Aftermarket rotors

[BigPete]

I've searched the site, but I haven't found anything relevent to this question. If I was looking at brake rotors, and some people have said go with aftermarket solid rotors, others saying simply slotted or only drilled, others have said go for some that are both drilled and slotted. All of these suggestions have been justified in one way or another, but I'm wanting to know if anyone has any solid proof of which is better.

Solid - Pros - Solid, won't warp easily
Cons - doesn't cool well or dissipate heat quickly

Slotted -Pros - helps get air to the rotor to cool it quickly
Cons - Wears the pad quicker because the slots cut the brake pad

Drilled - Pros - helps dissipate heat quickly

This is only stuff that I've heard. If anyone knows anything more, please let me know.

[BenG]

You forgot vented rotors. YOu can get aftermarket vented rotors that are larger in diameter or find a compatible OEM rotor that is larger than your current set up. Vented rotors dissapate heat better than solid rotors and do not have the cons of slotted and crossdrilled ones.

[BigPete]

How are vented rotors different from slotted?
I also saw another type called a diamond cut(?)
Has anyone seen some tests run on the different types? Any reviews or anything?

[cam2Xrunner]

your front rotors are always vented unless you have a geo metro or some other small car. vented means there are vents in between the two surfaces of the rotor. Curved vane vented rotors cool better than regular vented rotors. Usually the rear rotors are solid rotors without vents inbetween the two surfaces. Except in some cases like high end bmws and mercedes and such.

[EKam]

Originally posted by BenG
YOu can get aftermarket vented rotors that are larger in diameter.

At least I'm not aware there's anything like you mention for camrys.

Plus if you want larger rotor (ie. the supra rotor swap) it's not just the rotors that you'll need.

[brink]

This is just hearsay, but I've been told that brembo makes an aftermarket rotor with some sort of more efficient cooling design using vanes or some such and they're only a little more expensive than stock OEM. I've not actually seen them or even know the details about them, my mechanic at work just mentioned them in passing.

Something to check out, anyway. I know definitely they're available for the ae92 cause that's what the conversation was pertaining to, he said he was almost positive there was a camry option.

[BigPete]

So what's better?
I put up those pros and cons, but that was just some things off of the top of my head. Anyone know anything else?
I'm trying to make an educated decision, and all I can find on the internet are biased descriptions of each one.

[EKam]

Well since you're in Texas. Here's what I suggest...

Get solid or drilled (if you like show), basically there's no performance gain on drilled but there may be a slight chance that you'll get better cooling with it. And it won't hurt to get solid rotors.

Rotors are highly based on personal preference, unless you go on a track (not drag strip) or do auto-x/rally.

Get some nice pads (ie. KVR or Hawk pads), now that will actually gives you better braking. Get some nice brake fluid as well while you're at it.

[psyjoniz]

here's my personal experience with different rotors..

oem rotors, in my experience, always warp very easily usually due to the factory putting cheaply made one's on the car. toss them. my first set of aftermarkets were brembo slotted and drilled. to be honest i noticed a drop in stopping power - not significant - but a drop none the less. my pads did *not* wear out quickly at all (think about it - if the slotted/drilled rotors shaved off even a fraction of a millimeter each revolution your pads would disappear in a matter of miles - so whoever told you that isn't firing all plugs upstairs...). driving through puddles was no problem (as the water is removed via the slots/holes quite quickly) so pumping brakes after a big one isn't all that necessairy or at least takes just one light tap of the brake pedal. brake fade. holy freakin brake fade. ok - think about it like this.... the fact that they take away from the surface of the rotor (ie: drilling and/or slotting) you are literally taking stopping power away from the car. not to mention you are making the rotor lighter (less material) which means it can heat up quicker and also cool down quicker - and as anyone knows with heat comes expansion and with cold comes contraction - expand and contract the metal too much and it will warp quicker. luckily the one's i had were made by brembo and of good quality material so they lasted a good 2 years without warping. but i would not reccomend the drilled/slotted - flat are much better and the remedial gains (heat dissapation/water disappation/looks) are not worth the loss in stopping power. when i took that set off the car and put on a set of plain flat oem spec brembo's the difference was like night and day (same pads too - metal matrix). there was no more fade at all. the next set, if i can find one, is a set of plain drilled brembo's - unfortunately i can't seem to find ANYTHING for my '02 camry...

anyway - based on my experience flat rotors are better. may not look cool but i don't know how cool i wanna look rearending someone cause my brakes extended my stopping distance 10 extra feet from fade...

also - porsch and mercedes don't put drilled rotors on their high-end cars because they look cool - which is why i want to try a set next to see if its really worth it