Rotora Big Brake Kit Product Review

Drilled rotors aren't a bad thing, the way that they are manufactured is what counts. Drilling holes in a blank rotor exposes the end of the metal's molecular grain line causing micro factures which will lead to cracks. Rotors casted with the holes don't have this problem as the grain lines are uninterrupted and unbroken.

BMW, Mercedes and most OEM brake systems with "drilled" rotors are cast perforated, they are cast with the holes in them and are not drilled after casting.

 

So happy I went to 18’s and able to fit the 355’s. These 2pc are LEGIT. And lighter than the smaller diameter 1pc

 

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Sexy.

2pc oversized directionally cooled rotors are definitely the way to go if the increased cost is not an issue.

 

OP,

Great review and very informational thread! Thank you!

 

Looks like a sweet kit

 

total thread jack, but what's your opinion on the StopTech kit for 16" wheels? Is it the smaller rotor that limits its performance?
Im trying to decide between 16/17" wheels but would like to stay with 16s..
https://sosperformance.com/products...-fits-2005-18-toyota-tacoma-w-slash-16-wheels

 

To avoid thread jacking, come over here to discuss:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/brake-upgrade-stoptech-rotors-trd-performance-pads.523829/

 

very curious how much weight did you wake with this set up and what sort of noticeable performance have you gained? This is nearly a $2K kit seems like a lot of cash for a thin brake rotor which looks fragile

 

As you read from my quote I saved 26 pounds and noticed a small improvement in the performance. I paid around $1600 last year but there were 2 TW members who paid around $1300 last November during a black Friday sale. The rotors are the same thickness as the OEM rotors and are not fragile at all. Wilwood has been producing racing brakes for the last 40 years and would not be in business still if they had a reputation for making fragile brakes. Hope this helps.

 

I had cross drilled rotors in my AMG mercedes and put 90k miles on it with a lot of spirited driving and track events and never had a crack.

 

My dad has over 60k miles on his Porsche with no cracks on the rotors and he drives it hard every time he takes it out, if drilled rotors were so bad high end companies wouldn't use them.

 

Those vehicles were designed with over sized braking systems to account for the material loss of drilled rotors and be safely within the operating range of the rotor. You'll also notice that those rotors are over $1k/ea and the manufacturing is exceptional. But even then they will likely still start to crack at some point. AMG examples here, here, aftermarket AMG here, while the OEM cracks are small heat cycling will make the cracks grow but the rotor will likely be replaced before it becomes a real issue. The real risk of drilled rotors is when people replace stock rotors with stock sized drilled rotors, as they have removed braking material from the system causing the brakes to then run hotter, they have not improved cooling, and the brakes are weaker due to drilling with introduced stress points all which will lead to cracking, unlike over sized applications which have added material and surface area and improved cooling to the system. You can see an article from EBC Brakes on why you should not run stock sized drilled rotors here.

Don't confuse function vs marketing, drilled rotors are not as performant as non-drilled ones of the same size. On expensive performance cars it is done for looks as it needs to look expensive and look fast. Automotive manufactures make these types of compromises all the time because they are marketing a product to sell to you, and cooler looking products sell better.

 

obviously drilled rotors are mainly for looks I was just pointing out properly designed ones are better engineered than your typical ebay brand, you could also argue slotted rotors are poser too, really I don't see the issue running a plain faced rotor, if its good enough for a hypercar shouldn't it be good enough for anything else?

 

Yes I'm well aware of the 2 piece rotors that the c63s use as well. If you keep looking through the photos, even not cross drilled and slotted brakes had cracks in them as well. This is all within tolerances though and would normally be replaced by then. Gotta pay to play. But I do agree that cross drilled is more for looks than for function. I was looking into single piece blank rotors instead of 2 piece rotors for the c63's 6pot brakes for a while because a) much cheaper and b) lasts longer. That being said I'm fine with our front brakes, but hate how we have drums in the rear. My rear drums have already got stuck twice in the cold (during the snowpocalypse here) and once after playing at the beach from the salt, even though I hosed everything down.

 

Has any one investigated using a 5th Gen 4R or an LC master which I assume is larger for rear disks and could retain the ATRAC, Crawl Control, ABS?

Back in the day I used an 80 series non abs master cylinder on my 70 series after I did a brake upgrade.

 

Wow their web has it around $1900 now :/ when you say you saw or felt improvement I assume you’re talking about stopping power or mpg since there is less rotational mass ? Have you had any issues with it since you’ve been running it for a bit now

 

I am not aware, I've seen people on the forum recommending/using the sequoia booster as the preferred option for the rear disc upgrade, which does not offer ATRAC. I've not investigated it further.

 

There has been a large improvement in stopping power since it is a 6 piston big brake kit. There seems to be a small improvement in MPG and acceleration. I have not had any issues since installing them over a year ago. The following link has them for $1523.

https://thmotorsports.com/12191028-wilwood-140-14577

 

Thx. See if anything comes up with Memorial Day sales there go my shuttered dreams of 16” Volk looks like I’ll need 17” rims.