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I will have to do my brakes soon. Are the drilled and cut rotors with ceramic pads the best way to go? What are the pros and cons? What paint do you use to paint the calipers?
Best is to definitely upgrade to the later XKR setup with 4-piston calipers, even if front only (you asked for best).
Staying with the stock setup, drilled rotors are nice under wet weather. The braking action feels immediate, instead of being slightly delayed while the water is swept away on the plain rotor. Plain rotors are technically "better" in the sense they have marginally more mass and therefor marginally lower temp for the same dissipated heat. Brake Performance claims that slots somehow changes the brake dust dynamic and leads to wheels not getting as dirty. Reality is that it is more a question of personal preference. One thing to keep in mind is that the cheaper drilled rotors come as 1 part#, and the better ones come as 2. This has to do with the drilling pattern: with one part#, the drilling is what it is (maybe looking "forward" on one side and "backwards" on the other) whereas the 2 part# have mirror image drilling pattern.
For pads, it is probably a discussion like conventional vs. synthetic oil. Short version is that ceramic is great for everyday driving as it produces less visible brake dust. Semi metallic is the performance option but leaves that black/greasy dust on your wheels. FWIW, the single piston setup of the XK8 is arguably marginal on the car as it is at speed, so a performance pad is kind of the way to go, but you know your own driving pattern and can go from there. As usual, the design of the stock braking system is to allow a safe emergency stop from top speed to zero one time. Performance parts come in when you want a higher standard.
For street use, I don’t think the plain vs drilled rotors is going to be a meaningful performance difference.
Until I find a better pad, I’m sticking with the ebc red stuff pads. Been using them on many different vehicles.
Low dust & a substantial improvement in stopping distance over the OEM pads. I’ve found them to be very easy on the rotors.
I have about 50,000 miles on the ebc red stuff pads on my ‘02 XKR. I replaced the rotors at the same time. The pads have about 50% of the friction material left. My driving is about 50% highway / 50% in town. The rotors look same as new.
Hey Z - Which rotors did you use? Thinking of upgrading (or at least replacing) in the next year or so. Was thinking maybe the Bosch rotors and a set of decent pads.
For street use, I don’t think the plain vs drilled rotors is going to be a meaningful performance difference.
Until I find a better pad, I’m sticking with the ebc red stuff pads. Been using them on many different vehicles.
Low dust & a substantial improvement in stopping distance over the OEM pads. I’ve found them to be very easy on the rotors.
I have about 50,000 miles on the ebc red stuff pads on my ‘02 XKR. I replaced the rotors at the same time. The pads have about 50% of the friction material left. My driving is about 50% highway / 50% in town. The rotors look same as new.
Z
Zray, what rotors did you buy? Also what model/PN EBC red stuff pads did you get?
My 2 cents ... I had braking problems in wet & cold weather with my Sebring Convertible a few years ago and upgraded to slotted & drilled rotors (combo). I bought a cheap pair of rotors off e-bay. They worked fine for the 20K miles I used them. I also installed the Hawk semi-metallic street pads. They have a very soft compound and wear fast but they stop great. The rotors & Hawk pads definitely made a difference under the conditions I was having problems with but they never completely solved the problem. Never figured out what caused the problems before I sold the car. Anyway, I like the drilled rotors for appearance but the slotted definitely perform better than the solid or the drilled. The down side is that they wear the pads faster. I guess that's the price of better stopping power.
I also "upgraded" my semi-metallic pads to ceramic on my old Hyundai and discovered that I actually lost braking power (using the original solid rotors). The ceramic pads make a lot less dust but they also increase your stopping distances. In my case it was significant. The original semi-metallic pads stopped the car a whole lot faster and in a lot less distance than the ceramics. I was so disappointed in the ceramics that I went back to the semi-metallic pads after a few weeks. I just didn't want to give up the stopping power. I bought Raybestos pads for both the ceramic and the sem-metallics. The "hardness" rating on both the ceramics and the semi-metallics were the same (I don't remember what they were now - EE or FF or whatever). The semi-metallic pads definitely stop better. Both pads worked and didn't squeal but the ceramics just didn't stop quickly enough for me. I'll stick with the semi-metallic.
Best brake set up 2005 XK8
