I got all the way to the bottom of the OPs thread, and didnt see any painted calipers...not even black? Those rotors look pretty nice compared to the dreaded cast-iron-look calipers.

Good choice on the rotors, got the exact same dimpled/slotted ones for the Jeep, and they're holding up well. Last set of similar style rotors lasted 100,000 miles.

 

Wow, your not the only one who's said that. My buds at work said the same thing. I've never been a big "paint" fan. I put in hardware that I hope is a performance upgrade but I don't go for the flash.. But a bunch of people say it looks silly with those fancy drilled rotors and the plain 'ol cast calipers, so maybe I'm wrong this time. Should I paint them???

 

You can only paint them if you start wearing a baseball cap backwards, let your britches sag down below your butt in the back, wear your sneakers without tying the shoelaces, cut off all the sleeves to your shirts, and get a tattoo of a snake on the side of your neck. If you're willing to do all those things, then you can go ahead and paint your calipers....

 

Hey that's the guy I smoked from light to light yesterday evening in a Celica. Man was he pissed that he couldn't beat a luxo barge!

 

Just a quick update. I did say I would update after I used them for a while. I've put a little over 10,000 miles since the install.
Tires: They are holding up well. They performed great in late March / early April snows here in Ohio. One wierd thing is that they need to warm up, even in the summer. They vibrate for the first couple of miles on the freeway, then they clear up. It's weird. I'm used to that in winter, but have never had it happen in the summer.
Brakes: WOW! That sums up the chance I took on those unknown brand parts. As some of you know, I'm what's considered an "enthusiastic" driver. I use these brakes! I come of the expressway and late brake into the ramp at balistic speeds sometimes (makes me smile just before work). I'll brake so hard at times you can here a roar caused by the slots. Here's the thing, that noise, I found out, is normal. I have not felt a pulse or vibration. Nor have I seen any real dust or ware on the brakes. These have been great.

 

i am not sure if this is fact or frictional but i was able to find brake pads and rotors for STR at Autozone



http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...&parentId=44-0

 

Great thread. I'm impressed that you did the work yourself.

Now that several months has pasted, how is the dusting? I like to detail my car and I really dislike brake dust! I would like to get drilled rotors for the looks but I have heard the slotted ones wear out the pads faster. I'll have to look into the dimpled ones mentioned by someone else.

$500 bucks seems like a good deal for the parts. I have been quoted around 1,100 - 1,300 for news brakes (including the parts).

 

The semi pads that I got are really clean. I'm very happy with the brakes. I have just recently picked up a sight vibration. I think it is tire balance, however. When I tromp on the brakes at high speed there is no additional pulse or vibration. That tells me that the rotors are still true. My rotors are drilled and slotted and I haven't noticed any excessive pad wear. Back to the dust. It was real bad right after I got the car. Now I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't had the time to wash the car in over a month and still the wheels look OK. Just dirty not full of black dust. The new baby, and redoing a 3 bedroom house to make it more like a 4 bedroom has taken most of my time.

 

JOsworth, Thanks for the update. Sounds like you are way too busy to have time to detail the wheels. I totally understand. For the past couple of months I have had o travel every week for work so my time for detailing has gone to zero.

If you did time someday, look into getting a jar of Poorboy's Wheel Sealant. It will really help to keep the wheels clean and easy to maintain.

One last question. Maybe I missed it in the thread, but what brand of rotors and pads did you buy and where did you get them?

 

The great thing is that the wheels actually look OK.... Anyway, thanks for the product suggestion. I'll be sure to check it out. The brakes came from brakewarehouse.com. The rotors are Royalty and the pads are Centric performance semi-metallic. I was just a little leery getting brands I never heard of, but was told that if in any way I was not satisfied with the purchase that they would allow me to return them. I looked up the stuff on line but called them directly to order. Much better that way and they crossed the VIN to make sure I got the correct parts (very important with Jaguars). Overall a very good experience.

 

Where were the pads and the rotors manufactured?

 

I didn't look at the box, but I did go to Centric and Royalty's web sites before buying. Both companies are in California. They state that they are distributors and manufacturers, so they may have outside manufactiring facilities. No mater though, both products have exceeded my expectations for the price. BTW, there is a set of Centric's pads and rotors on our Dodge Caravan has well.