I am going with the Akebono ceramic pads but need some recommendations for good rotors to pair with those pads.

 

Anything except cheap imports that are too good to be true will be suitable. There's no difference in performance from one end of the spectrum to the other, including the slotted and dimpled drilled 'bling' rotors.

I like Raybestos but that's just me.

 

I bought mine from Advance Auto Parts, don't remember the brand, but they work just fine.

But, oh what fun it was to remove the old ones -- a big hammer and my strong armed son did it, took about five minutes of pounding and praying nothing else breaks. Maybe seven and half minutes to put the new ones on and reinstall the calipers. Hours wasted trying to get the old one off the left side, was ready to give up; went ugly early for right side.

 

I went with CENTRIC High Carbon Alloy from Rock.
I like the fact that they're Black E-Coated on non-friction surfaces.

 

I am seeing 2 sizes, 305 mm and 325 mm. Which do I need?

 

305mm for standard brakes (xjr/xj8), 325mm for brembos (xjr 100 or R1 perf package)

 

Thanks greverr, that helps!

 

Ok, I went with Centric c-tek standards. I almost purchased off of rockauto but with free prime shipping on Amazon they were cheaper. Plus bonus, I had $42 left on an Amazon gift card I got for X-mas to go towards purchase .

 

Thats what we're here for! Gotta love Prime, if they could only expedite the "new" season/version of Top Gear they would be on their way to perfection

 

Oh crap. Read some posts on here that non brembo rotors for the XJR are 325mm for front and 305mm for rear! I just bought 305mm front rotors! Can anyone confirm or deny?

 

oh crap on my end as well, i'm sorry about that, should have looked more into it. Looks like brembos are 14'' and standards are 12.8''. 12.8" = 325mm. I would double check that as well as i'm not sure why lots of companys appear to sell what they say are 305mm fronts? I ordered the wrong size front set for mine way back when, that is the only thing i can be sure of at this point
Addendum: i just measured mine and they are 305mm front and back like Convincor also states below. It was a while ago, but i think i remember ordering 325mm assuming it was correct not being brembo's and being surprised when they didn't fit

 

My 98 both listed as 305mm, measured 12" with tape measure
fronts
https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...053&cc=1315913
rear
https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...368&cc=1315913

 

I've used Centric for quite a few brake parts without any problems, including brake discs for several cars. They are usually one of the least expensive brands.

I'm going to use their front discs for my XJR pretty soon.

 

Is this another one of those things that changed mid production? Is there a date that the XJR went from having 305mm rotors front and back to 325mm on front and 305mm on back? I found posts where people say a stock XJR had the 325mm front. Why does everything have to be so complicated!

 

Simply measure the rotors you have. You can measure the circumference with a tape measure, then convert to diameter (divide by pi).

 

Ok, measured my from rotors, they are 325mm. Must have changed at some point since both convincers and greverrs 98 XJRs are 305mm.

 

Wondering what you paid rotors/ pads. The Akebono pads are my go to aftermarket -- OE for Toyota/ Lexus.

Believe I paid around $275 - 300 for last OE front set rotors (2) .. and about $80 for the pads.

 

I paid $60 for the pads and $93 for the rotors. Shop around for deals.

 

Thanks -- I was curious.

My old Jaguars are all original. Some items I know where the OE came from so I don't get them through Jaguar. Otherwise I only get OE parts -- makes my life easier.

Example: The XJR and many other Jaguars use a very common GM fuel filter. So I get the GM .... few other part. Some of the front suspension links are from an Opel .. stuff like that.