only lasts for the first stop or two on my commute and then it's gone for the rest of the day. Some days it doesn't happen at all and on other occasions it happens randomly at various stops.

 

Drilled and slotted rotors have less contact surface between the rotor and the pad. It's all about the friction between those two parts that makes the braking work.

Also, I've come to understand that the common consensus on many, even Supra tuner forums, is that the drilled holes just introduce unnecessary structural weakness to the rotor.

Sure, they look funky still.

 

Depending on the correlation of hole dia to disc thickness the holes can increase the surface area of the disc and improve the cooling.

 

While it is likely to improve cooling, the benefit of that is insignificant unless you race your car.

If I upgraded my rotors, I'd go for vented ones like these:
Jaguar E-Type and XJ Inboard Brake Upgrade

That ought to add far more surface area for heat dissipation.

 

The ones I replaced on the front of my car were like that and the back ones weren't. Not sure if that was stock or not

 

Im going to be purchasing some new rotors and brake pads soon I've had the ones on my car for 3+ years and they still do not squeak but rather worn down. I forgot where I purchased these so I was wondering if anyone has any good/reliable ones that they know of/tried before.

Thanks
James

 

I don't think there are any rotors out there that can beat the ATE Premium rotors. My car stops on a dime and the rotors (surface and all) NEVER rust. Plus the built-in wear indicator is uber useful.

 

Where can i get those at? eBay?

 

It looks like a standard rotor..what's so special about it? Also, brake pads?

 

It does look like a standard rotor, but it's engineered and built with much higher quality material. With no disrespect to anyone here, but the use of drilled rotors on a car such as ours and for what we use it for 100% of the time, you would NEVER see the benefits of the drilled rotors as someone racing a Porsche 911 at 100+ MPH. Don't forget also that unless you're forking over $$$ for a premium drilled Brembo (or like) rotor, the holes actually cause the rotor to be structurally weaker.

From personal experience (and upon the recommendation from someone here...forgot who) I would never get anything but ATE rotors. The car's stopping power is folds better than original, the rotor is made of material that does not rust at all, the surface wear is perfectly even after 20K+ miles, and if you care about the "cool" factor, the wear indicators are damn cool looking.

As for pads, get the Akebono ceramics and never look back. Great stopping power and produce ZERO dust and not a single squeal (in comparison to other brands such as EBC). Get those over at Amazon or Rockauto. Rotors I got from Tirerack, but Amazon should sell them also.