Trying to get a complete set of brakes and rotors for the STR. Here's what I got from EBC website:

Product Wish List

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I haven't used EBC before but they have always had great reviews and recommended from lots of people. The rotors look to be the correct diameter but can any confirm? I also wanted to repaint the calipers and I've used the G2 kit before which worked great. Are the factory caliper stickers available anywhere? Also, any DIY link for the caliper and brake change on this website as I couldn't find one searching but I might not be using the right words?

 

those are the correct rotors....however check your final price with shipping... and then go to brakeperformance.com and check their pricing for the total package. It "could" be a bit more, however they have a lifetime warranty..

 

also.. I would HIGHLY recommend that you DO NOT get slotted rotors. Crossdrilled yes. I have 3 times purchased slotted rotors over time for my performance cars and 3 times I have returned them.. especially on the STR with such huge fronts. They are so noisy , that the car is virtually embarrasing to drive. Cross drilled are the same price, look better and are close to stock quiet.

 

mine are slotted and x-drilled. and they are pretty noisy. i can only hear them next to a jersey barrier with the windows open though.

 

That's interesting that they are noisy because I had slotted rotors and Axxis Metalmasters on my last car and they had no noise at all. It must be because of the size of the rotor and having more surface contact to create the noise.

 

On my last car I used to use drilled and slotted rotors and i didnt notice that they were that loud.
I used to get them at a place called r1 concepts. heres a link 2003 JAGUAR S TYPE R All Brakes: Disc Brake Rotors, Pads, Drums, Lines, Brake Masters

 

I had slotted with ceramic pads on my X, and they were really noisy. Regular solid EBC's are fine, as are the Brembo's.

Akebono pads FTW if you can.

A member by the name of Vance580 has DIY vids on Youtube that are very helpful for the job. Search for him on here, he has a link in his sig.

 

Here's some interesting info...

I went to brakeperfomerance and it said to call for a price for the rear rotors '05 STRs. I called few hours ago and they say the rears are currently on back order and that I'll be emailed on Monday of an ETA of IF and when they'll be available. I asked about ceramic pad upgrades (additional fee) and they said they're also on backorder and possibly unavailable, will find out in next weeks email. Searching this forum, the cheapest I've seen is $440 shipped for their "normal" quality which does not include free semi-metallic pads let alone the unknown fee for ceramic upgrades...

If going the EBC route, if you put the part number (P/N) fronts: GS1602 into the search field of google and click the shopping tab, you can find a couple vendors selling the pair as low as $113.13 shipped...If it charges sales tax in your state try a different vendor...I also did not put any effort into looking for promo codes, if I'm lucky, perhaps I'll find 5%-20% off that price. The rears on the other hand tend to be almost double in price despite the smaller diameter and slightly lower weight...Rear pair of EBC p/n of GD1603 Google then shopping tab yield the lowest price of $219.64. Grand total for all four rotors is $333 shipped.

The warranty for EBC is a half year or 10K miles, clearly not as good as brakeperformances lifetime (which may not even have the rear rotors in stock). Odds are high you'll NEVER have a problem with the rear...If you have a problem, odds are it'll be the fronts and they'll crack along the drilled holes...But we have 14" rotors and EBC is one of the most popular A/M companies and unless you're an AutoX or road race warrior, where you constantly go from high speeds to low speeds, you're not going to have a problem. I have no problem trusting EBC and saving at least $110 or 30% off brakeperofrmance prices...

 

If drilled and/or slotted make noise then I might as well just have the factory rotors cut and add the ceramic pads. The only reason for the drilled/slotted rotors is for better looks and it's not worth the noise.

These are the part numbers for the Akebono pads FYI (which was cheapest from Amazon):
EUR938 - front
EUR592 - rear

I also found this for the logo:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tchlink:top:en

 

I replaced all four of mine with cross drilled rotors from brakeperformance. They were on back order for at least a month maybe more I can't remember. I'm also running EBC red stuff pads all around. They work well and produce about 20% of the dust the stock pads did. But, even my cross drilled rotors are fairly loud, especially when on the brakes pretty hard. I can find pics if you want.

 

Its not just for looks(although they do add a look), but its actually a catch 22.

The reason for drilled rotors, are so the rotors can catch more air and in essence cool down faster, but by doing so you actually remove surface area of the metal so the rotors heat up slightly quicker. Brakes work by friction, too much heat and you have fade. The idea is that the cooling from the holes will outway the loss of surface and thus be better stopping power over the course of hard driving.

The slots they add in the rotors actually give more bite to the brake, but not because of the pad and the slot, the slot actually just cleans off dust from the pad to make it have better contact. With slots on your rotors, you usually have more brake dust.

In all reality you probably dont push your card hard enough often enough to even worry about it, So unless your looking for a better look like you mentioned, Regular rotors with ceramics should be more then enough.

Make sure if you buy rotors instead of turning them, you buy the more expensive rotors and not the cheapy's. The cheaper rotors usually uses cheaper quality materials while casting. Sometimes they're also thinner and lighter. So they warp easier and they have wider tolerances and not as unified hardening proccesses. So sometimes part of the rotor is harder then the rest and it causes uneven wear on the pads.

We've all used the cheaper stuff in the past, and i have no problem using the bargain rotors on a work car im never gonna drive fast. But a car with 400hp, needs good brakes. Faster the car, the better the brakes you need to be safe.

 

This was the best deal I can find, (after the coupon code) $316.14 shipped for four EBC drilled/slotted rotors. TruckProUSA Truck and Jeep Accesories (877) 800-6530

First, you need to email a picture and include a few car details to rides@truckprousa.com (they will add it to their online photo gallery) You'll then receive a reply with an one-time use 5% off coupon code which saves you $16ish.

03-05 P/Ns again are GD1602 and GD1603

 

+1
I had drilled and slotted rotors installed on my Infinity Q45 in order to cure a warping rotor issue. Boy was that ever noisy from inside the car. Then I tried the drilled ones on my station wagon for the same issue. A big mistake as the pad material collects in the holes and eventually causes deposits on the rotor surface which led to pulsation. I observed the same exact issue at the track with my race car and a friends 08 Z06. In both cases slotted rotors fixed those track cars. So I'm leaving the STR with stock rotors and Akebono pads. I think cross drilled might work OK with the Akebono pads as I don't think that pad material will clog up the wholes. Just a guess though.

It's funny that though the Ebay listing says not Brembo those are the Brembo calipers in the photo.

 

Just ordered these dimpled and slotted fronts for $266 from http://brakeperformance.com/brake-ro...ake-Rotors.php

They were $298 last night, must have dropped the price overnight. They come with regular semi-metallic pads for free but I'm not going to use them so I got some Akebono 938's from Amazon for $98. Vance has had great reviews on these exact rotors and has had them on his R for a while now, he knows his sh*t. Absolutely cannot beat the price, and from what he said, they are Centric's. I'll let you know about the noise after installation.

 

Dimples huh, I thought those went out with Shirley Temple ...
As yest I can't fond anyone who can explain to me what a dimple will accomplish? It seems like a great place to accumulate crap that eventually ends up on the rotors surface where it causes trouble.

 

$316 for four rotors was painful enough, I couldn't justify $266 just for fronts as apparently the rears are on back-order and are going to cost even more than the fronts for some odd reason...I'm happy with saving possibly 50% over breakperformance...

 

Same "benefits" as drilled but they're stronger than drilled...Often times drilled through doesn't take into account avoiding the fins or lateral material between the discs. If drill though the fins, you weaken the rotor. But my dimpling, there's really zero thought and you don't need expensive engineering...

 

You sure those gd1602's will fit? If you use the vehicle specific search function, no rotors come up.....you need no manually search by part#

 

The holes, slots, dimples are not for cooling. What they do is allow gases to escape when braking. When braking, especially hard, the pads out gas and this gas layer can prevent good surface contact between the pads and the rotor. The holes, etc allow this gas to escape. The second reason is to continuously shear the brake pads to expose new uncontaminated pad material. This is why everybody gets added noise when using these types of rotors. All this is VERY important when running on the track and is of very little use on the street. So they are mainly for cosmetic purposes. Also be aware that you can get rotor cracking with drilled holes. So on the street slots and dimples are a better compromise.

As several people have noted the STR has pretty huge rotors from the factory and on the street I very much doubt any increase in braking performance is needed.

Here is a cracked drilled rotor picture.
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No the slots won't cool but the holes will do both especially if your car has force fed air through the center from the backside of the rotor hats.

So who has those on their street cars hahah!

Dimples zero + so far ...