Cross drilled & slotted vs. just cross drilled

04gtdrop

New Member
Jun 10, 2005
532
0
0
Sac, CA
Hey guys, ok i have another question for you. i am on the verge of getting some new rotors and pads. i was told that cross drilled & slotted is best for stopping but that it will kill the life of my pads. on the other hand i heard that just cross drilled is good, but wont stop you as fast as the C/D & S. what are your thoughts on this? does anyone have cross drilled & slotted? I'm not too worried about pad life, i would rather chg the pads out sooner and be able to stop quicker than have the pads last longer and not be able to stop as quick. and whats the diff with semi-metalic pads vs. kevlar?

I guess what I am trying to get at is, are the cross drilled slotted rotors really worth it, or is it all hype? and which is a good company to buy them through? what name brands should i lean towards or stay away from. i am able to spend upto 250 - 280 shipped.

Once again sorry for any typos, im here in the hotel and after a few drinks i think it looks like i spelled it rightm but who knows.

Thanks for looking.
 
  • Sponsors (?)


I think the real benefit of cross drilling and slotting is to help vent heat better in race type situations. But under normal street driving, your never really going to generate enough heat to see any benefit. I say get them if you like the looks, but they will not stop you any better than a quality set of regular rotor and pads.
 
FRPP offers some for 99-04 Mustangs

Front M-1125-A:
M1125A.jpg


Rear M-2026-A:
M2026A.jpg
 

Attachments

  • M1125A.jpg
    M1125A.jpg
    51 KB · Views: 76
  • M2026A.jpg
    M2026A.jpg
    48.4 KB · Views: 57
In my opinion slotted and/or cross drilled rotors on a street car are a cosmetic mod at best. If you are generating enough heat on the street that you need slots or holes than you have more to worry about than gas buildup :D

There are a lot of good threads over at Corner Carvers on this subject, I would suggest doing a search. Here is one thread in particular that I found interesting.

http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14827&highlight=drilled+rotors+street

My GT is due for a brake job and I plan on replacing my rotors with plain Brembo rotors and Hawk HPS pads. I may paint the calipers while I am at it and replace the front lines with braided stainless lines. The www.tirerack.com has some pretty good deals on all of it.

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brak...e=Hawk&model=HPS+Street+brake+pads&perfCode=S
hawk_brakes_new_sm.jpg


http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brak...ake=Brembo&model=Replacement+Rotor&perfCode=P
replacement_rotors_sm.jpg
 

Attachments

  • hawk_brakes_new_sm.jpg
    hawk_brakes_new_sm.jpg
    7 KB · Views: 63
  • replacement_rotors_sm.jpg
    replacement_rotors_sm.jpg
    16.3 KB · Views: 68
04gtdrop said:
i was told that cross drilled & slotted is best for stopping .

To be honest, that's a myth.

They really only help out on race type applications. On a street car, the plain faced solid rotors are really ther best for braking. Street pads and race pads are two totally different types of brake pads and have different needs. With street pads, there is no need for crossdrilled holes to expel gases since that is only present on race-type pads. The slots are designed for brake dust but have not been proven to really make much of a difference.

For street cars, the worst enemy is heat, and contrary to what most beleive, the plain rotor is best atr dispersing the heat. The way it does that is simply by the rotors mass. The more mass, the more material there is to absorb heat. WHen you drill and slot a rotor, you take away it's mass and it heats up and you expeirence brake fade. Not a problem for race-type pads which need heat to bite harder, but for our street cars, your performance will suffer.

Those types of rotors are good for visual appeal, but don't expect to improve your stopping distances with them. Some may claim they felt a difference, but that is to be expected when you swap a set of worn rotors and pads for some new ones. They would notice the same difference if they used stock plain rotors
 
Be wary of cross-drilled rotors...if you plan on doing any braking-intensive motorsports (like open-track driving), they're not the ideal choice. The intense heat generated will quickly crack the discs around the holes. :(

This is why few high-end performance cars sport them, with the notable exception of Porsche, who does utilize rotors with holes in its cars. But the difference is that the holes aren't drilled, but rather cast into the rotors when they're made.
 
I think the rotors I posted from FRPP are safe they are probably cast. I would not use eBay drilled rotors myself. Also, as was said, these fancy rotors are for looks only pretty much. If you are looking for max braking and durability then the ones like rjstaff posted are the way to go.
 
I have already posted on this topic at least 4 or 5 times already.


All you need to know is Cross drilled = pretty...but it also = BAD

Cross drilled rotors make your rotor more weak and prone to breaking.

YOU WANT POWER SLOTTED ONLY

Thats all i gotta say