Originally Posted by justnspace

I hate cars has this.

THe factory brembo rotors are 12inches while this one is 13inches!
more surface area to cool!!

Originally Posted by I hate cars

UPS just dropped the kit off. I figured I would start this thread to show the install and later on the performance testing with numbers to compare to the stock system and the current Rotora 13" 1pc kit.

Right out of the box, you can tell this is a high quality system. Even the boxes look nice lol. Calipers are substantially larger than the Rotors. They have a bolt in bridge, Rotoras do not so I'm expecting these to be stiffer. Pistons are two different sizes, I can't remember off the top of my head but I believe 38 and 42mm but I'll have to double check. I'm going to caliper the Rotora rotors to get an idea of the change in bias.

The instructions appear to be for the 2pc kit and are a little generic in nature. I believe these are this is the first kit to be shipped with the only other one being the TL they used for development so specific instructions probably do not exist yet.

I'm a little worried that no shims are provided but hopefully they aren't needed. I'll worry about that when the time comes. I have to assume they use the stock hardware to bolt the caliper bracket to the spindle as the Rotoras do.

The 1pc Rotors look very nice. They're not the curved vane design of the 2-pc but the venting looks exceptionally well done. Being a 1pc, the rotors and hat are one piece obviously but it's designed with slots that look like they would minimize heat transfer into the hub/hat.

I've got a ton of pictures but no time to upload now. I have to get them installed and bled before I lose sunlight. It's raining today, I'm doing the install in the garage but I really hate to even open the reservoir with humidity in the air. I only have a pint of brake fluid so the plan is to bleed them again on Monday or Tuesday when the rest of the fluid comes in.

So for now, installation, then bed-in when the rain stops, then driving impressions and after maybe a week, cold hard numbers for an objective comparison to stock and the Rotora BBK.

Almost forgot, these are slotted, never doing drilled again. Calipers are black, I don't want it to be obvious they're aftermarket.

Originally Posted by I hate cars

I've got a couple hours of seat time with these. First, the problems. I was only able to pick up one pint of the Motul 600 I wanted to use. The fluid I swapped out only 1.5 years ago was very dark already. I was unable to do a complete flush and I was unable to bleed as thoroughly as I wanted to. I should have more fluid on Monday and I'll be able flush the whole system out.

The calipers clear the stock rims with ease. I can nearly get my pinky finger between the caliper and spokes (I have big fingers lol). These have less clearance than the Rotoras though. From a distance they look very close to the rim.

Not that it's important but I chose black so the brakes would blend in. I've always tried to make my fast cars look slow and any mods to go unnoticed. Walking up to the car after getting Taco Bell, the brakes definitely blend in. If you did not know the TL you would probably not notice it has aftermarket brakes. These calipers are huge so if you ordered them in one of the other colors like red, they would really stand out. I'm so used to the blue of the Rotoras that it does catch my eye now that it's not there. I might actually have to give Rotora the upper hand in the looks department.

So on to driving impressions.. These are quieter than the Rotoras, silent in fact, just like stock. No more airplane noise during moderately hard stops. Was it the fact that the Rotoras were slotted and drilled or just an inferior setup, I don't know.

Pedal has a little travel, no more than the Rotoras but more than stock. Since they need to be bled again, I'll wait until then to give a full review. I'll just say pedal feel is very promising and already better than the Rotoras in a couple ways.

I did something a little different this time. I installed the driver's side Stoptech and bedded it in with the Rotora kit on the other side. I did several stops from 60-10mph until the brakes faded. Then I drove around for about 10 minutes without hitting the brakes to cool them off. When I got back I shot temperatures of each brake including the rears.

The Stoptech rotor was around 140F and the caliper was 110F. The Rotora rotor was 298F and caliper was 230F. Rears were very close at 299F for the rotor.

It's more of a difference than I would have expected but I have a feeling it's due to a few different factors. The Stoptechs have proper bias, the Rotoras are more front biased. The Rotora could have been doing more of the stopping. Not enough to be an extra 160 degrees though. The Stoptechs are superior in heat rejection but I won't know how much more until I have time to collect data on a dry day. These temps were taken after going to the point of fade and then driving around for 10 minutes to cool them off. There are too many variables to draw any conclusions other than the Stoptechs run cooler and I would really like to shoot temps right after bed-in as well.

With the other side complete, I bedded in the brakes one last time. I shot temps and noticed a the rear brake temps had gone up slightly in comparison to the fronts so I'm guessing the bias has shifted rearward like I was hoping it would. There's just a tiny bit more pedal effort to stop, another indicator that some of the front bias might be gone.

On the few dry patches I could find, stopping was extremely powerful. Going just by the seat of the pants feeling, this car stops harder period. It actually feels like it has more rear bias. One thing to note is I was taking it right up to the point of ABS kicking in with a pulse here or there, not just jamming the pedal to the floor. It feels like it stops the hardest right before ABS takes over.

That brings me to ABS operation... It doesn't feel so on or off or so violent. It feels a lot more like it did when stock. Some of these changes in feel can be attributed to the different pads and even the fluid (DOT 5.1 to 4) but other changes are the brake system.

So fade resistance is better, it's likely going to be much better when I get around to running the numbers but I'll have to wait until then to know for sure. I truly believe one stop stopping distance has been improved due to a change in bias and my seat of the pants feeling but I'll have to wait to find out.

Opinions are subject to change as this is a very early review with very little drive time. I really shouldn't be posting a review right now with so little drive time but it's a nice reference for me to look back on down the road.

I do have to note that at the price point of this kit along with the better performance and refinement, I can't imagine why anyone would buy Rotora. Thanks to Excelerate for stepping up and offering a 1pc BBK.

Pictures to follow, I'm too tired to upload anything, maybe tomorrow.

Originally Posted by I hate cars

Remember, it's raining, everything is dirty.


Kicked the Mercedes out of the garage for this install lol.









Rotora 13" vs Stoptech 13"










Rotora:





Rotora vs stock 11.8"









Mercedes kicked to the curb that time too: