Front Rotors

This from a previous post of mine.

EBC is a trusted brand. The MimoUSA looks OK, but does not state if they were CAD designed, CNC machined nor any mention of balancing. The website is a general exporters website, not an automotive company. I not sure that it can be trusted.

Just replacing all 4 rotors with drilled/slotted ones, SS brake lines, and Prestone Synthetic fluid made my breaking far superior, even with the stock pads. I just recently installed my EBC Redstuff (bought them b4 the Yellows came out) pads. The stock ones still had about 50% more life left in them after 47k miles and over half of that was with the drilled/slotted rotors. Now the car brakes effortlessly though I have not had the opportunity to track them yet.

Goodridge and Stop-Tech are the best ones out on the market.

Never ordered from this company but that is a good price. Prices have been dropping on brake lines lately.

Be sure to change out the stock brake fluid for a good synthetic fluid.

Caution: Be sure to use a fluid that has safe for ABS on the label.

Most dimpled rotors give the claim "cross-drilled look". It is understood that the "look" is always considered inferior than what it is copying. Dimples are much shallower, therefore, less volume than that of a cross-drilled rotor. That equates to less amount of built up gases under the brake pads that are being evacuated. As brake dust and other contaminants buildup in the dimples, there will be less and less area for the gases to be captured. When it is time to turn an out-of-round rotor, there will be even less of a dimple to make a difference. Dimples are fine for a street vehicle but their performance is limited to on the track.

On the other side of this are actual cross-drilled rotors. They are slightly lighter than dimpled rotors as they are actually drilled thru the rotor's surfaces and chamfered (more on this in a bit). That equates to alot of removed material. Of course, on a vented style rotor, you don't want to be drilling thru any vanes. That causes structural weakness which will lead to failure so you want a rotor that is CAD designed and CNC machined. A drilled, vented rotor has the added benefit of allowing braking gases an alternate path to dissipate. Remember the chamfered bit? Chamfering is utilized remove sharp edges (90°) from machined surfaces. Machining introduces localized stresses at these edges which will cause fatigue stress cracking. That is why it is important to round of the edges of corners, edges, and holes aka to chamfer.

Note: Materials that are cast with holes and 90° edges are not as susceptible to this form of stress cracking so you may discover parts that do not follow the chamfer rule. It is, however, a good idea and somewhat needed on some parts depending on their designed use.

Some take the stance that cross-drilled rotors are only good for the street as they can catastrophically fail on the track. Improper machined rotors, or the knucklehead friend with a 1/2" drill can and will eventually end in catastrophic failure of a heat stressed rotor as in road racing. That is why it is imperative that a cross-drilled rotor be CAD designed and CNC machined. So if you are worried about cracking, go dimples. If you want maximum performance for the track, then cross-drilled is the way to go.

BTW: Slotted rotors provide similar benefits and help slough off water. Same as drilling though, it needs to have the edges of the slot chamfered. Also make sure that machined rotor brand that you are contemplating on states that the rotor is final balanced after machining. Plated coatings on rotors are a benefit to keep rust off you wheels so that should be a factor too for street vehicles.

EBC is a trusted brake pad manufacturer. Not heard anything bad about their products. I am running the Redstuff on my car. These rotors should give a slightly better bite under hard braking than OEM, but the biggest difference should be wet brake performance. The black anodize coating will be removed by the brake pads that should require a small break-in period before you get to the normal performance of these rotors. The rest of the anodizing should remain intact and provide corrosion resistance and looks for the life of the part.

If your going to upgrade your stock OEM rotors and break pads, I would stay away from cross-drilled rotors. Cross-Drilled rotors have been known to crack/warp under extreme heat loads. Plus in my opinion, cross-drilled rotors are for show. I would buy a good name brand slotted brake rotor, (EBC, PowerStop, PowerSlot, Stop Tech, Brembo). I would also suggest buying a ceramic pad. Ceramic is harder than semi-metallic, less brake dust, noise, and much better braking. I am also going to have to agree with Navy and suggest a stainless steel brake line (Goodridge) and a good synthetic brake fluid, (Prestone, Motul, Redline) (DOT 3 or higher)

As far as ceramic brake pads go, I have heard lots of great feedback from people using (Hawk, EBC, Raybestos, and Performance Friction). Last I looked I don't believe Performance Friction makes brake pads for the Scion tC.

Now if your going to upgrade to a bigger wheel 18'' or bigger, I would suggest a bigger brake rotor. It takes more effort to stop a bigger wheel than a smaller wheel.

My cross-drilled/slotted rotors just for show?:banghead: And here I have been cranking down on the brakes. Kidding around aside, these rotors are actually quite functional, especially in the wet. They grab extremely well and have yet to see any stress fractures. It is all about quality of design and materials so buyer beware. For the street, slots are completely sufficient.

I have heard the same thing about slotted rotors, but I am not sure is this has any truth to the matter or its just a myth. I would be less apt to by a slotted rotor if its going eat up brake pads. Anyone with a good knowledge on this matter, please feel free to chime in.

I have run these rotors for well over 20K miles with no issues. I typically jam hard on the brakes for fun. When I pulled the original equipment pads they still had about 50% life left at 50K miles. I now have about 2K miles on the EBC Redstuff pads. They seem to be wearing inline with the OEM pads. I jam on the brakes even harder with these. Again, just for fun. I can make the car stop so hard under 50MPH that the car will actually rock backwards at a dead stop.