Warped Rotors

Now that the pads and rotors are broken in, there's a real improvement in braking power over stock. Doubt that it's the slots or dimples, at least until I get into some hard freeway speed stops that would overheat standard brakes, but I'm betting the ceramic pads are helping a lot.

 

The slots/holes will help with wet weather braking. They decrease the amount of metal in the rotors, decreasing the amount of time it takes to warp them. The holes also create a nice point for stress fractures to occur.
I have towed and hauled with my factory brakes and have had no overheating, warping, or other problems. Still stopping strong after 65k miles. If you were overheating your brakes, perhaps you need to change your driving habits, Mr. Andretti

 

LOL... well, it's been 40 years since a judge has called me Andretti, and I certainly wasn't driving a geezer truck with a camper shell at the time!

As I said, I doubt the slots and dimples make much difference, and maybe they do weaken the rotors- but again, I just don't believe I'm that hard on brakes. I had 3 4Runners and an '89 pickup for a total of at least 200,000 miles without even changing pads. I don't know for sure what caused the issue with the steering wheel shake under braking, but the concept of pad deposit on the rotors sure makes a lot of sense to me.
The simple fact is, it stops a lot better, and I suspect it's the ceramic pads.

 

Slotting, cross-drilling and dimples don't really help cooling enough to matter, but by giving gasses produced by hot pad materials a place to go it reduces onset of fade during really, really hot, heavy braking (can you say rally competitions Mr. Andretti?).

x2 for what skytower says about cross-drilling.... it's a really, really bad idea on an every-day driver 'cause of the stress risers that lead to eventual cracking. Slots and dimples that don't go through the rotor are much less of a problem for that.

Otherwise.. they look cool sitting behind some really smart open-spoke wheels with a painted caliper. But ONLY if it fills the wheel otherwise they look wimpy.