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Does anyone know which company manufactures rotors for Alcon brakes sets in our Jaguars?
I know who is responsible for calipers (Alcon), but I’m not sure if they also produce rotors (I bet they don’t). Analogy from ATE brakes where both calipers and discs are made by ATE (as far as I know) might not be a good one.
On the aftermarket Febi Bilstein uses pictures which suggest that they produce OEM discs. Is my hypothesis correct?
From the Alcon website, it appears that Alcon can provide a complete brake kit, including rotors matched to the brake calipers. Here is a screen clip from their Advantage Extreme aftermarket brake page.
The Jaguar Alcon Performance Brake Package as supplied by the factory on certain 2008 and 2009 4.2L models includes 6-piston front and 4-piston rear calipers together with 400mm front and 380mm rear crescent-grooved rotors, the largest ever fitted to a production Jaguar at the time. Both calipers and rotors were manufactured by Alcon. See the attached .pdf files.
Thanks for replies. For now I'm not convinced that Alcon is a producer of discs. Both posts are referring to 2-piece rotors. Attached PDF shows external part of a 2-piece rotor, while the Advantage Extreme set refers to a bell etc (which is once again a part of 2-piece rotors).
Jag XKR Alcon brakes discs are a single part, iron casts (as visible on a picture above).
Any other comments?
Or other way round - is there any aftermarket producer to be recommended? I have seen Centric brakes. I like the company - Stoptech rotors are great, but it is only available in the US. Has anyone used Blue Print (brand of Febi Bilstein) rotors? Any opinions on them?
Alcon does not make the rotors, they were made in Italy I believe after speaking with Centric here in the US which purchased a large quantity from the original OEM supplier about 10 years ago at significant savings. You will find no one else in the world with the OEM design.
Aftermarket 2-piece lightweight see Tom Lenthal in the UK and Spires also in the UK as well as Swallows Racing also in the UK.
Alcon does not make the rotors, they were made in Italy I believe after speaking with Centric here in the US which purchased a large quantity from the original OEM supplier about 10 years ago at significant savings. You will find no one else in the world with the OEM design. ...
Originally Posted by tmich
Thanks Jeremy, that is what I expected.
Is Italian origin confirmed? ...
Italian origin is not confirmed. According to former Forum member Richzak:
"... Stuart:
The Alcon brake calipers on our cars are made by Alcon UK located in Tamworth, England. I am not sure where you made the determination that Brembo makes the Alcon brake calipers found on the 2009 Jaguar XKR Portfolio Edition.
When I was doing my research for aftermarket wheels to fit my 2009 XKR Portfolio Edition equipped with Alcon calipers and rotors, I contacted Alcon in the UK. My contact provided me with internal schematic drawings of the 6 piston and 4 piston brake calipers. The drawings are clearly marked Alcon UK. I still have the drawings in my possession, and they are quite detailed.
It is my understanding that on the rear wheel of our cars, the smaller black brake caliper for the emergency braking system is Brembo, but not the large massive red calipers.
Perhaps you can provide some support to show the Alcon brakes we have were made by Brembo. Brembo is an Italian company and makes brakes under different brands, but not the Alcon brand."
To which I replied:
"Richard,
That's what the Jaguar dealer's service writer told me several years ago when I had my brake pads replaced. Based on your research, it looks like he was mistaken." ...
So, take your pick; made in England by Alcon or made in Italy by Brembo, whichever you prefer. Unless, of course someone has more definitive proof. I'm not going to lose any sleep over where they were made.
A few members in here always buy Jag OEM parts no matter what. Dang. That'd suck.
Estimate for four rotors cuz I don't want to search rears...
$4400 for just rotors, Jaguar OEM vs. $350 for Aftermarket.
I don't care what anyone says about "Keep Original", that's a fool's choice.
That's exactly what Richzak said in his Post #4, the link to which is above in my Post #8:
"It is my understanding that on the rear wheel of our cars, the smaller black brake caliper for the emergency braking system is Brembo, but not the large massive red calipers."
A few members in here always buy Jag OEM parts no matter what. Dang. That'd suck.
Estimate for four rotors cuz I don't want to search rears...
$4400 for just rotors, Jaguar OEM vs. $350 for Aftermarket.
I don't care what anyone says about "Keep Original", that's a fool's choice.
Yup... and if you need new OEM calipers, at $4k per caliper, you can get another used XKR!
Italian origin is not confirmed. According to former Forum member Richzak:
So, take your pick; made in England by Alcon or made in Italy by Brembo, whichever you prefer. Unless, of course someone has more definitive proof. I'm not going to lose any sleep over where they were made.
At least they're not made in China!
Stuart, You misunderstood my response. Alcon calipers was never the subject of this thread. The question was regarding the disc rotors. Alcon provided a spec which I believe is patented, but another manufacturer made the rotors for Jaguar, not for Alcon. The person I spoke with years ago at Centric claimed to be the buyer and had said the OEM source was in fact in Italy. However I personally do not know if this is true or not.
If you are going to spend that much money on genuine branded rotors, I would direct others to consider the vastly lighter and superior ones offered by AP Racing (Spires & Lenthal) or Wortec (Swallows) for about the same cost. Otherwise consider unbranded aftermarket.