Brake question...

[DanRC30]

Ok, I just got my 91 yesterday, and in the 100 miles I put on it so far, the front pads wore through and ground on the inside of the left rotor. The rotors and pads were from RM Racing and they are slotted. As soon as I heard the noise. I stopped using the brakes immediately.

Here's my questions:
1) Any chance the rotors can be salvaged/cut? I haven't pulled them off yet, but I think the rule of thumb is once they grind, they are junk. Yes/No?

2) If I need to replace the rotors, what's currently recommended? I see lots of expensive and inexpensive options out there. What are people's experience here?

3) What pads are recommended?

comment: I know everyone says don't buy drilled/slotted rotors from ebay, but I did once for another car I have and they have been GREAT! They were very reasonable too, and so far, so great! How do I know what's good and what's bad? Any experiences here?

 

[pgilliam1]

Take the rotors to a reputable brake shop and see if they can be turned. They will know if they're OK.

If you stay with a good brand of rotors (Brembo or Zimmerman will do) then eBay is a good place to get them.

Most of the guys here will say stay with OEM or Hawk pads. Either is a good choice. Daily driving = OEM, Track = Hawk.

Welcome to NSX ownership.

 

[DanRC30]

Thanks for the help. I went through the records last night and found out that the rotors are from RM Racing and are slotted, and the pads are Carbon Kevlar. I assume those are for the track... no?

What's a good set of pads that will give great stopping power for the street, but can handle a few track days here and there?

 

[theman1990]

Yah have a shop check the runout on the. I have heard a lot of things about Project Mu brake pads, too. Consensus seems to be "good fluid, good pads, and brake ducts" unless you are a track star, then BBK etc.

 

[DanRC30]

I'm seeing a lot of ceramic pads available. I don't know the difference... can someone fill me in? Ceramics good?

 

[CL65 Captain]

Ceramic pads are good for luxury passenger cars.

No dust, no squeal, OK performance.

 

[DanRC30]

What do you recommend for a street car that MIGHT do a track day or two?

 

[CL65 Captain]

OK... they are two totally different environments.

Street - low dust, low squeal, good stopping performance - ONCE.

Track - dust, some squeal, good stopping performance - MANY TIMES.

Think about it this way OEM/Street pads like Hawk HPS, Carbotech Bobcats, etc are on one end of the spectrum. Pure track pads on the other hand, dust alot, squeel and have to be warmed up to work. In the middle are some decent pads that do dust some, do squeel some but also work when cold like OEM/Street.

So.... what pads are these combo pads?

Hawk HP+
Carbotect XP6 (previously called Panther +)
Cobalt Friction SportGT.

Street pads like OEM will fade on the track. No ifs, and or buts about it.... they will fade.

BTW: I have a set of F/R HP+ in the marketplace that still have 50%+ left if you want to try them without putting out $200.

Out of the three above, I have tried all three. The most streetable of them were the Hawks. They all dusted about the same, but the Hawks squealed the least. They occasionally have a very faint squeal when coming to a complete stop with light breaking. 1 out of 20 times or something like that. They also bite good when cold.

The Cobalt Friction - had good bite when cold, squealed consistently when coming to a slow stop and dusted ALOT.

The Carbotech - squealed like a stuck pig all the time, dusted the same as the Hawks, had OK cold bite, but worked better after warming up.

 

[CL65 Captain]

Thanks for the help. I went through the records last night and found out that the rotors are from RM Racing and are slotted, and the pads are Carbon Kevlar. I assume those are for the track... no?

What's a good set of pads that will give great stopping power for the street, but can handle a few track days here and there?

I am going to take a guess and say they were Porterfield R4-S Carbon Kevlar pads. They are a combo street/track pad but geared more so for the street. Alot of marketing, but not a lot of people that liked them. They did everything OK and nothing great. Bad street pad, bad track pad, OK at doing both if that makes any sence.

 

[KooLaid]

Unless you're on the track on a regular basis, I'd probably stick with the oem pads if you can. The aftermarkets can get both pricey and MESSY with all that brake dust.

 

[DanRC30]

I guess OEM pads are best purchased at the dealer?

What about rotors? I gotta say, these look really cool... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ACUR...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

No idea about the quality though...

 

[CL65 Captain]

If you want to save some $$$$. I ran Wearever Gold cheapo pads from Autozone $30 axle compared to OEM $200 axle.

No dusting, no squealing and out performed OEM on the track at Mid Ohio - and I didn't baby them either. Were they as good as my Hawk DTC60 track pads? No, but they easily were as good or better than OEM for 1/10th the $. OEM pads are rediculously expensive for what you get.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105175

 

[9doors]

Welcome!

Where in Jersey area ya? I'm originally from West Paterson.

OEM pads, order from these guys:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118259

New to Prime but I've heard the offer great prices to us.

As for the rotors...Drilled are prone to cracking, but the Captain may offer more detailed info on this. If you can't get yours spun, you can go with slotted, such as:

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/braking_performance_parts/NSX/Powerslot/

or:

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/braking_performance_parts/NSX/ProjectU/default.asp

 

[KooLaid]

ray laks aka hondacuraworld is also a GREAT source for parts. Free shipping on all orders, just a $3.95 handling charge. I no longer question who to order from or pricing since I started ordering from them. Prices are always the best from my experience. No experience from the new nevada parts guys though.

Wearever gold huh? I'll need to try those pads when the fronts wear out. I hope soon. These dusty hawks are killin me. And I see you track test all your nsx parts and they exceeded the oems in all realms it seems.

 

[CL65 Captain]

Drilled is for bling only. They will crack on the track. The real drilled rotors, ala Porsche, Lambo, Ferrari are actually cast that way with the holes and not drilled like the cheap rotors. Oh BTW: look at the Ferrari and Porsche race cars - slotted rotors or carbon ceramic blanks.

Brembo AMLS

Brembo - NASCAR

Bremno F1

Corvette C6-R ALMS

Slotted are better for the track and good bling for the street.

Personally, after running OEM blanks, RB one piece slotted and then RB two piece slotted I am going back to what ever are the cheapest as they are consumables.

 

[KooLaid]

Man's gotta point. I'm looking over all my SCCA pro racing pics I took at the GP of Denver a few years ago and most of them aren't running slots and if they are, they are very shallow and thin vanes, almost unnoticeable. No holes though what so ever. Lots of them are even running metal rotors (vipers, 911, CTS V, C5, GTO, S60R, etc.)

 

[CL65 Captain]

Carbon ceramic rotors are great for the street as they "should" last the life of the car. However, most of the guys that I know that have them on their Porsche GT3s take them off and save them and use cheap rotors on the track as the Carbon ceramic rotors will get eaten up from track use.

FYI: The race teams that use them (for example the Corvette C6R above) use them for one race and then replace them - $3.5k each. Yes, each.

 

[stuntman]

Talking about ALMS or F1 carbon/ceramic "blank" rotors is a little applesranges - irrelevant. You know that CL65 Captain!

FYI - Speed World Challenge Touring Car team - Tri-Point (Mazda 6) uses off-the-shelf Stoptech cross drilled rotors, as do a few SWC GT Porsche rear rotors. We use the factory cross-drilled rotor in the back of my Grand Am GS Porsche.



-just being the Devil's advocate :wink: You know I agree with you CL65 Captain on pretty much everything...:tongue:


Yes, go with blanks, maybe a good slotted rotor, but the above examples show that a proper cross-drilled rotor can work fine (all of which can do ~ 1/2 to a full season on the same rotors, depending on the pad).

 

[DanRC30]

Ok. Some very good points here. Looks like I'm gonna try those el-cheapo pads from Auto Zone.

I'd like to get a set of slotted rotors. I see a pair of Brembos for $250, but something doesn't sound right with $30 pads on $250 rotors. What I like about the Brembos is they are plated so the unworn areas won't rust and look like @ss. I'd prefer a set that are powder coated in those areas to prevent rust. Bit pricey, but see here: http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/rotora-front-right-slotted-rotor-acura-nsx-9705-p-21622.html

Ever hear of Rotora? Looks like they're powder coated too: http://www.shop.com/Rotora_Rotors_Slotted_(Front_Right)-30076294-39300384-p!.shtml?sourceid=298

Then you have EBC's which I believe is a name brand: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EBC-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Those are just a few examples. Anyone have any experience with any of the above? I need recommendations on what rotors will hold up on a track day or two, but mostly on the street. Thanks!

 

[CL65 Captain]

Talking about ALMS or F1 carbon/ceramic "blank" rotors is a little applesranges - irrelevant. You know that CL65 Captain!

FYI - Speed World Challenge Touring Car team - Tri-Point (Mazda 6) uses off-the-shelf Stoptech cross drilled rotors, as do a few SWC GT Porsche rear rotors. We use the factory cross-drilled rotor in the back of my Grand Am GS Porsche.



-just being the Devil's advocate :wink: You know I agree with you CL65 Captain on pretty much everything...:tongue:


Yes, go with blanks, maybe a good slotted rotor, but the above examples show that a proper cross-drilled rotor can work fine (all of which can do ~ 1/2 to a full season on the same rotors, depending on the pad).

I was just trying to point out that the cheapo cross drilled rotors are more bling than functionality. Like I said, for HPDE use they are consumables so I am not going to put $$$ into them.

 

[DanRC30]

Yes, point taken. I think slotted rotors are more functional, and the rears are still good on the car and are slotted, so a matching front would be nice.

Which do you think would be the best way to go? Just asking for opinions...

 

[CL65 Captain]

Ok. Some very good points here. Looks like I'm gonna try those el-cheapo pads from Auto Zone.

I'd like to get a set of slotted rotors. I see a pair of Brembos for $250, but something doesn't sound right with $30 pads on $250 rotors. What I like about the Brembos is they are plated so the unworn areas won't rust and look like @ss. I'd prefer a set that are powder coated in those areas to prevent rust. Bit pricey, but see here: http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/rotora-front-right-slotted-rotor-acura-nsx-9705-p-21622.html

Ever hear of Rotora? Looks like they're powder coated too: http://www.shop.com/Rotora_Rotors_Slotted_(Front_Right)-30076294-39300384-p!.shtml?sourceid=298

Then you have EBC's which I believe is a name brand: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EBC-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Those are just a few examples. Anyone have any experience with any of the above? I need recommendations on what rotors will hold up on a track day or two, but mostly on the street. Thanks!

My reference to the $30 pads was that they did as good or better than Acura's $200 pad. In this case I don't think the Acura pad is worth the $ they charge.

My preference would be a track pad for the track and a street pad for the street. The combo pads (Hawk, Carbotech, Cobalt) do neither well. They do OK on the track, and OK on the street.

 

[DanRC30]

Right. And I'm going to take your advice and get them for sure. But I'm asking about rotors now. Can you click on the links I posted and give me your .02?

 

[CL65 Captain]

Yes, point taken. I think slotted rotors are more functional, and the rears are still good on the car and are slotted, so a matching front would be nice.

Which do you think would be the best way to go? Just asking for opinions...

Check Tirerack.com:

Slotted - you can go with Brembo, Power Slot, Racing Brake, or DBA4000. The truth is that for a street car any of them would work just fine.

 

[DanRC30]

Tire rack has nothing slotted for the fronts. They only have rears...

Did you look at the links? Is EBC any good?