Upgraded brakes are, simply, a logical part of your aspiring tuner car, especially if you’re dialing up its handling, power output and rubber. After all, what good is all that handling and horsepower if you can’t stop?
Many aspiring tuners look with shame at the factory brakes on their rides. Colourless, dull and uninspiring, a vehicle’s brakes often look even more insignificant when easily visible behind a set of aftermarket wheels.
Fact is, those fancy brake rotors you see on high-end cars, with holes drilled in them, look fantastic. They’re an exotic bit of styling, and generate some mystique as to what sort of under-hood performance may have necessitated such a capable-looking set of brakes. You probably want a set.
But, tackle brake upgrades carefully. Misinformed shoppers improperly upgrading their brakes may wind up wasting a lot of money, experiencing reduced brake-system performance, reduced durability or even winding up in an accident.
Here’s why:
Those slotted and cross-drilled brake rotors, or “track” brake pads, are designed and engineered to deliver consistent stopping performance when exposed to the extreme levels of heat generated by racetrack driving.
Street driving doesn’t generate that level of heat and stress. Not even close. Even aggressive driving on a public road won’t subject your brake system to the extremes that repeated stops from 200+ km/h will. On a track, maximum stopping power applied from extremely high speeds frequently and regularly is a reality. On the street, it’s not. There’s no additional performance to be had by installing brake parts intended for track use if you’re not hitting the track.
Those holes or slots in the fancy rotors are present to dissipate the gasses formed when brake pads virtually “vaporize” under extreme heat. They give expanding gasses a place to escape, allowing the pads to “bite” harder against the rotor. On the road, this simply isn’t an issue. Plus, drilled rotors can crack, split and rip up your pads like a cheese grater -- especially if you buy the cheap, knock-off units.
Those slotted, vented rotors won’t shorten your stopping distance on a public road anyways. Use of completion-spec brake pads may improve your stopping distances slightly, though they’ll likely chew up your brake rotors and make a hell of a lot of noise.
So, with any brake “upgrade,” be double sure you’re not actually hurting your car’s capabilities. And remember: Since track pads are designed to work under extreme heat, they’re typically made of a compound that doesn’t “bite” as hard until it gets hot.
This can be dangerous.
Ian Law is the President & Chief Instructor at ILR Car Control School. He comments: “Race pads are very dangerous on the street as they need to be hot to work properly. They are not recommended at all for street use. On a cold day it can actually feel like the brakes are broken. In short, street vehicles do not need the fancy stuff to stop well. A good set of quality pads and rotors will work just as well for street use.”
Many aspiring tuners look with shame at the factory brakes on their rides. Colourless, dull and uninspiring, a vehicle’s brakes often look even more insignificant when easily visible behind a set of aftermarket wheels.
Fact is, those fancy brake rotors you see on high-end cars, with holes drilled in them, look fantastic. They’re an exotic bit of styling, and generate some mystique as to what sort of under-hood performance may have necessitated such a capable-looking set of brakes. You probably want a set.
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| Photo: Stillen |
But, tackle brake upgrades carefully. Misinformed shoppers improperly upgrading their brakes may wind up wasting a lot of money, experiencing reduced brake-system performance, reduced durability or even winding up in an accident.
Here’s why:
Those slotted and cross-drilled brake rotors, or “track” brake pads, are designed and engineered to deliver consistent stopping performance when exposed to the extreme levels of heat generated by racetrack driving.
Street driving doesn’t generate that level of heat and stress. Not even close. Even aggressive driving on a public road won’t subject your brake system to the extremes that repeated stops from 200+ km/h will. On a track, maximum stopping power applied from extremely high speeds frequently and regularly is a reality. On the street, it’s not. There’s no additional performance to be had by installing brake parts intended for track use if you’re not hitting the track.
Those holes or slots in the fancy rotors are present to dissipate the gasses formed when brake pads virtually “vaporize” under extreme heat. They give expanding gasses a place to escape, allowing the pads to “bite” harder against the rotor. On the road, this simply isn’t an issue. Plus, drilled rotors can crack, split and rip up your pads like a cheese grater -- especially if you buy the cheap, knock-off units.
Those slotted, vented rotors won’t shorten your stopping distance on a public road anyways. Use of completion-spec brake pads may improve your stopping distances slightly, though they’ll likely chew up your brake rotors and make a hell of a lot of noise.
So, with any brake “upgrade,” be double sure you’re not actually hurting your car’s capabilities. And remember: Since track pads are designed to work under extreme heat, they’re typically made of a compound that doesn’t “bite” as hard until it gets hot.
This can be dangerous.
Ian Law is the President & Chief Instructor at ILR Car Control School. He comments: “Race pads are very dangerous on the street as they need to be hot to work properly. They are not recommended at all for street use. On a cold day it can actually feel like the brakes are broken. In short, street vehicles do not need the fancy stuff to stop well. A good set of quality pads and rotors will work just as well for street use.”