[Tom Droze]

While TheAxiom is fretting over the Super Sprint black Friday sale at Turner Motorsports, and his exhaust options, I'm contemplating my next mod, which in this case it just happens to be brakes.

I have done enough research to know I am thoroughly perplexed as to function versus asthetics: blank rotors, slotted rotors, cross-drilled rotors, or slotted and cross drilled rotors.

This is what I a have learned so far, for heavy track use, blank rotors seem to be the way to go. While I do track days, I'm on pace to only do about two track days a year, and both tracks in my area are fairly brake friendly, and I haven't had any track day related brake fade issues (yet), so. . .

I really like the look of a non blank rotor. ESC Tuning has a good buy on their branded rotors but I am having a mental block in accepting these as being a high quality rotor, I don't know why but I am. I am not price shopping, and I am not afraid to pay for quality, but on the same token, I do not want to overpay either. My two comfortable choices from a quality stand point are as follows:

Turner Motorsports slotted rotors, which appear to be Stoptech brake rotors or I found a set of Zimmerman cross-drilled rotors. Zimmerman is the OEM supplier for BMW brake rotors. Plus their cross-drilled rotors are not over the top from a cross-drilling standpoint.

Knowing that someone will ask me about brake pads, and based on my research, I am leaning strongly towards the Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads, as they appear to be a good street brake pad that can handle some track days too.

I am currently using the brass brake caliper guide pins, ATE Type 200 brake fluid, and stainless steel brake lines.

So, for those of you that have changed your brake rotors and brake pads, what advice can you bestow upon me?

[bimmerquick43321]

I have the zimmerman discs (plain) and hps pads, not the 5.0 though... less initial bite than stock OE, better in high temperature situations, I don`t track the car, but have done a few very hard breaks from high speeds when very hot this summer and I know most brakes would have overheated after a few of those, these did not, but again for track use, probably there are better choices.....

[justpete]

I tried the Turner (Stoptech) slotted rotors and they're fine although a little louder than normal when braking and they vibrated a bit but that may have been installation issues, dunno. If this is for the street it won't matter much and the ECS rotors may be just fine. Can't really recommend pads but if you're not fading brakes at the track now it doesn't make a lot of sense to leave the nearly dust-free OEM pads behind, imho. There's no such thing as a compromise street and track pad so best to pick one or the other and live with them. I can live with blank rotors and Carbotech pads only because I don't care if they squeal in daily use or that they dust like a sumbitch, doubtful there would be too many others equally nutz...

[SDemetris]

I have 335 brakes with rbf600 fluid and hawk (forget which kind) pads and blank centric rotors.. works well

[Taskmaster]

Good rotors, F30 backing plates, good track pads a d good fluid would be my vote.

[Mavus]

I've done a lot of research on rotors and pads for a dual purpose car. If you can use z4 35is rotors they are excellent! Pads are harder to pick but for 2-3 HPDEs you might be fine with oem pads. I had these rotors and oem pads on track and the only negative is the pad performance decreases with higher temp, the worst of it in the last 5 min. I also heard the PFC has a new pad that does not squeal a lot like 08 and is great for track and street.

[Eagle1oh7]

Currently I'm on Zimmerman rotors and Stoptech Street pads for my rears as I've yet to do my fronts. They work great, but the semi-metallic compound generates a lot of brake dust. Stopping is great and they don't make noise once they've warmed up. They don't squeal, but when you mash the pedal you can hear them clamping down on the rotors a fair bit.

[mlifxs]

if you're only doing 2 track days a year, would it make sense to pick the best for track and the best for dd and change them for the track and back?

[Eagle1oh7]

Originally Posted by mlifxs

if you're only doing 2 track days a year, would it make sense to pick the best for track and the best for dd and change them for the track and back?

Would that even be good for pad/rotor contact?

[Tom Droze]

I placed my order today for the Stoptech slotted brake rotors and the Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads. I got the four brake rotors and pads at Auto Anything for $517.80 with no sales tax or shipping. The next cheapest price I could find for this brake combination was $635.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

I placed my order today for the Stoptech slotted brake rotors and the Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads. I got the four brake rotors and pads at Auto Anything for $517.80 with no sales tax or shipping. The next cheapest price I could find for this brake combination was $635.

I think there was a topic in the Track section that had a review on those pads, you might want to check it out.

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

I think there was a topic in the Track section that had a review on those pads, you might want to check it out.

I read it, I searched the crap out of this forum and elsewhere with regard to brake rotors and brake pads. Some people are super hard on their brakes, I'm not that person. Also, Hawk makes a HPS brake pad and the HPS 5.0 brake pad, which is a fairly new compound. All I'm seeking is a marginal improvement over the stock brakes; and having a street friendly brake pad that can handle limited tracks days was my primary criterion, and I think I found it. If not, I will go to plan B!

[Eagle1oh7]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

I placed my order today for the Stoptech slotted brake rotors and the Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads. I got the four brake rotors and pads at Auto Anything for $517.80 with no sales tax or shipping. The next cheapest price I could find for this brake combination was $635.

That's pretty good. I got my whole front/rear kit with DOT 5 from TMS for about $450~

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

I read it, I searched the crap out of this forum and elsewhere with regard to brake rotors and brake pads. Some people are super hard on their brakes, I'm not that person. Also, Hawk makes a HPS brake pad and the HPS 5.0 brake pad, which is a fairly new compound. All I'm seeking is a marginal improvement over the stock brakes; and having a street friendly brake pad that can handle limited tracks days was my primary criterion, and I think I found it. If not, I will go to plan B!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1196668

This is what I saw (and probably what you're referring to) but if ir can't handle high speed on the street, will it hold up on the track?

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1196668

This is what I saw (and probably what you're referring to) but if ir can't handle high speed on the street, will it hold up on the track?

This was one guy's experience and I suspect there is more in play than what was revealed in the post. Also, as we both know, when you read reviews or use the search function in a forum, there will always be negatives, it's a given.

With respect to the Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads, my conclusion, based on my research revealed these brake pads are similar to OEM brake pads from a brake dust, noise, and a cold braking standpoint, but were much more linear and produced less fade under repeated hard braking conditions. We both know hard core track pads suck on the street, and clean and quiet brake pads are not well suited for hard track use; and as you move along the spectrum of street pads versus race pads, trade offs must be made.

My car is a daily driver that sees an occasional spirited drive through the canyons and a couple of track days a year. As such, I don't want a hard core track brake pad, all I was in search of was something that is a bit more capable than OEM brake pads; and in exchange for this increased capability I'm willing to tolerate a bit more brake noise and dust.

[hassmaschine]

Hps are not what you want for track days.. They are a mediocre street pad at best.

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

Hps are not what you want for track days.. They are a mediocre street pad at best.

What would be your recommendation?

[tetsuo111]

My 2 cents is limited to products I have direct first-hand experience with. My first pad upgrade was to HPS 5.0, and my rotors are the ST / Centric slotted.

If I could do-over, I would skip the ST slotted rotors and move straight to a true 2-piece floating design from a reputable supplier like Girodisc / PFC / Alcon or AP Racing. Why? Simple - the floating designs are usually at least 1 - 4 pounds lighter per corner compared with a 1-piece rotor. Dunno if placebo is kicking in, but I swear I can enjoy small improvements in unsprung mass, such as replacing OEM rims with ARC-8s. The car feels more nimble and agile. It's happier. I don't think this matters enough for a DD or if the car isn't regularly driven with brio, but this is naturally a personal and subjective judgement call.

The HPS 5.0s feel different from OEM, with less initial bite. I needed to adjust my driving to this. The pads don't dust too much, and they survived well-enough on the track. They're also quiet. I'm using PFC 11 now. Totally different universe. The 11s are an update to the classic 01 compound. These bleed speed aggressively without being grabby. Wanna stop NOW? PFC 11. But... they do dust and are also noisy until warm. With winter upon us, I'm concerned about operating temps. The PFCs are off for the winter and HPS 5.0s are back on. No more squeal, and more importantly I don't worry about stopping in the snow.

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by tetsuo111

My 2 cents is limited to products I have direct first-hand experience with. My first pad upgrade was to HPS 5.0, and my rotors are the ST / Centric slotted.

If I could do-over, I would skip the ST slotted rotors and move straight to a true 2-piece floating design from a reputable supplier like Girodisc / PFC / Alcon or AP Racing. Why? Simple - the floating designs are usually at least 1 - 4 pounds lighter per corner compared with a 1-piece rotor. Dunno if placebo is kicking in, but I swear I can enjoy small improvements in unsprung mass, such as replacing OEM rims with ARC-8s. The car feels more nimble and agile. It's happier. I don't think this matters enough for a DD or if the car isn't regularly driven with brio, but this is naturally a personal and subjective judgement call

I seriously contemplated a two-piece floating brake rotor for the benefit of less unsprung weight. I had the APEX ARC-8 wheels installed about two weeks ago, which saved me 8 pounds per corner, and I swear my car accelerates faster now. It could be a placebo affect as you stated but I don't think so, as the tach needle seems to get to the redline much faster now.

[tetsuo111]

I love the ARC-8. Instant 40# unsprung mass improvement. Accessible pricing too. The suspension just seems to do more with less encumbrances. I've been close to pulling the trigger on floating rotors, but have bigger fish to fry, first.

Have you considered a larger master cylinder? I tried a brake setup tuned for track. The braking force is modulated with pressure rather than travel. I prefer this feel to stock.

[justpete]

Originally Posted by tetsuo111

Have you considered a larger master cylinder? I tried a brake setup tuned for track. The braking force is modulated with pressure rather than travel. I prefer this feel to stock.

Gotta second the pressure rather than travel brake control which makes heel/toe a lot easier. A pedal box with separate front and rear master cylinders and a panel control for balance would be ideal but it won't pass safety inspection for street use, unfortunately. Also get rid of that useless ABS crap so threshold braking is vastly easier to manage, and learn for that matter.

[mike-y]

while unsprung weight definitely makes a difference, the benefits of lighter rotors will be much less than the benefits of lighter wheels because the weight is much closer to the center of rotation compared to the wheels/tires.

I'm not saying not to get them, but just pointing out that the cost/performance ratio for the weight loss is probably going to be less than you think. Of course this depends on the cost of a 2-piece rotor system, and if it can be used with the stock calipers.