Quote:
Originally Posted by cornerstrike
Im no brake expert and this thread has provided a lot of solid information. At the same time Im a little confused.
It seems there are more negatives then positives in regard to drilled/slotted rotors and BBKs in general. If this is the case, and this is where the confusion starts, why do so many OEM vehicles, which are intended to be daily driven and have similar weight to our Civics, come from the factory with drilled rotors in huge dimensions?
I would think that a brake system similar to our Civic's would be sufficient, if indeed a bigger brake set up with drilled rotors would produce inferior daily driven performance, not taking the front and rear brake bias in consideration.
Like I said, Im no expert, but this thread has just confused the hell out of me. Why the hell would the aftermarket develop BBKs for our cars, knowing that most of us would daily drive them anyway?
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This is my theory ....
It is all about perception of what is better, and marketing a concept of high performance ... when you hear that the new "XXX" car come stock with Brembo's and x-drilled rotors .... you think WOW !!! it must stop really well ... THAT is A PERFORMANCE CAR !
Reality does NOT matter ... it is all about perception.
If look arround most people "really" want a BBK to "fill out the rims" and because it looks cool ...plus the bragging rights that they have "XXX" BBK. Only a small persentage of BBK buyers do so purely for the performance advantages.
Related to this ... Over the past 5-6 years we have seen a large increase in OE rim sizes ... 10+ years ago the average rim size was 14-15", 5-6 years ago 15-16" rims were the norm ...now 17-18 are very common. When you have big rims you "need" big rotors to "fill" in the rims so that it looks right. You have probably seen a EG civic rolling on OE brakes (9.5") with 17" rims .. it looks kinda silly (The small brakes look lost inside the rims)
The Aftermarket brake comapnies are just filling the demand for these parts ... If people will buy them, they will sell them ... the reason for buying does not matter to them.
Related to this, Cars have been getting heavier and heavier ... the Base civic in 1992 weighs about 2100# ..Now it is close to 2700# ...this requires EITHER more aggessive pads, or bigger brakes to dissapate heat generated when stopping a MUCH heavier car. Since Manufactures and most consumers do not like aggressive brakes, they increase the size of the brakes ..and they fil out the biggger rims ...making them look better.
Moose