Braking in the rain and x-drilled rotors

[Seattle CTS-V]

Would cross-drilled front rotors help with the brief "hydroplaning" I get with my Hawk HPS pads? They don't quite have the initial cold grip that the OEM pads used to have. They're awesome on the track and have very little dust but when the rotors are coated in water they don't have that bite. I'm imagining the water getting pushed through the drilled holes and better initial grip. They also look cool.

[The Tony Show]

"Look Cool" is the only real reason to get them for street driving. Since there's less swept area, the initial brake response is less. The only real advantage to them is increased heat dissipation under extreme use, but they're not going to do anything on the street.

[kgoch]

Does not make a difference. I have drilled rotors and hawk pads and when they are wet, the initial brake application is eye opening. I learned to brake hard the first time and that corrects the problem.

[trukk]

I've noticed that I still get it when comming out of the car wash in the morning. I have HP+, and cross drilled rotors.

You need to chuck those HPS's for the track, they are not as good as the OEM Ferodos. With falken RT615's and HPS's all around at the track, my tires were way outperforming my brakes. When I swapped mid weekend one time to HP+'s, my brakes started out performing my tires. I'd much rather have brakes > tires, than the other way around (tires slowly fade over the session, vs the brakes which always have a habit of going P00F just more or less all at once.)

HP+'s are a bit squeeky, and dust almost as much as the OEM's, but perform better.

I'm trying CarboTech XP10's (with Hawk HPS in the rear) next track day. If I like them, I am considering going to AX6's for the street. That might be an option for you if you don't want to swap pads at the track. I *hear* they are pretty good on dust, but haven't hear it from a V guy, so who knows. My understanding is that the Bobcat's are pretty similar to HPS's.

http://www.ctbrakes.com/faqs.html#4

-Chris

[nikon]

Dunno about the V but with x-drilled rotors on my camaro my braking went down the drain initially in the wet

[AAIIIC]

Originally Posted by The Tony Show

The only real advantage to them is increased heat dissipation under extreme use...

... which, for most of us, is offset by cross-drilled rotors' MUCH greater propensity to crack under extreme use. Even if they don't crack, the rotors themselves won't last as long, and they'll wear your pads out faster, too. They're just not worth it IMO.

There's an SAE paper out there in which they tested a couple different vehicles (Vette and 911, as I recall) with cross-drilled and plain rotors. Summarizing very briefly, the cross-drilled rotors were cooler during hard use, but lasted about 1/2 as long (as did the pads). They did no better in wet conditions than non-drilled rotors.

[GMBOUND]

I just thank you guys for this post, a week after I ordered my cross-drilled rotors!

[Naf]

Trust me, at least you can still off load your parts if you arent happy...If i get the wrong part returns would cost me more than ordering the right ones...

Not to mention i am always treckin in new territory...The dealer here just dont know much about much. And the garages here are very primitive. I have to be present most of the time to do quality checks...They stripped the bolt that holds the dipstick...WHO does that

[Seattle CTS-V]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I guess I'll just stick with the stock rotors and HPS pads for now and try to remember to press a little more firmly initially.