Are Slotted or Drilled Brake Rotors Actually Better?
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Even if your car does not use brembos, your brakes are important maintenance Items. And not just the pads, but the brake discs themselves eventually wear out too. Especially when you drive your car to the racetrack. Because consistent braking is so important that one of the most common performance changes is to add slotted or drilled brake rotors. But do such rotors offer specific advantages?
What is the difference between slotted and drilled brake discs?
When Jaguar introduced Disc brakes for the racing world in the 50s, the brake discs were just solid metal parts. And when Honda gave up its bikes Front disc brakes in the 1970s had changed little.
But today, when you look at the brake discs on a motorcycle, car or high-performance SUV, you see metal and empty space. Some have numerous small holes while others may have elongated grooves cut into the surface. The former are drilled rotors while the latter are slotted rotors. AutoAnything explained. And some rotors are even hybrids of the two.
As the name suggests, drilled rotors, also known as "cross-drilled rotors", are essentially solid rotors that have been carefully drilled. Redline360 Reports. They also have a vent between the opposing brake rotor surfaces. Slotted rotors are also modified firmly ventilated brake discs in the heart, Car guru Reports. In contrast to drilled rotors, however, the grooves ("slots") cut into their surface do not go completely through.
But why would you want to intentionally remove parts of your brake discs? It turns out there are some good reasons.
Do slotted or drilled brake discs make a difference to solid ones?
To be fair too thin a brake Rotor is not only less effective, but also dangerous. However, rotor thickness is only one aspect of braking performance. Even more important are the brake pads themselves and the heat they generate.
Slotted and drilled rotors work no differently than solid ones. When you press the brake pedal, the brake pads clamp onto the rotor via the brake caliper. And friction slows your vehicle down.
However, this friction generates heat and wears out the pads and rotors. This releases dust - mainly from the rotors, not the brake pads. Car and driver Reports - as well as hot gases. It's the heat, dust, and gases that all together cause the brake to fade. Which is a significant problem when driving fast on a winding road or on a racetrack.
This is where slotted and drilled rotors come into play. Drilled rotor holes in combination with the ventilation slots allow dust and hot gases to escape more easily. CarThrottle explained. They also allow water to escape more easily from the braking surface. The drive Reports. Because of this, many high-end bikes now have disc brakes: better braking in muddy conditions.
Slotted brake discs do not improve heat transfer as well as drilled ones. Power stop Reports. However, these grooves help to remove dust and gases from the contact point of the brake pads and the rotor. They also shave off the material on the surface of the pads. NAPA Reports. While this seems dangerous, it has a practical purpose. Repeated high temperature braking glazes the surfaces of the brake pads, making them less effective. By removing this glaze, fresh, non-slip material is exposed. R1 concepts explained.
Should you upgrade your rotors?
Trading in slotted or drilled - or slotted and drilled - brake discs offers tangible advantages, but also some disadvantages.
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Comments
Post a Comment