Drilled & Slotted Rotors

rbitzer · #1 (**permalink**) 06-04-2003, 07:37 AM

A typical brake upgrade offered by most of the Alfa vendors is the drilled & slotted brake rotor. Anyone have any experience with these and did they notice a difference vs. the OEM rotor?

I'm more speaking about street use, obviously anything that helps dissapate heat during racing is a good thing.

Obviously they look great when you see the rotor through your alloy wheel but do the benefits for a street machine go further than that?

Mr. C. · #2 (**permalink**) 06-04-2003, 07:56 AM

Hi Rob,
I believe that drilled and slotted rotors are very worthwhile if you are careful about the pads you use with them. Too many Alfa owners tend to go overboard and when replacing rotors also install high perfomance pads. They then have a set up that doesn't start to really work untill hot and it takes a while to get them hot. I have seen parts houses suggest that you have to change both to high parformance. Find a good supplier or ask the manufacturer what pads to use.
I believe that Mercedes Benz install some really great brakes on their cars. When they sell a performance model such as a C35 the rotors go to drilled. This is a street car intended to be driven with spirit. That is what all ALFAs are.

Saw a cool line --- No matter what language you speak, live in Italian.
MrC.

Alfapaulic · #3 (**permalink**) 07-05-2003, 07:15 AM

rbitzer, If you have not taken care of your brakes yet, I just got new rotors & pads from IAP. When I placed my order I was prepared to order the drilled-slotted rotors and semi-race pads, they look so cool. The IAP rep asked my use,(all streeet), and suggested I use the regular set up. Drilled rotors are noisey and use up the pads quicker. I appreciate experienced sales people offering this kind of advice even though the sales dollar amount is less. I am happy with the parts.

**Sniady** · #4 (**permalink**) 07-05-2003, 01:37 PM

Are you looking for better braking? Or just replacing old worn parts? Upgrading rotor's will not help better braking, it basically comes down to pads, and calipers. The slotted/drilled rotors are suppose to cool better then a regular rotor. I've read some test's, and seen pictures of the heat tests, and it showed that a drilled rotor doesn't actually cool better then a stock rotor.

Also, if your calipers have not been rebuilt since the purchase of the car, I'd think about doing that aswell.

**Roadtrip** · #5 (**permalink**) 07-05-2003, 02:08 PM

Alfa brakes are darn good just as they are. Unless you're driving in competition, it's not worth the expense unless you just like upgrading 'cause you like having it.

**papajam** · #6 (**permalink**) 07-05-2003, 02:32 PM

Like Roadtrip, I think the stock brakes are just fine for street use. Better than average actually. A rotor that's filled with holes and slots reduces the brake swept area and braking may actually suffer if using stock pads.
They sure look nice though.

alfajim · #7 (**permalink**) 07-06-2003, 03:07 PM

My experience has been that the drilled rotors look cool behind a nice wheel, really aren't very noisy and work as good as the original rotor on the street. Using a drilled rotor in a racing application showed that they wear out faster do not help with heat dissipation and the stock rotor holds up much better and are cheaper.