At 63K miles, the front rotors on my 2000QC are badly warped. I decided
that I want to go ahead and replace them with better rotors and began
looking at cross-drilled, slotted, and cross-drilled & slotted.
The vendors of cross-drilled rotors talk about their virtues. They
confess that early (and poorly designed) cross-drilled rotors messed up
the vents and weakend structural integrity because there were too
many/too large holes. Modern, well-designed rotors will have fewer holes
that are smaller and chamfered. They say the slotted rotors work, but
wear the pads faster because they act like razor blades on the pads.
They also say that as the slotted rotors wear, their ability to cool
decreases significantly because the shallower channels offer less and
less space to allow gases to expand and escape.
The vendors of slotted rotors talk about their cooling virtues. They
explain they were developed because cross-drilling reduces braking
surface area and reduces structural integrity.
The slotted & cross-drilled either offer the virtures or drawbacks of
both designs depending on who is speaking.
The cost differences are also huge, from as low as $75 to as high as
$275.
I just want high-quality rotors (not fly by night or slave labor
manufacturers), that operate at a lower temperature than stock rotors,
and are less prone to warping. Looks are not important to me,
performance is.
Any recommendations, including naming the manufacturer?
Thanks,
Brian T. Carter
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