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Which BBK- Wilwood or Rotora?

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Old 10-02-2005, 10:55 PM
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Default Which BBK- Wilwood or Rotora?

I can get a new Wilwood BBK for $915 shipped on eBay.

Or, I have a hook-up to get a Rotora BBK for $985 plus tax and shipping (total would be under $1,100)

I like the fact that the wilwood calipers are black...I'm not sure if Rotora offers black calipers. But I remember hearing back when I had a WRX that the Wilwood BBK's did not have dust shields or something like that so they required frequest cleaning and maintenance.

I don't want to discuss whether I need a BBK or not...I just want opinions on which one to get, especially from those of you that have these.

Thanks!
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Old 10-02-2005, 10:57 PM
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price and name... Wilwood... get it...
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Old 10-02-2005, 11:34 PM
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wilwood. name brand.
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Old 10-03-2005, 08:04 AM
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Rotora seems to be a good brand as well, never heard otherwise and a few I know that own them are happy

I would not get drilled rotors for the street, whatever brand you get, ask for slotted rotors or solid;)

I went with Wilwood, very low weight, excellent quality, I pick what brands I want on the car then seek sponsorships, in this case Wilwood is what I wanted, asked for and got, all for good reason

Rick
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Old 10-03-2005, 05:17 PM
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i would get the black wilwood kit. some of my friends that have the wilwood kit are very happy with them(not for the tc though). i dont know anyone that has a rotora kit, so i have no real opinion on them.

i emailed them a few months ago. rotora offers a painting service for the calipers. it would cost $100+ (forgot the actual amount, but i am positive it was over $100) for custom color(other than the standard blue or red)
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Old 10-03-2005, 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by raamaudio
I would not get drilled rotors for the street, whatever brand you get, ask for slotted rotors or solid;)
Why not drilled for the street?
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Old 10-03-2005, 07:07 PM
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Originally Posted by rhythmnsmoke
Originally Posted by raamaudio
I would not get drilled rotors for the street, whatever brand you get, ask for slotted rotors or solid;)
Why not drilled for the street?
drilled can crack sometimes. the only reason you would drill is for heat dissipation and on the street you won't see nearly that much heat. even if you street race. you see cross-drills on high end sports cars b/c they can achieve those higher mph's where the brakes will get full on hot real quick. i'm not saying it's impossible to get there on street, but, it's very unlikely. i think we need to figure out how to make some liquid cooled brakes. that would be the ticket. i thought i heard about some once, but it turned out to be a rumor.
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Old 10-03-2005, 07:26 PM
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There are alot of different opinions on drilled, slotted, drilled and slotted, etc, etc and I have done a fair amount of looking into this. Plus, I worked out our best solution with a Wilwood engineer so fairly comfortable in what we selected, sloted rotors.

Our rotors are sloted only because we will drive it on the street so want them to last, not drilled because the heat on the track can actually make them crack sooner as well. (Notice I said sooner, not may make them crack;) Generally, advisable to stay with plain or slotted only rotors for these reasons.

Super high end sports cars are hardly ever driven alot of miles, owners expect high maintenance and high parts costs, super big brakes can be very heavy, drilling can lessen that a bit, etc... Best not to compare totally different vehicles, use, budgets, etc, etc.

Rick

Race cars go through brake rotors like some of us go through underwear, or at least should, quite often, lol! Drilled rotors can have a significant benifit in performance and are expected to have a short life.

Drilled rotors for most all street driven vehicles is eye candy at best.
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Old 10-03-2005, 08:36 PM
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Originally Posted by xlr8tC
drilled can crack sometimes. the only reason you would drill is for heat dissipation and on the street you won't see nearly that much heat. even if you street race. you see cross-drills on high end sports cars b/c they can achieve those higher mph's where the brakes will get full on hot real quick. i'm not saying it's impossible to get there on street, but, it's very unlikely. i think we need to figure out how to make some liquid cooled brakes. that would be the ticket. i thought i heard about some once, but it turned out to be a rumor.
Drilled crack sooner under heavy use. They use them on racecars not for heat, but for weight. They expect to ruin them during the course of a weekend, so they are a high maintnance item. You do not see them on weekend warriors.

It is practically impossible to get brakes to racing temperatures on the street, just as it is practically impossible to get racing tires up to temperature on the street. You just can't go fast enough, long enough. Once you've been to the track, you'll know what I'm saying.

There are liquid cooled brakes. NASCAR short track racers use pumps and heat exchangers on the brakes to circulate the fluid to help get the heat out of the calipers. They are very much liquid cooled, just not with a separate system and a different fluid.
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Old 10-03-2005, 09:20 PM
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Originally Posted by xlr8tC
Originally Posted by rhythmnsmoke
Originally Posted by raamaudio
I would not get drilled rotors for the street, whatever brand you get, ask for slotted rotors or solid;)
Why not drilled for the street?
drilled can crack sometimes. the only reason you would drill is for heat dissipation and on the street you won't see nearly that much heat. even if you street race. you see cross-drills on high end sports cars b/c they can achieve those higher mph's where the brakes will get full on hot real quick. i'm not saying it's impossible to get there on street, but, it's very unlikely. i think we need to figure out how to make some liquid cooled brakes. that would be the ticket. i thought i heard about some once, but it turned out to be a rumor.
I know what drilled is for. Here, let me restate it this way. Drilled is designed to be thrashed on. That's when you are doing some serious manuvers. So, for the most part, they are designed for track use. So, if you use them on a street car, they are not seeing the same amount of wear & tear that you would on a track car. So, if there is no wear & tear, then why would they crack? They are designed to dissipate the heat better, but if there is no heat to dissipate, then wouldn't that equal longer life span? I assume you mean they will crack from high use. But they are designed for high use situations, but on the street those situations are rarely seen. So, again, what's wrong with drilled on the street?
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Old 10-03-2005, 09:30 PM
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No, they are NOT designed to dissipate heat better, and they won't ever do that. They were originally designed to allow trapped gas from organic pads to escape because the gas would push the pad off a solid faced rotor. No other reason.

Drilled crack sooner, period. This has been reported MANY times by street and track users. The only drilled rotors in any current series I know about are in ALM because they are looking for any advantage, however tiny, to be competitive.

I can give you a quote from a good friend of mine who placed fourth in the 2003 One Lap in a Supra "drilled rotors suck!"

His rotors failed half-way through the race and cost him considerable down time to replace with OEM rotors that had no issues completing the race (and they hadn't even got to Road Altanta yet!)
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Old 10-03-2005, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by lo_bux_racer
No, they are NOT designed to dissipate heat better, and they won't ever do that. They were originally designed to allow trapped gas from organic pads to escape because the gas would push the pad off a solid faced rotor. No other reason.

To a degree, they do dissipate heat better. But I knew about the trap gas functionality as well.
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Old 10-03-2005, 09:40 PM
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Once again lo-bux is right. There is however another benefit to drilled rotors which is increased bite characteristics over a blank or slotted rotor and are still sometimes used on the rear brakes of some racing cars (where the heat is not as much of an issue). It is true that drilled rotors are prone to cracking, but on a street only car it is unlikely to happen (unless they are of low quality). Drilled rotors have been phased out on race cars not only for their short life, but current brake pads dont have the same ougassing characteristics they used to have. New technology has reduced that to the point of being a non-issue after a proper bed-in procedure. When looking at slottd rotors, be sure to watch for slots that go all the way to the edge of the rotor. This can creat a weak spot and lead to rotor cracking as well.
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Old 10-03-2005, 10:45 PM
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On the street, the "advantage" of drilled rotors is a lighter weight and therefor less unsprung weight. But I figure it's akin to a spoiler helping out with downforce on a street car.
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Old 10-03-2005, 11:05 PM
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Well said!
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Old 10-03-2005, 11:50 PM
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Anyway we can get back to the original reason for this post guys????
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Old 10-03-2005, 11:53 PM
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I thought the man just wanted advice on which kit to buy!

I will admit, though, that the discussion has been very informative and well-mannered. I'm learning.

Carry on.
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Old 10-04-2005, 12:35 AM
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I go for Willwood or Stoptech. I don't know much about Rotora, but I have seen a kit on the TC and it did not look bigger then stock, not by much. The Stoptech is 2 inches larger then stock! Not to mention that, the Stoptech ones are all about balance. You get the bigger rotor so you can stop more often harder, but they also balance the break system a bit better so the rears work a slight bit more and bring your stopping distance down at the same time.

I trust Stoptech, but I also trust Wilwood. The customer services from Stoptech is wonderful as well. I'd compare weight, warranty, specs, etc between Stoptech and Wilwood and then decide. To me, brakes are NOT an item I seek economy in.
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Old 10-04-2005, 01:08 AM
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TRD Big Brake Kits are rebadged stoptechs....not sure if that means anything to you or not., but TRD stuff is always top quality. I doubt you can get them for the price you mentioned earier though.
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Old 10-04-2005, 01:34 AM
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Originally Posted by suby2scion
Anyway we can get back to the original reason for this post guys????
Sure. Buy the color you like best. It's for a street application, and there's no way you'll be stressing any of these brakes to their limits, so it really is a cosmetic choice. Pick what looks good and fits your pocketbook. JMHO.
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