Brakes stock vs aftermarket for DD

[The Boss V]

I am in the market to upgrade my front and possibly rear brake setup. i have been considering going to drilled and slotted rotors and upgrade pads to hawks. I don't track the car yet and it is my DD. The main purpose of the upgrade would be appearance. I have read many of your threads and comments on this subject and am steering toward factory stuff. I called local Cadillac dealer I was quoted about $500 for everything front and rear rotors and pads stock just parts. My question is has anyone tried any of these setups. I have always had good experience with ebay and like the price considering it would make the car look better. Also be more toward what I was hoping for it to look like but hows the reliability and performance?

After market set option 1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_3546wt_902

option 2

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ht_1763wt_1048

option 3

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_2570wt_822

option 1a
Luke $410 for front setup + 400 rear setup $810 may be outta my budget at this time

option possibility 2a

http://www.trinetmotorsports.com/

Update Trinet has pads for $95 all 4 corners
front rotors 187.65
rear rotors 178.68

I know some of you dislike ebay parts but can I get some opinions or knowledge if anyone that has these setups on their V.

Thanks
Joe

[ParagonV]

I have the rotors from Luke as well as Hawk pads.. love the setup. I also suggest swapping out your lines for steel braided ones; night and day difference. Good luck with your purchase.

J.

[rjoffe]

I, as well as countless others have cracked their drilled rotors during track days. Not saying it won't hold up, but it all depends on your use.

The pads are so easy to change, you can easily have one set for street and another more aggressive for track.

I personally am very happy with the new 1 piece UUC slotted rotors I got from Luke. I am running HPS all around on the road, and HP+/DT10 for the track up front.

[rjoffe]

I also would not track your V using untested parts, a rotor failure at a minimum would ruin your day.

[verywhitedevil]

I would stay away from those cheap china cast versions. Why would you want to be cheap here on one the most important parts of the car. You will end up spending 2-3 times that if you cut corners with those.

+1 on the stainless lines.

I am getting ready to install custom Brembo 2-piece, cross drilled on my front.....he is willing to fab more if anyone is interested. I will be posting pictures and facts about the rotors very soon.

I am running Hawk HPS.

Here are the rears:
Deep cryogenically treated to -300 degrees.
2. Heat tempered to +500 degrees.
3. Stress relieved.
4. Double surface grinded.
5. CNC cross drilling.
6. Cadmium plating.
7. Mill balanced to virtual 0 runout.



I am sorry, be so long, but I feel that I should pass this along. I have been working with a very knowledgable brake guy who built custom two piece fronts and rears (pictured) for our V's when the were only 2 years old, but stopped because noone was seriously driving these cars, like our current V enthusiates, mainly because they were all still under warranty. No we have second and third generation owners who purchased these cars at a GREAT PRICE!!! Hell, I waited 4 years to buy mine. He is willing to fab more up if I can generate enough interest. I will post front rotor setups by the weekend. Anyhoo, here is what I need to pass along as food for thought:

The reason why rotors from China are cheap in both retail cost as well as cheap in quality is because a single metal gravity cast mold costs approximately $30,000 to produce from a tooling and die standpoint. That single $30,000 mold will yield approximately 250,000 units or brake rotors before the mold fails. Unfortunately cold gravity casting yield a totally inferior product that fails prematurely when subject to heat, stress or fatigue. That's why these rotors cost about $10.00 a piece to produce with a dealer cost of $25.00 per unit. That's how eBay sellers can sell a set of 4 brake rotors for $200 - $250 a set. Their cost is generally half of that. Their buying junk and selling junk.

I don't have to explain to you why a set of 8 Snap On box wrenches sell for $395.00 and a set of 8 box wrenches sold at Walmart that were made in China retail for $20.00 do I....?

The Snap On wrenches are high grade forged tool steel with a high alloy content that is cryogenic treated and heat tempered.

Use the Walmart wrenches to turn a crank bolt and you'll have half the wrench in your hand as it's made in a cold gravity cast mold by the countless thousands from cheap low grade raw iron ore.

Quality brake rotors utilize a high alloy component such as nickel for hardness when they are manufactured. In addition and as a minimum; an investment grade sand cast mold is used to maintain tighter and more consistent engineering and manufacturing tolerances when producing a quality brake rotor to insure that every rotor from number 1 to 10,000 are identical. Investment grade sand cast molds are/were used by GM to manufacture your engine block and cylinder heads as well. This type of tooling insures a consistent quality product until it's time to replace the mold which is usually after 30,000 units versus 250,000 units with a cold gravity cast mold.

And finally Mike; like the Snap On tool example......better quality products simply cost more to produce; they cost more to buy, but they should give the consumer a better value in terms of service and longevity and in most cases they do.

Cheaply manufactured rotors are known to warp, crack and prematurely wear out. In addition you put your personal safety and the safety of others at risk when installing these on your car.

In Germany; those rotors could not even be legally sold due to Government TUV regulations.

The United States has no such safety regulations to protect both motorists and pedestrians."

Anyone interested??

[c4ss]

Definitely stay away from the ebay stuff if you plan on tracking the car. For street use, I'd say they're fine and look cool, but on the track I'd be a little afraid

devil, I have a lot of life on my GM Performance rotors left so I'm going to pass. All the good reviews on the UUC ones would probably make those my second choice (if I cracked one, say, tomorrow). Out of curiosity, what would the price look like from your guy?

[rjoffe]

Originally Posted by verywhitedevil

knowledgable brake guy

Pietro ?

[verywhitedevil]

Originally Posted by rjoffe

Pietro ?

that's him. he has been very helpful. know him?? i have been impressed with him so far.

[rjoffe]

Originally Posted by verywhitedevil

that's him. he has been very helpful. know him?? i have been impressed with him so far.

I have talked to him in the past. He seems to know his stuff, but I have not purchased anything from him.

[crankedupforit]

I would also advise that you always use the same pads front and rear. It's often thought that the rears don't do as much work as the fronts, so the stock pads or a cheaper set can be run on the backs with a good quality pad up front. On the street it may feel that way. On the track it's a different story. The factory settings for brake balancing is assuming that the coefficient of friction of the pads and the rotors are the same. If the front pads have higher friction than the rears, the ass end of the car will get squirrely during hard threshold braking. Ask me how I know that. So if you get track day pads in the front only, and try to save a few bucks by going with street pads in the back, like HP+ and HPS, you may feel like the car is braking really great on the street, but on the track it may make things worse.

See this link http://www.turnfast.com/tech_brakes/brakes_balancing

[The Boss V]

So anyone buy those trinet before ?
I read another thread where there was a group buy being set up but never ended up happening.

[tweeter81]

Originally Posted by The Boss V

So anyone buy those trinet before ?
I read another thread where there was a group buy being set up but never ended up happening.

I don't know that anybody has yet, but myself and a couple of other V owners on this forum have used OC Autosport Drilled and Slotted rotors with much luck. I actually used mine for a full track day (with HP+ pads in front and HPS in rear) and the car braked like a dream. No fade all day, just extreme stopping power. I agree with everybody that if you are consistently going to be tracking the car, then slotted only or blank rotors are the way to go, but I was too lazy to take off my OC Autosports rotors after the summer car show circuit and used them anyway and had no problems (but I may have just been lucky). If you want to see how they look you can click on my forum name and see my photo albums.

[crankedupforit]

Originally Posted by tweeter81

I actually used mine for a full track day (with HP+ pads in front and HPS in rear) and the car braked like a dream.

Mine didn't like that set up at all when I braked really hard on the verge of ABS. The rear end got loose. Went to HP+ all around and it disappeared.

[perfect]

Originally Posted by tweeter81

...myself and a couple of other V owners on this forum have used OC Autosport Drilled and Slotted rotors with much luck...

+1

OC Autosport Drilled and Slotted rotors have worked well for me
(and they were "inexpensive" too)

[The Boss V]

OC Autosport Drilled and Slotted rotors ....How much were they?