I just purchased a set of front and rear brake rotors from heeltoeautomotive.com for my 2008 TL Type-S and I have a few questions. I bought the 1 piece open slot front rotors and slotted rear rotors. I would like to know if the OEM Acura pads are Semi-Metallic or Ceramic. I am running Brembo Ceramic front brake pads and OEM rear pads currently. I called and talked to 2 reps at RacingBrake the first rep said it should be ok to run Brembo ceramics up front and OEM on the rear for a daily driver. The second rep said I have to use Semi-Metallic pads with the RacingBrake slotted rotors. When I placed the order at HeelToe I called and talked to the rep and he basically said to try whatever I want and if I feel like upgrading the pads later it should be ok. Anyone have any experience with running different brake pads with RacingBrake slotted rotors? Any input will be greatly appreciated. I might just get the RacingBrake ET300 pads for the front and rear but since my wife is the primary driver I am concerned with the potential for excessive brake noise/dust.

 

I have Racing Brake ET300s on my car and they make no noise. Just have to make sure they are bedded properly after installation. I don't find the dust is all that bad either.

 

Thank you for the response Taco. Are you running slotted rotors or blanks?

 

Grease them properly. All I'm going to say.

 

I decided to go with Brembo Ceramic OE replacment rear pads over the factory OEM pads. I am already running these up front and I love them. I always use either the Brembo copper lube or 3m copper lube on the back of the pads and the contact points. I also clean/lube the slides and shims. I am the shop foreman at a local dealership and I have been ASE Certified Master Technician for years.

 

Just pointing out the obvious as that's where most of the "noise" comes from.

Also, I would run RB pads with RB rotors as I've been told both are harder than usual. You may find those rotors will eat up other pads.

FYI I've been running ET500s and RB one pieces for several years now.

 

Thank you for the response. I appreciate your input and will probably upgrade the pads at some point. I am leaning towards the ET300 pads. The Brembo Ceramic front pads were like $70 and the rear cost $49. I want to try them first and see how they react to the RB rotors.

 

I'm running slotted rotors. I just like the look of them, but really, I think blanks are best for such an application. Most braking surface area. The rotors I have only have five slots on them each which is nice and minimal, while still offering plenty of brake surface for stopping.

No one wants to believe it, but drilled rotors, or drilled/slotted rotors offer less stopping power. I'm specifically talking about the ones with lots of slots/holes. You lose a lot of surface area. That's why when you do see oem versions on cars, the rotors are massive in diameter. They compensate for the loss in surface area by making the discs bigger, all while looking nice and sporty.

And let's be honest, the "cooling" of slotted/drilled rotors is unnecessary unless one is tracking their car.

 

RacingBrake makes some great rotors, I have 185K on my TL and I've had the same rotors on there since 50K. I've gone through 3 sets of Acura A-Spec Pads on the rears and 2 on the fronts (I'm an automatic) and the stopping power is great!

I honestly would recommend going with the CMAX Gold front's with the lifetime pad warranty and go with the same on the rears. The Stopping power should be better than stock and you'll have free lifetime brakes with the slotted rotors. If you don't want to go that route, the ET300 are great for local driving and the ET500's are great for the spirited person.

 

Just wanted to chime in here...the ET300s are discontinued. They have been found to be a great pad, but the ET500 offers all the same benefits while being more resilient at higher braking temps (sporty street driving). Since many customers run into a limit with the ET300 (ie, anyone with a 2g TL or CL!) we just recommend the ET500 now, and RB will no longer offer the ET300 as it is redundant.

If anyone needs more detail please let us know.

949-295-1668

-Marcus

 

Slotted and drilled rotors do not make them cool off faster. Blanks are the best period.