Aftermarket Upgraded Brake Hardware

[zero]

Just wondering if anyone around here has ever used “performance” OE sized brake parts. Like rotors and pads. My car has been sitting for a while and the rotors seem to be gone to complete shit. The rears were already a bit iffy, now the fronts look like crap also. Due to the nature of where I drive and how I drive, I tend to get warped rotors a bit faster than I would like. Nothing bad, but I’ve just become accustomed to the tiny pulsations.

So because my car already has a somewhat limited list of applicable brake hardware, I have an 08 Caliber SRT4 and the front brakes are off of the Charger, from the factory. I’m also in Canada, even though most online retailers will ship here and include the customs just add about 30-40% on top of the US dollar amount and that’s the cost. So I was thinking about springing for some drilled and slotted to hopefully lessen the effects of my reality.

The 2 brands of rotors I’m looking at right now are POWERSTOP and Centric’s STOP TECH lines. I haven’t even started thinking too much about the pads, but I was thinking maybe one of the EBC products, maybe the reds. I’ll have to see what I can source effectively at a local level.

Anyway, just looking for some input. Maybe even some creative discussion on the topic. Experiences with products, anything related really.

Topic

[Cameron]

Yes I did a Front brake upgrade using OE sized parts on a previous GM vehicle I had.

What rotors, in particular, are available to choose from depends on what you drive obviously.

The OE were fine but I wanted to see if there would be much difference with some quality OE size slotted rotors and different pads. I went with Remsa pads(which I found produced nearly twice the pad dust compared with the very low dust OE pads, but not an issue ) and high quality slotted rotors which cost about 65% more than a pair of very good quality OE front rotors (and twice the price of the budget rotors that were available). I did not want drilled rotors.
http://www.remsa.com/products/brake-pads/

This produced a definite improvement in braking (and quiet operation remained) and you really noticed the initial bite when you touched the brakes. The original rotors and pads had only done 10,000 miles when changed so (for comparison) were not very old or very worn. So I think it was a worthwhile change in that past vehicle and not an expensive exercise like doing Brembo upgrades can be and which will in most cases require you to change your wheels as well to clear the thicker Brembo calipers.

I would expect you would have a decent choice of products you can buy locally in Canada to suit your car.

I would check out the reviews on the pads and rotors you select before you buy them.

[zero]

That’s for the response. I’m just looking to get some legitimate responses. Reading online reviews I always get the sense that most of the people are out to lunch on the reality of the product, or fake positive reviews.

I’m pretty sure we only put the Raybestos “red box” or service grade pads on the front. I bought it from where I worked and that’s all we ever put on the used cars, so it’s not like they’re necessarily bad, as they still have plenty of meat left, but I’m at the point where I have the ability to put in a better product. And if I’m in there anyway, it’s better than doing it twice. I hate doing things twice. But either way it will be a better OE style product at the least.

You would be surprised. Not many places actually stock performance parts. Most of the places that sell them just source them directly from the distributor as they are sold. As much as I hate doing it, it’s usually cheaper and takes just as long to order them online.

[James P Grosso]

I just installed the PowerStop Z23 kit (rear pads and rotors) and front pads on my wifes 2012 Kia Optima.
It has the drilled/slotted rotors both front and rear, just different manufacturers.
I had to use Stop Tech front rotors because PowerStop does not sell the larger turbo sized rotors.
The pads are really grippy, and work great, but I just put them on so I don’t know how they will do long term?
The rear PowerStop rotors have a zinc plating and did not seem to have any oil or cosmoline on them when I cleaned them.
The Stop Tech rotors have a bare cast finish with e-coated hub and outer edge, so they had a film of cosmoline or oil on them.

[Author]

Replies