Thread: Need new discs- grooved??

Originally Posted by joel0407

Consider this guy.

High performance rotors and clutches // RapidRS.com.au

He claims that most of the Aussie sold and claimed Aussie made stuff is from China made blanks. So they all use the same steel.

I think his name is Brett from memory. I bought a full set of rotors for my WRX about 12 months ago. I was very happy with them.

I think a lot of rotor life and performance has a lot to do with how they are run in. I would always use a very soft pad to run them in and then change to a harder performance pad. The Ferrodo DS2500 (race only only sold by specialized suppliers) were excellent after the first couple of pushes. I always knew the brakes would not be so good through the first couple of round abouts as I left home but I was never pushing it as the engine was still cold. The DS2500 were rated at 200 degrees to 700.

I changed to a different metal pad with higher percentage of metal and were far better when stone cold but still rated to 750 degrees. When I made the change the rotors still had plenty left but the higher metal component pads chewed them up within 5000km.

I think you have to choose between the pads or the rotor wearing. I have noticed from watching night time races I would previously see rotors glowing red from heat. These days I see sparks flying out of the rims but no glowing rotors. I think brakes have changed from just pads getting changed to the wear being shared between rotors and pad. In the old days a rotor would last 100,000km plus. These days with a higher performance pad that will risist fad and deal with ABS and higher braking loads a rotor can be gone in 25,000 or even less in a vehicle that sees the odd track day.

Happy Days.

His name is Todd and all his slotting is done in house on a cnc mill , And no he will not drill Rotors but he will dimple them if that tickles your fancy , He will do custom slotting or standard slotting , His factory is now in Keysborough Near Dandenong Vic.

Originally Posted by rangieman

His name is Todd and all his slotting is done in house on a cnc mill , And no he will not drill Rotors but he will dimple them if that tickles your fancy , He will do custom slotting or standard slotting , His factory is now in Keysborough Near Dandenong Vic.

Todd, Brett. Pretty close I recon. Both names end in double letters. LOL

Yeah thats the guy. I was pretty happy with his rotors.

Happy Days.

RDA's are cheap and cheap for a reason.

DBA slotted/drilled are about $230- ea. Slotted T3 about $180-. T2 slotted $150-. Ceramic pads are available from Akebono, from Equipe Automotive - Contact Us
Front EUR676
Rear EUR493

No dust, minimal noise, no harsh wear on rotors.

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

RDA's are cheap and cheap for a reason.

DBA slotted/drilled are about $230- ea. Slotted T3 about $180-. T2 slotted $150

I'm not convinced the DBA rotors are any better (Their base line stuff at least). It was DBA 4000 slotted that I replaced with the RapidRS Rotors. Like I said before, I've been told they all use the same rotor stock. It's just the finishing that make them different.

DBA high level stuff are a bit differnt. I dont know of any other Aussie companies that offer 2 peice rotors with alloy caps. These are not really relivant for 4x4 use though.

Happy Days.

I went through 2 sets of RDA's in <6 months, replaced under wty each time but the last I paid to "upgrade" to DBA's and haven't looked back. I've done a couple of tours of the DBA factory/manufacturing facility and yes the stock blanks are made overseas (but that's been happening for less than 5 years) but the machining and quality control is done locally. Including random sample testing of parent materials.

If they had the 2 piece rotors available for D2's I'd have them. Reduced rotating mass, cheaper to replace.

I'm trying to work out an upgrade of the calipers/discs at the moment. 6 Pot fronts, 4 pot rears.

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

I went through 2 sets of RDA's in <6 months, replaced under wty each time but the last I paid to "upgrade" to DBA's and haven't looked back. I've done a couple of tours of the DBA factory/manufacturing facility and yes the stock blanks are made overseas (but that's been happening for less than 5 years) but the machining and quality control is done locally. Including random sample testing of parent materials.

If they had the 2 piece rotors available for D2's I'd have them. Reduced rotating mass, cheaper to replace.

I'm trying to work out an upgrade of the calipers/discs at the moment. 6 Pot fronts, 4 pot rears.

Did the RDA rotors wear out or fail in some other way?

Happy Days.

Just wearing out. Massive grooving, tried both OEM and other pads (4 types in total) post machining. And it wasn't on the Disco either, just the xTrail only on road, no towing or loaded. T2 slot DBA's been on for 2.5years, with EBC greenstuff pads (wish they were available for D2's) less than 2mm wear and no grooves.

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

Just wearing out. Massive grooving, tried both OEM and other pads (4 types in total) post machining. And it wasn't on the Disco either, just the xTrail only on road, no towing or loaded. T2 slot DBA's been on for 2.5years, with EBC greenstuff pads (wish they were available for D2's) less than 2mm wear and no grooves.

I had my DBA rotors machined once in their life but I have about 10km of dirt everytime I went home. While they were grooved bad enough for a machining they weren't worn too bad. That was with the Ferodo DS2500 pads. Once I changed to the other pads they just disapeared. It was pretty terrible.

Just having a think the pads that ate the discs were Project Mu. I'm going to have trouble remembering the model though.

I wonder if DBA do some sort of heat treating as a part of their disc finishing. I suspect the heat cycling is the most part of running in a new disc. If it doesn't heat cycle enough then the disc will remain soft and shed material rather than heat up. Thats why I go with a cheap soft pad for run in and then change to a performance pad later. Their is not too much trouble with the pad sheding material as long as the disc is getting hot enough.

Happy Days.