What are people's experiences with various stock size rotors?

I daily drive my car, and attend ~10 HPDE / track days a summer.

Currently, I have the frozen rotors cryo-treated plain rotors (not slotted). They are lasting quite well, but still suffer from pad material desposits and pulsating brakes.

I know in the Miata world, many people advocate going to NAPA and getting cheap rotors and viewing them as disposable. I'm tempted to try that. Some have even said that many of the NAPA rotors are made by Brembo, for whatever that's worth.

So, what are the thoughts on stock vs NAPA vs Texas Speedwerks / ATE? I haven't priced the stock rotors from the dealership, so I don't know where they fit in in terms of price.

 

The Texas Speedworks rotors look nice. I plan on trying them next time.

I've been happy with the stock rotors. I put about 20k daily driving miles and 5 two-day track events on them before replacing them (under mini's maintenance policy)

 

What are you running for brake pads?

Jason

 

I've been using Hawk HPS. I think my next set of pads will be Carbotech Panther XP10 front and XP09 rear. The Hawks have been good, but I want to try something else, and other MINI owners have said good things about the Carbotechs.

 

Not a lot of feedback, huh? :D

I stopped at the local NAPA and they have MINI rotors... about half the price of Ate rotors. I haven't priced stock rotors from the dealership yet.

Will generic rotors from NAPA hold up to track use (no catastrophic failures)? Will they last half as long as something like Ate rotors?

Anyone?

 

I put the TSW rotors on about a month ago. Haven't been to the track yet, so I can't really say how they're going to hold up. Running HP+ at the moment, and the combination seems to work pretty well. I think the TSW's are harder than OEM's, they seem to like more aggressive pads, and they seem to be dusting less. HP+ and stock rotors = lots of dust.

 

For me, I still get tons of dust with the HP+ and TSW rotors. As far as the HPS overheating for HPDE events, I think the issue is more of a pad issue than a rotor issue. Even with the more agressive HP+ pads I was able to fade them yesterday at Mid Ohio (running on R tires had something to do with that I'm sure) . I expect that you can fade pretty much any of the streetable pads if you try hard enough.

When it comes to selection of rotors, uprated rotors like TSW's are great and might hold up better, but OEM or NAPA rotors are going to work also. As long as we are not talking about some Ebay special drilled rotors, no need to worry about catastrophic failure of generic rotors on the track.

My current setup is this: For street use and autox if I'm lazy I use hawk ceramics and OEM rotors
For Track Days/HPDE I swap out to TSW rotors and the HP+ pads

Jason

 

Yep, with R compounds and an MCS, I'm sure you're working 'em a lot harder than I am. You probably carry 10 or 20 more MPH down the longer straights than a Cooper can. I'll let you know how mine do in 2 weeks.

Snid - I never had any trouble with my oem's. They just got thin. I like the TSW guys so I thought I'd support them a little.

 

I've installed the Frozen Rotors and Carbotech XP10/XP09. Just had them on the street for about 1000 miles -- this combination has great initial bite, even when cold. I am getting some material deposits already. Dust is minimal.

Will let you know how they stand up on the track .. hopefully in May!

 

I run Brembo slotted rotors with EBC Green and 15" wheels with R Compounds. Have run 3 HPDE's with this set of rotors and NO fade.

 

I've done almost 20k miles of "to the track, on the track and home from the track" on my 05 MC and have had no braking issues at all with the stock rotors (I still have the originals). If you're getting deposits you have a pad problem....I use PF97s in front and stock rear and am very happy. Make sure you use a good fluid and you should be fine--I use Motul and change it when needed. If you like Hawk pads go with HT10s--don't mess around with the HPs as they won't cut it as you go faster.

Gary
06 MC
05 MC

 

I have used Pagid Blue race pads for several years with stock front rotors and super blue fluid flush after every DE. They are great track pads but they do take quite a lot to get up to temp and are really tough to drive on to/from the track. They also don't have clips so they rattle around in the caliper housing.

I've read good things about the Hawk HP+ pads, so I'm going to try those this year. A friend of mine tried the HT-10's and said that they produced some very metallic/red dust that was very hard to remove from the car. Has anyone else seen this with the HT-10's?

Someone also mentioned Carbotech pads. Who has used them with stock rotors for DE's, what pads were used and did they have good results?

As for rotors, I have had no issues with using the stock rotors with track pads. For daily driving, I use Hawk HPS in front and stock pads on the rear. Before a DE, I flush fluid and change to track front pads. I've gotten about 1.5 years and 7-10 track days from each set of rotors. Eventually I would like to get the Wilwood setup for 16" wheels, but the stock rotors work great right now.

I run Yoko ES100 205/50/16 tires at the track.

 

Quote"I have used Pagid Blue race pads for several years with stock front rotors and super blue fluid flush after every DE. They are great track pads but they do take quite a lot to get up to temp and are really tough to drive on to/from the track. They also don't have clips so they rattle around in the caliper housing.

I've read good things about the Hawk HP+ pads, so I'm going to try those this year. A friend of mine tried the HT-10's and said that they produced some very metallic/red dust that was very hard to remove from the car. Has anyone else seen this with the HT-10's"

I bought stock rotors and pads from Morristown Mini, rotors $44 ea. I did not want fit up, wierd dust and cold stopping problems or squeals and rattles.With the unknown aftermarket and the known OEM parts that were inexpensive ,I went with OEM.

 

I am currently gearing up for the HDPE season. Most of my experience has been with Hawk (since they are made right down the street!)

I ran HP+ last year. They were good, but would begin to fade towards the end of the session. Relatively gentle on stock rotors, less dust than stock.

I have used Hawk "Blue" in previous years, they worked great, but could do some serious paint damage if it rained as there is a high metallic content that will rust into your paint. The pad will transfer some material to the rotor, which is fine.

I do not see any reason to use anything other than a stock rotor. I order mine from NAPA, I do make sure they are Brembos.

I would like to find a pad that has the stopping power of Blues or HT 10, but do not want to ruin my paint. Rotors are cheap and I plan to replace them at the end of the season anyhow.

Does anyone know what the other brands compounds would be comparable to Hawk Blue/HT-10?

 

This sounds just like the problem my friend had with his HT-10's. Maybe someone will have some suggestions. Unless I hear something better, I'm going with HP+ pads.

Aaron

 

I used HT-10s on my white 325i and had no problems--just clean your car and wheels after the event and keep them waxed.

Gary
05 MC
06 MC

 

Hello all.

I guess I'll let the cat out of the bag so to speak.

We run Satisfied/GranSport GS3 compound. This is obviously a track compound. We have used Hawk and PFC before (in different appplications) and this is bar-none the very best brake pads we have ever used. Easy to modulate, friendly to rotors and they last very well. Thye also work good under wet conditions.

I am not sure about suppliers in the USA, but I know TireRack carries the street line-up.

 

I figured I'd update this thread since I started it...

I had my first track day of the season earlier this week, and my brake system is back to happy-land!

I had been suffering from pad desposits on the rotors which caused a little vibration in the steering wheel, and under light braking some "surging" in brake power - the car wouldn't slow down at a consistent rate.

This is with Hawk HPS pads and Frozen Rotors cryo-treated plain (not slotted) rotors on all four corners.

I had noticed this behaviour before with this setup. Under daily driving, the rotors would develop pad deposits. Get them nice and hot on the track, and they even out and are good for the next few weeks. Then they start getting pad buildup again.

At the track, everything evened out just fine, and the brakes performed very well indeed for stock size rotors and dual purpose pads.

So, no new rotors in my future. But my next set of pads are going to be someting else to see if I can avoid the pad buildup on the rotors during daily driving.

 

I've been doing DE events since 02 in my MCS. Never considered a big brake kit after ducting the front rotors. I tried Ferodo 2500's in front (now only in the rears), but since I used Carbotechs #10 compound I have had fade-less braking in very hot weather at at a full race pace for up to 30 minutes in advanced and instructor groups. I use ATE blue and bleed before every event. I have rebuilt the front calipers twice with kits and just replaced the rear calipers at 70,000 total miles (with 42 events, 2-3 three day events included each season). The ducts make it work. I use a 1" high temp hose (Pegasus racing supplies) and have 2 fiberglass inlet structures mounted flush with the air dam. Carbotech can last 8-10 days on my car if I don't go too gonzo.
Send PM if you wanty more info.

 

I'm using Performance Friction 97 Compound front pads with basic rotors with oem rear pads on the track. The PF pads are amazing. They'll last me an entire season (5-6 full days) and have great stopping power and feel for track use. I had a problem for the first time with my rears this past week at Calabogie. The EBC greenstuff rears were finished so I tried a set of Padgids. They were finished after two full track days and a roadtrip. I think they may have been a bad batch. We mounted some OEM rears half way through the day and the feel was much better.

cheers

Amit