I purchased EBC slotted and dimpled rotors a couple months ago and broke them in (per EBC instructions) on EBC Green pads then installed Ferodo 2500 pads for a DE day (and bedded them in as well). Mechanically I initially had no initial problems but the noise these rotors put out is driving me nuts! Shhhh, grrrrrrrr, shhhhhhh, grrrrrr, shhhhhh. It sounds like 60 grit sandpaper on the rotors ALL THE TIME. It has never gone away or gotten notably better. I even kept the Ferodos on for a solid three weeks after the DE to really wear them in on the rotors. No change.

I was told these rotors would make some noise but I have literally had pedestrians on sidewalks turn to see what was Shhh, shhhh, grrrr, grrrr, shhhh-ing up behind them!

I can even feel the brakes through the steering wheel during heavy braking. (Not a warpage, just the grinding.) I have switched pads around and switched rotors back. The pads are fine (EBC and Ferodo) The problem is the rotors.

Right now these rotors are on the workbench...on their way to the trash can. Three questions:
1. Is this a rarity? Am I alone with this issue?
2. Is there a cure?
3. Is there a better, quieter, rotor that will run cool at the track?

Help!

 

Stock size? Power Slot rotors

 

Agreed!

Alex

 

Excuse my skeptisicm, but why are these different? What caused the noise?

 

Maybe the dimples??

I've had PS Rotors with the Ferodo 2500 pads for a couple months now and LOVE them. No noises under hard braking, just some light squealing at speeds around 5-10mph.

 

Oversized firepath treatments cause the noise. Notice much narrower and shorter Powerslot treatments are, function before form.

How do I know?
I have EBC's personally - I

can't bring myself to replace them untill its brake job time!

Alex

 

I've got the PS rotors on my '03 MC with EBC pads.

I've heard/felt the EBC rotors. That would drive me bonkers!

The PS rotors don't do that at all. Barely a squeak and low speeds too, and I've got close to 20K on mine.

 

Thanks so much guys. You have convinced me. Now if you will indulge my lazy butt, where is a good place to get the PS rotors?

Thanks again.

 

Tirerack has them!
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/brakes/brakes.jsp&autoMake=Mini&autoModel=Cooper&autoYear =2003&autoModClar=&make=PowerSlot&model=Power+Slot +Rotor

Alex

 

Thanks, Alex!

 

I have the EBC pads and rotors on all four wheels and I like the whooshing sound they make! I don't like the squeal at low speeds tho... I've noticed that some of you with other rotors also have a squeal at low speeds. What causes this? Can it be fixed?

 

Another option to look at is Racing brake. There site is www.racingbrake.com and we carry them. With the 5% NAM Discount that we give, the price is great. We have done track Runs, Autocross, and Hard Street Driving, all with out issue, Noise of problem. We even ran out of brake pad during a track event on the rotors, almost killed the caliper, but no damage what so ever on the rotor. Check em out..

 

My EBC rotor noise is more of a grinding than whooshing but I don't have any squeal at all. I do put a spray anti-squeal compound on the back of the pad which took care of it.

 

Grinding - that's odd. I can see why you don't like them.

What's this compound/spray called? Do I have to take the pads off to spray them? I assume that they should be cool when sprayed? TIA.

 

The spray I used is by Permatex and comes in a small blue can.

Here is a link. But note that I like the spray the best. I get it at AutoZone.

 

Has anyone tried the Stop-Tech rotors? They have a slotted and a drilled.
Jim

 

Hmmmm, I have EBC rotors on the front, with Ferodo DS2500's (all around). Drove 400+ miles for a 2 day track event at VIR and 400+ miles home. Haven't noticed any issues. Am I to expect them?

 

My EBC's were semi-noisy with the Ferodo's. They did a fair amount of the sandpaper sound. Shhhh, shhhhh, shhhhh. It was REALLY noticible whenever you had any kind of barrier or curb that could reverb the sound to you. The harder you push the brakes the worse it got. I could "maybe" live with this. Not cool but liveable.

When I installed the EBC Green pads after the track event is when I got the Shhhh sound PLUS a more pronounced grinding noise and noticible "feel" of roughness. The pads look fine and this has not diminished after hundreds of miles. Truly horrible enough to make me remove the rotors.

Just to get back to sanity I haven't even gone back to the EBC rotors with Ferodo pad set up. Because of the financial investment I might save that for the track.

Or, I may just sell the EBC rotors REAL CHEAP. It seems they are not a good match with the EBC green pads.

 

Thanks Brad!

 

sorry for the dumb question but

if you switch over to, let's say powerslot rotors, would it advisable to go the 3rd party pads as well? just curious....

 

To get better braking performance the first thing to consider is brake pads.
To reduce brake dust consider Mintex redbox ($35-40 per pair) or EBC green ($75-80 per pair) and both can be used for street and autocross.

For light track and autocross but still drivable on the street consider Ferrodo DS2500 or Mintex M1144 but the cost is considerably higher for a set of four.These pads stop better when used under higher brake operating temperatures.

I don't think you will notice much improvement using stock brake pads and switching to powerslot rotors only.

 

I would think the only difference might be reduced fade at autocrosses and track days... other than that, I wouldn't expect much difference. That being said, less fade is a good thing!

I'd look at replacing the pads at the same time, and my choice would be the Ferodo 2500 pads - those match up very nicely with the PowerSlot rotors, especially for autocrosses and track days.

 

the ds2500 is not a great auto-x pad, you just can't get enough heat into them for the big benefits.

 

>>>Has anyone tried the Stop-Tech rotors? They have a slotted and a drilled.
Jim<<<<

When I was looking for rotors, I had numerous people tell me to not buy drilled rotors. According to what I found out they are more prone to developing fractures around the holes. This may not be gospel, but at least a half dozen "in the know" people mentioned it.

 

Brake noise?...maybe my Borla's burble's too loud I have slotted/drilled rotors from Minimania with EBC Redstuff and I've never heard a peep out of them