Upgrading the brakes is one of the smartest mods you can do on any car. In order to go fast, you first need to be able to stop, efficiently. We’ve already covered the importance of brake pads in the previous installment of the eEuroparts.com Car Owners’ Manual. This time around, we’re taking a close look at rotors. We’ll discuss how they affect your braking, what options are out there, and what makes the most sense. 

Why do Brake Rotors Matter?

With brake rotors, it’s all about temperature handling and surface area. If you drive a regular car — something that wasn’t necessarily made for performance and track use — chances are that you got a set of standard, plain rotors whose main job is to give you enough surface area to stop within a reasonable distance. For most people, this is plenty enough as far as daily commuting goes. 

However, when you start pushing your car, you’ll soon reach the limits of your stock brakes. Sure, your choice of brake pads is going to play a significant part in how your car brakes, but the pads can only do so much until the rotor becomes a weak link in this equation. 

At that point, you’ll need to make a few decisions if you want to get more out of your stock system. 

Upgrading the Brake Rotors — What Options Are Available? 

Brake rotors stop working when they reach extremely high temperatures. As you apply brake pressure, the pads get clamped on the rotor, causing friction. While this is the main force that stops the car, it also works against you if your driving style involves a lot of intense braking in a short period of time. 

What can you do to prevent your rotors from overheating? You can sacrifice some of that surface area that we’ve mentioned above, for better cooling. 

Advanced Rotor Designs 

There are a few ways brake manufacturers are able to achieve better temperature handling from their rotors. One of the main solutions involves reducing the surface area by either drilling holes in the rotor or creating slots on different parts of the braking surface. The other is by redesigning the cooling vanes that exist between the two braking surfaces. 

Slotted, Drilled, or Both?

Adding holes to a rotor helps evacuate some of the moisture that accumulates in wet conditions, which can impede your pad’s ability to fully mate with the rotor. Holes also help with cooling as the heat generated from braking has a clear path of escape. 

For the most part, drilled rotors are the ideal solution for spirited driving off the track. On the track, depending on how aggressive you are with your braking, you might be better off with slotted discs as they are more consistent in reducing brake fade. 

This is mostly because slots offer a more immediate way for the gases to evacuate the braking surface as the pad runs across the slot. At the same time, you are shaving off a minute amount of the friction material, revealing a fresh layer. 

A drilled/slotted rotor is a happy medium that provides the best of both worlds. The key is figuring out which design best fits your driving style. 

Bigger Rotors? 

Going for larger rotors is always a good idea, but one that requires a lot of planning. Bigger rotors aren’t something you can just slap on your car and call it a day. 

With bigger rotors come different calipers since your stock ones won’t cover newly acquired braking surface real estate. Then, there’s the question of wheel clearance. If you’re running stock wheels, there’s a chance that your new calipers simply won’t fit inside the wheel. 

Big brake kits are a great investment if you’re planning on tracking the car. In most other cases, you can get away with replacing stock pads and rotors with performance-oriented alternatives. 

There Is a Solution For Your Car 

If there’s one thing you should take with you after reading this guide, it’s that there is a solution for your car that will greatly improve its braking performance. Here at eEuroparts.com, we offer a wide range of brake rotors made by some of the best brands out there. Check our catalog for Brembo, SHW, and other brake rotors and find a solution that will transform the way your car drives!