So I go in today to get my tires changed and the mechanic told me I need to get my front rotors and pads replaced.

SO. Between Brembo slotted rotors (55$ each), and power slot slotted rotors (90$ each), which is better? And why the price difference?

 

I have power slot slotted rotors, they are the cryo-tempered version, said to reduce the probability of warping and increases the hardness so they do not get destroyed by the pads.

 

Go for the Brembos. Just be sure to tape off the swept area and paint the hats with 3-4 coats of high temp engine paint to prevent any rust.

 

Very unlikely one will truly be "better" than another. Seeing that the rotor is the same size either way it's mathematical value remains the same. It's width too the same or it won't fit your caliper. Aside from that your only real choice is what if any slotting or drilled pattern appeals to you. Again; neither will have an significant impact on your overall braking value. More time will, and should, be spent picking proper pad compounds for your intended use than rotor brand.

 

I've been eyeing the TSW carbon rotors and am probably going to spring for them...I'd be curious to hear any comments anyone has about them.

 

I went with the M7 rotors. The hats on them still look like new after a year or so .

 

Carbon rotors? Excuse me, but I think you have some terminology mixed up here. I don't know of any carbon rotors for a MINI. And they'll need carbon pads as well. If you have a line on ten grand worth of brake parts by all means please do tell!

 

http://www.autoxcooper.com/tsw_suspension.html#tswcr

Hey Gang, the TSW Rotors are "high carbon cast iron rotors" not all carbon and work great with any pad. I encourage the use of Carbotech http://www.autoxcooper.com/ctbrakes.html pads because it's the only pad on the market without Iron and iron is the key reason rotors have a short life span. If you buy all 4 at the same time they are $50 a corner.

Think of brakes as an investment that protects your MINI and YOUR LIFE!

 

I think you are thinking of ceramic rotors, ala, Porsche, 10k option.

This is a qoute from Wiki:
"Plain-carbon steel is a metalalloy, a combination of two elements, iron and carbon, where other elements are present in quantities too small to affect the properties. The only other ents allowed in plain-carbon steel are: manganese (1.65% max), silicon (0.60% max), and copper (0.60% max). Steel with a low carbon content has the same properties as iron, soft but easily formed. As carbon content rises the metal becomes harder and stronger but less ductile and more difficult to weld. Higher carbon content lowers steel's melting point and its temperature resistance in general." Not sure about that last sentence? Would that be good for brakes?

 

These are great. The place really knows brakes well.

http://zeckhausen.com/Mini/MINI_Cooper.htm

 

Exactly what are "high carbon rotors"? Is that high carbon steel, a carbon composite of some kind, or something else? Where can I find more info on them? Google just brings up your site.

 

Just repeating what I read; I appreciate you jumping up my a$$ about it though.

 

Really liking my Ate PremiumOne slotted rotors - look great, nice silver paint/coating for the hub and edges looks good with my R91's, are stopping well with my Bobcat pads. And worked with my M14 lugs with no mods necessary.

And the price was right.

 

No I didn't mean Ceramic rotors. Nor was I intending to insult. I really thought you'd hit on something totally new that I'd not seen for the MINI.

I meant what I posted: Carbon/carbon. (a quick search turned up this)

Carbon-carbon are not new, just somewhat new to the masses. They been used on F1 for quite a number of years for their light weight and ability to manage huge volumes of heat. http://www.f1technical.net/articles/2

FWIW, steel rotors now that were talking materials are a terrible alternative to iron. They truly do "warp" and often take the shape of a potato chip. Ti rotors? Very light weight and pads can now work with them, just as some can on aluminum rotors, but Ti has a very bad tendency to reject heat- not what one wants in a brake rotor. Most require a very high temp pad as the pad then acts more as the heat sink than the rotor does in more conventional designs. The trade off for light weight.

From here you often find the ceramic coated Ti rotor. Red Devil produces some of the coolest (no pun) parts of this type.

 

Well... OP here...
I had to go and get some on order now because I need them on before my trip next week so I went ahead and ordered from detroittuned. I got the Power Slot rotors and Hawk brake pads. Hope to see an improvement.

 

It is high carbon cast iron which transfers heat much faster than normal mild steel. We saw a video using an infrared camera of a normal rotor v. the high carbon cast iron rotor and the difference was remarkable. They had mounted the camera on a race car and the OEM rotors were cherry red while the high carbon rotors were running barely above blue.
Cooler rotors mean less fading, less pad wear, less rotor wear, less pad transfer and much better overall performance.

 

I'm sure I take some heat for this... but the TSW rotors are not steel. They are cast iron as all oem replacement for the MINI are. A simple look at one alone and you can clearly see the rough castings of the part. A steel rotor would be both very smooth in overall finish but also extreeeemmly costly to produce from a single chunk of billet material.

The use of steel rotors would be a true 'down turn' in performance in that they do not do a good job of thermal management as they tend to reject heat and not absorb heat- the primary job of the rotor. Heat rejection, while making for a cooler running rotor, is a key indicator of higher pad and caliper temperatures. The heat generated by rotor/pad friction (stored energy) does not change. The same thermal values will be be going somewhere. Stainless is also a very poor application for rotors for this same reason.

While I hate to point to a competitors info: (from Stoptech's own research to mirror my own comments)

MYTH # 2 - RACING BRAKE DISCS ARE MADE FROM STEEL
To digress for a moment "steel discs" are a misnomer frequently used by people who should know better. This group includes TV commentators and drivers being interviewed. Except for some motorcycles and karts, all ferrous discs are made from cast iron - an excellent material for the job. While steel has a higher tensile strength, cast iron is many times stronger than disc brake requirements. Its thermal transfer characteristics are significantly better than those of steel so that the heat generated at the interface between pad and disc is efficiently carried through the friction faces to the interior surface of the disc and into the vanes from where the heat is dissipated into the air stream. Cast iron is more dimensionally stable at elevated temperature than steel and is a better heat sink - so let us hear no more talk of "steel" brake discs.

Never the less the rotors being spoke of here should server you needs very well and are clearly on equal footing with other well prepared replacement. They just are not steel.

 

What about the warping issue? What is the guarantee on them?

 

The warping issue (not the common street term of pad smear referred to as warping) comes from a steel rotor being use over iron. Why? Because steel rotors can be made very thin and thus light. And while the iron is the better part, at very thin points it becomes too brittle.

Now for the record I'm talking Sprint and Midget parts here, not street car parts. I personally ran them for a couple of year on my Pikes Peak car (seeing they are in my Wilwood catalog obviously) and I'd not go back to them again after I switched out to a slightly thicker iron part. I did opt to drill them and for my temperature ranges I have no problem with that. The steel rotor will not sit flat on a granite slab if you can picture that. The shape; bending, potato chip, etc leads to excessive pad knock back and pulsation.

As for it happening to a street rotor, it's a moot point seeing that none of them are steel.

 

Carbon ~ Ceramic. The Porsche Brake upgrade is to Carbon Ceramic. And it's just shy of 10k. I have a buddy with a 911 Turbo that sprung for the Carbon Ceramic brake upgrade. I was wholly unimpressed with their performance. The initial bite isn't bad, but for 10k bucks, unless you're competing in road racing circuits on a daily basis, it's a complete waste of money. Honestly I didn't feel like the car stopped all that much faster than my current brake setup.

 

You're spot on.
It's all about the heat.

 

Had to do some digging to make sure this post as all the issues covered.

The AXC/TSW Rotors are made of "High Carbon Cast Iron"

We can not offer any warping guarantee, due to the risk of abuse and use beyond our control.

Bottom line the AXC/TSW Rotors are one of the best performance rotor value in the market.