Quote:
Originally Posted by babymog
Depends on how you drive.
The '95 wagon had some of the larger brakes, upsized rears and 4-piston upsized fronts, and unless you're planning track time with the full rated load (~1000lbs) you will likely not overheat the stock brakes.
Slotted, drilled, etc. are fine and most buy them for looks. For your car it is not necessary and will likely only create faster wear (holes and slots will "clean" the pad surface as you brake, meaning better grip but shorter life).
Most rotors "warp" from improper installation or poorly manufactured castings. If the castings are from a cheap source they can have cast-in stresses that will stress-relieve when heat-cycled, and this will give you the warp that most people experience in brake rotors (and drums). Proper rotors are cast with properly controlled processes, stress-relieved before machining, and will last you a very long time.
Unless you're looking for the red-caliper racing look, I'd suggest OE (assuming OE is still OE quality, which is a crap-shoot on a 20+year old car) or a high-quality alternative like Brembo.
|
I have done three replacement cycles on the front since I bought the car in 2009, and IIRC, the first set of rotors were in fact Brembo, then the second was ATE, and now currently I went with the Centric brand. I can't remember ever having a warped rotor since that is something I simply cannot tolerate! So far, so good with the Centric rotors - they are very smooth and seem to have very nice stopping ability.
The ONLY thing that slightly concerns me is my choice for pads. I'm on Rock Auto emailing list and I receive "Wholesaler Closeouts" notices from time to time. The latest one had all these brake components and such so there were several pad set selections but they were limited. I hope it doesn't end up that I had a momentary lapse of better judgement for buying a set of pads that cost less than $10! The write up on them was convincing enough for me that they are indeed a proper choice for the car. We'll see! I think they were "Parts Master" brand. Never heard of them, but I'm taking a chance...
__________________
Dale
1995 E320 Wagon 185K [SOLD]
1988 260e Sedan 165K
2007 F-150 XLT 188K [SOLD]
2003 Harley Davidson FLTRI Anniversary 26K
-----------------------------
2006 BMW 330Ci 110K - [SOLD]