performance brake discs

[Digital Vampire]

amitgandhi76: How is the R&D and testing of brake discs for your Tucson coming along?

[amitgandhi76]

hi anoop good to hear from you..........great buddy....send me some pictures of your car..
i will suggest you a good design..
regards
amit gandhi

also you could see some pics of my performance rotor fitted to my laura l&k

[amitgandhi76]

hi blackhorn
thanks for your questionaire. seems you have a good knowledge about brakes.... really appreciate that.
let me know if these points satisfy your questions.................

When a car-manufacturer designs a disc rotor, the aim is to please the ‘average’ owner, placing high priority on such things as quietness,
durability and low production costs.When enthusiasts change their cars to improve performance they always have to accept some tradeoffs.
After all, there’s no such thing as something for nothing.In this case, the main trade-off for improved braking is higher purchase price.
The extra cost is due to there being a great deal more production work in manufacturing rotors that are slotted, or crossdrilled and slotted.
The specialist nature of the product also adds to the expense, reducing production economies of scale.However, we’ve done our best to keep the price premiums as small as possible, using innovative low volume manufacturing techniques. Many customers feel the additional cost of the Slotted rotors is justified by the enhanced performance alone, and consider that the attractive appearance is merely a bonus. In an emergency situation, every buyer will appreciate the extra stopping power even if they rarely drive hard enough to utilise it.As any driver knows, the ability to pull up a car even one metre sooner can save a life. Something to note about slotting: as the rotor wears, the slotting becomes shallower and therefore less effective. the slots are tailored to each rotor type, but typically they are about 3mm deep x 4mm wide.
By the time the rotor has reached ‘minimum thickness’ (we are careful to point out that the slots are not intended as a wear indicator),
there is not much slot left. To make them deeper would risk weakening the rotor.In contrast, the holes remain effective in combating ‘out-gassing’ for the whole life of the disc. As with slots, the pattern is unique for each rotor type, typically we have between 24 and 36 holes per disc face, each with a diameter of 5mm. To counter the tendency for cracks to form between holes, we previously put just one hole per vane on ventilated discs to ensure the walls between the vanes would act as a strengthening barrier between the holes. Each hole is chamfered or ‘radiused’ around its opening to reduce pad abrasion and provide a smooth transition between hole and friction area.

regards
amit gandhi
09422048882

[blackhorn]

thanks for the reply amit, you've adressed my questions well, since my knowledge is 'acquired and not experienced', from what i have given to understand, people shift from oe rotors to performance ones because of either their aesthetic appeal, or because of inadequate braking performance(brake fade), to effectively stop sooner as you said, or a yard earlier you would need a better set of brake pads, or rotors which are larger or have a higher coefficient of friction, or tyres which offer more grip, which is actually one of the most important points as far as brake fade is concerned, because in that case the grip offered by the tyres effectively over power the maximum performance of the brakes at that instant, the resultant friction cause the pads to overheat and the bonding agent within the pads disintegrates causing immediete decline in braking performance, performance oriented pads and rotors do/should not suffer from such degradation even after repeated abuse over an extended period of time, do you also offer brake pads to be used in conjunction with your products? uprated calipers?

[Digital Vampire]

As many would know, it is better to use after-market brake pads which are specifically designed for use with slotted and drilled rotors.
I've seen that OE pads gets chewed up much faster with slotted/drilled rotors. Would like to know other's experiences with slotted/drilled rotors and brake pad life.

[blackhorn]

have seen accelerated pad wear on a modded city(spewed a lot of brake dust as well)..hence my question

[mclaren1885]

OE pads do get eaten up quicker with slotted &/or cross drilled rotors.

Also I don't find the braking to have improved phenomenally in terms of sheer stopping power. If the size of the rotors is same it actually reduces the surface area of contact between the pads and rotors.

Where aftermarket rotors shine is the ability to stay cool even after long periods of hard braking. While OE rotors will start overheating and start to vibrate after a few hard braking attempts, good rotors will keep going with no hint of vibrations over long periods of time.

I've tried carbon ceramic pads and slotted and cross drilled rotors on my Baleno for a while. While the braking at high speeds was great, the carbon ceramic pads weren't good at slow speed braking and often kept catching me unawares.

Also since the Baleno OE rotors were made of excellent quality I didn't have the rotors warping issue, so went back to stock.

[blackhorn]

I've tried carbon ceramic pads and slotted and cross drilled rotors on my Baleno for a while. While the braking at high speeds was great, the carbon ceramic pads weren't good at slow speed braking and often kept catching me unawares.

they need to be upto temp to work effectively, under operating temp their behavior is unpredictable

[mclaren1885]

they need to be upto temp to work effectively, under operating temp their behavior is unpredictable

Exactly the point I was making. And bringing them upto temperatures during a city drive is quite hard. Often I'd have these wtf moments at slow speeds.

[blackhorn]

Where aftermarket rotors shine is the ability to stay cool even after long periods of hard braking. While OE rotors will start overheating and start to vibrate after a few hard braking attempts, good rotors will keep going with no hint of vibrations over long periods of time

better heat dissipation characteristics of the disc material, along with pads which use a bonding agent for the abrasive component which can withstand high temperatures without disintegrating,

vibration/warpage of a brake disc is something which i know to be permanent(not referring to very mild warpage), regrinds cannot correct it, once the underlying grain and structure of the disc becomes eccentric, its better to have it replaced, i don't know if there is a stress relieving measure which can correct such a defect

the last vehicle i had experienced brake fade was with a carb esteem with solid discs