slotted or cross-drilled?

[rody084]

hi,
I have a 1990 Integra GS and I am going to buy some AEM brake pads and I think i might need new front rotors.
I am thinking of getting some Brembo rotors because I have heard good things about them.
Should I get the Cross Drilled or the Slotted Brembo rotors? I am not going to be doing much racing, just the ocassional bit and maybe the ocasional driving down the mountains.
Which ones should I get? also, will these fit well in my 1990 Integra GS?

also, if anyone thinks I should get other company pads or rotors to work together better, please let me know, but they must be in the same price range as the ones I listed. I found the AEM pads for $44 and the Brembo rotors for $166.

thanx in advanced for your help,

[CivicSiRacer]

For daily street driving all you need are blanks. They are cheaper and you can machine then when you get new pads.

[rody084]

the thing is... everynow and then I go to stinson beach, and the way tehre is about 5 miles of downhill on a mountain, so I want some rotors that can dissipate heat and so that my brakes can hold up well in the occassional abuse like the one that I just mentioned.
I dont know how well blanks hold up with that.
I also do like to go fast and because of this many times I have to come to sudden stops, so I want to make sure that I can stop pretty damn well.
so what is the deal with resurfacing slotted/drilled rotors as opposed to resurfacing blanks... i think i read somewhere taht you cant resurface slotted/drilled rotors or sumthing like that, is this true?

and if i were to end up just getting blanks, should I get original honda ones or is there good performance blank rotors?

[CivicSiRacer]

Braking power is related to how much mass is in the rotors and how much heat they can take. Something that has less mass (ie: cross drilled or slotted) cannot handle heat very well and have to put that heat somewhere else - and in most cases your wheel, brake pads, and fluid.

What causes most brake fad (and this being from experience) is poor pads and poor brake fluid. I ran a whole track weekend with AEM pads and Powerslot rotors. Not the best setup but I ran OEM fluids. At the end of the day I had major brake fad.

Then in May I changed to a Brembo blanks, AEM pads, Valvoline SynPower brake fluid and stainless steel lines, and did a 30 minute track session and no brake fad. ANd the biggest thing was the fluid not boiling. THis is where you get brake fade. Bubbles in the brake lines causes fading and decrease in pedal feel and increase in you having to push your brake pedal.

Plus you need surface area which is essential to braking performance. Slotted and cross drilled have less surface area than blanks. PLUS with pads nowadays they do not give off gases which is why cross drilled rotors became.

I've been autocrossing with this setup for about a year now and my braking power increased 10 fold over my slotted rotors.

[rody084]

yea, u deffinitely have a really good point there civicsiracer...
so i am thinking of gettin sum brembo blanks now... and sum valvoline brake fluid.
2 questions tho...
1. i read that if u put zipties along your OEM brake lines that it will enhance their performance (obiously not as much as steel lines, but i am a broke college student, so i might have to end up doing that) what are your thoughts ont hat.
2. AEM or Axxis ultimates? i am 50/50 btwn those 2 after asking other people. it damn sure seems that you konw what your talking about, so i wanted to know if u had any experiences with ultimates, otherwise im just gonna get sum AEMs.

thanx for ur help

[rody084]

umm... i dunno if i am doing something wrong here or what... but I cant seem to find anywhere that sells brembo blanks.
u know of any sites to buy them off of?

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally posted by rody084
umm... i dunno if i am doing something wrong here or what... but I cant seem to find anywhere that sells brembo blanks.
u know of any sites to buy them off of?

Try www.groupbuycenter.com There's usually a vendor on there that sells Brembo blanks.

And for CivicSiRacer, when you changed your brake setup, since you did a lot at the same time, do you think it was the change of fluid and swap to S/S lines, or the mere change back to blank rotors that made the difference? I run AEM pads, and Power Slot rotors right now, and will soon be swapping my OE lines to Goodridge S/S lines, and changing my fluid from OE to Motul Race Spec DOT4 fluid. As of yet, my brakes don't have fad to them since I changed them. I used to get some fac, but it wasn't that bad, not even when I'd auto-x. I changed pads/rotors, I have noticed that if I do a canyon (run in my case ) my wheels seem that they get hotter than they did with my OE setup. Occasionally after a run like that, I can't touch my front wheels for more than a second or two because they are so warm.

[DemonicAccord]

working on three years, no problems.

[sickhonda]

Let me get this straight...Brembo blanks are the same as the plain rotors except its made by Brembo? Do they differ in diameter size, compared to stock, larger or equal? I’m sure that Brembo have greater heat dispersion than stock, if not, what is the benefit of having one? Utilizing the Brembo blanks, do I require the change of caliper, or the stock ones will do? I'm not into aggressive driving, (although some people do consider driving in NYC, Manhattan Streets, aggressive enough) very interested in getting an effective set-up, do I still need the combination of Brembo blanks & AEM pads, or any decent pads will do? I saw an add by Group Buy for Brembo Blanks for $33 each, is this a good price?

[CivicSiRacer]

They are the same size as stock but Brembos dissapte heat better in my honest opinion.

You don't have to change anything to use them. I'm actually upgrading to Hawk HP+ pads which stop better, but at the cost of more dust, accelerated rotor wear, and a bit of squealing.

[liquid8]

i have a civic dx hatch. would it be worth it to upgrade to a bigger rotor like the integra brake assembly or would i be fine with just an oem brembo and lines and all of that with a rear disc conversion? cuz even the civic ex of my year had bigger rotors in the front than mine