Aftermarket rotors & brake pads

Has anyone used some of the "alleged" high performance brake rotors and pads, such as Frozen Rotors and Hawk high performance brake pads?

If so, are they measurably better than standard types or is it just hype & marketing?

I don't put a lot of stock in fads and voodoo science. I'm curious if anyone has actual experience.

http://www.frozenrotors.com/category/frozen-rotors/#

http://www.frozenrotors.com/category/hawk-performance/

 

Bs on the rotors. Unless they're slotted or drilled they won't stop quicker than stock. They look like nice quality replacements though. The pads seem good. I like ebc rotors and green stuff ceramic pads on my truck

 

Hawk brake pads are the goods. the LTS pads are quite a bit dustier than OEM though, just FYI.

 

It's eye candy,,a suckers bet. Brake pads and rotor are high performance by nature. My rear brakes have 202K on them and still look like new,,,cant see any higher performance than that. Unless you are towing a shortie trailer without brakes, overloaded and way over gross weight all the time, or racing on the SCORE circuit or Baja races full time,they are not needed.

 

Brembo blank rotors with hawk pads.

 

I can deal with brake dust, I owned a Mercedes once with the "factory" dust covered front wheels !

Have you used Hawk pads? If so, what can you say about them?

 

I'm very happy with OEM lads and rotors. Dust shields removed.

 

I'm a big fan of the Hawk LTS pads. I've only used their LTS version, so I can't comment on any other of their product lines.

Used them on my last 3 trucks, whenever it was time to change pads. They last forever, don't fade, even when towing. Granted, my usage in the PNW is hardly comparable to the heat and abuse brakes take when working hard in hot climates, but there are mountains and plenty of other opportunities to put brakes to the test.

I think the bigger difference was the Tundra brake swap. Currently, I have the Tundra SW13 calipers (the 231mm) and brembo blank rotors with Hawk LTS pads. Put more than 20k miles on this setup and am very happy. I'm running larger 285/75r16 tires with a fair amount of armor and gear and these brakes don't skip a beat. Great modulation and control, on-road or off-road.

Obviously, take my and any other opinion with a grain of salt... think how little people change their brake pads. It's not something that happens often, so good A/B comparisons don't really happen.

Bottom line: I like Hawk pads because they've performed well for me over long periods of time.

 

I have some brand new hawk HPS pads for sale if you want them... I upgraded to tundra HPS pads before I ever installed them.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacoma-marketplace/316131-bunch-1st-gen-good-parts.html

 

Thank You - that is exactly the type of info I'm seeking.

 

I endurance (14+ hour) road race (not gay ass AutoCrossing) and can tell you there is a difference in pads and rotors. We run EBC rotors and pads and like it. Most teams we race against run Frozen Rotors with Hawk HP+ pads. I believe Frozen Rotors and EBC are the only companies left in the world that do not use Chinese rotor blanks including Brimbo and Wilwood...believe it or not.

Slotted rotors on a DD is a waste. They just reduce the life of your pads as the slots act as a cutting edge and no DD needs the kind of performance to reduce brake fade and reduce gas buffer.

On my truck, I run EBC rotors and Toyota pads. Green stuff stops great but has a short life.

If you're interested in real racing performance, PM me. Otherwise I recommend EBC rotors (best quality/bang for the buck) and Toyota pads.

By the way longevity and performance are two different things. 99.9% of the public has never driven a car/truck hard enough for long enough to understand the reason for performance brakes. Does your DD Tacoma need high perf brakes? No. However, the science behind performance brakes isn't crap...it's just something most people have never had a need for or driven hard enough to experience.

 

good info! i have a background in racing motorcycles and brakes are a big deal there. i'm not so concerned with my truck... but i like the results from my Hawk pads haha!

 

Agree with most of this. I run EBC slotted with Red Stuff on a semi DD stage II WRX. I will gladly trade some longevity and dust for the DD performance. The Subie is not treated all that bad on a daily basis, but does get wailed on a fairly often and they never fail me..

 

You're the 0.1% then.

Do you have any brake ducting or run hi temp fluid?

 

DOT 4. No ducting. 1%

 

I will say between our ducting and Hi temp fluid we see ZERO brake fade even after hours of flogging the brakes. It's actually quite amazing.

 

I run EBC slotted rotors and EBC green stuff pads and I'm very happy.

 

Where in TN are you? We are aiming to hit the nearby SCCA races nearby,you race at all?

 

I live near Knoxville. I've done one AutoCross. I would advise not doing the PSTCC one. The pavement is slicker than hammered owl shit and the course is overly complicated and your entire first event is spoiled just trying to learn it.

 

All good info. And I understand the difference between longevity & performance. Tires provide a good analogy - you can have a hard tread compound that will last a long time or you can have a soft tread compound that provides excellent traction But you can't have both. Compromise is part of engineering and you have to decide what type of performance you're seeking.
I'm not racing my Tacoma so I don't need brakes that will allow me to shave .5 seconds off a lap by braking harder and later. I would like to have rotors that don't warp the first time they get a little hotter than usual or pads that glaze after one hard stop.

I totally agree that drilled and slotted rotors have little use on the street unless you just like replacing pads. The slots are not there to look cool, they're there to allow a path for gas between the pads/rotors to escape.

I have had problems with aftermarket rotors on other vehicles warping even after very light use. The quality of the steel seems to be the key factor.