Rotors & Brake pads combo

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Hey everyone,

My rear brakes have come to the point where they need to be replaced. After some research I have stumbled upon Hawk HPS pads & Geomet slotted rotors via ECS tuning.

Does anyone have any experience with this combo?

This is as a result of reading that cross drilled rotors are prone to cracking.

I am also contemplating Stoptech pads and slotted rotors as well but have read of their rotors rusting.

I appreciate any feedback

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E82-135...ors/ES2539492/

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-21...2e88-135i.aspx

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Bump

[Freon]

Hawk makes good pads. HPS is probably a good choice until you take your car to the track. They're very popular for weekend autocrossers and in general as factory replacements.

Short of the exotic carbon rotors on high end sports car your rotors are going to rust. Hell if it rains and you are parked outside expect even the friction surface to have a bit of rust on it. There's no such thing as a stainless steel rotor. I would trust Stoptech implicitly, and I feel they are very well respected in the aftermarket parts field. I don't understand the rust comment at all. Sounds like something someone who has never seen a brake rotor up close would say.

You may also just consider factory or factory-equivalent replacements (i.e. OEM brand). There's nothing wrong with the factory pieces.

There are varying opinions on drilled rotors. I think it depends on exactly how they are manufactured, but I'm not an expert.

[Kgolf31]

Unless you like spending money, a blank rotor serves the same purpose of a slotted or drilled.

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Originally Posted by Freon

Hawk makes good pads. HPS is probably a good choice until you take your car to the track. They're very popular for weekend autocrossers and in general as factory replacements.

Short of the exotic carbon rotors on high end sports car your rotors are going to rust. Hell if it rains and you are parked outside expect even the friction surface to have a bit of rust on it. There's no such thing as a stainless steel rotor. I would trust Stoptech implicitly, and I feel they are very well respected in the aftermarket parts field. I don't understand the rust comment at all. Sounds like something someone who has never seen a brake rotor up close would say.

You may also just consider factory or factory-equivalent replacements (i.e. OEM brand). There's nothing wrong with the factory pieces.

There are varying opinions on drilled rotors. I think it depends on exactly how they are manufactured, but I'm not an expert.

My only concern is, the OEM pads are a bit more expensive than the Hawk HPS and Zimmerman pads.

Zimmerman Pads and rotors come out to a total of $315 (Not including shipping costs)

Geomet slotted rotors & Hawk HPS pads come out to a total of $301 (Not including shipping costs)

OEM brake pads are $150 where as Stop tech are $117

So it actually is spending more for OEM.

[dsh135]

If you're not planning to track the car much then the OE pads are pretty hard to beat. Most aftermarket "upgrade" pads are more fade resistant on the track where rotor temps run high for sustained periods, but they are actually a step down from OE on the street in terms of cold performance and initial bite. If like many you like that strong bite that your pads had when new, you won't get it back with most performance pads. I had Hawk HPS on my last car and sorely missed the strong street performance as compared to VW OE (even though HPS is supposed to be Hawk's street pad). Again, the track is another story as the stock pads don't hold-up well when pushed that hard. To me the OE pads are worth a few more bucks for my purposes (street with maybe 2-3 fast lapping days/year) and I have a new set with Zimmerman rotors waiting to go on right now.