Help me pick rear rotors

[darrens07gt]

Well my 07 GT is need of some new rear rotors. I've been searching but there is very little threads that discuss rotors and none were helpful. When I look at places like Brenspeed and American Muscle I see a variety of rotors in the $250-$350 a pair range.

In the past I have always just bought the cheapest rotors you can get for my daily drivers. They usually run $40 each. I've always figured a rotor is a rotor and would rather spend extra cash on better pads.

All that said....

I can get a pair of rotors from the local auto store for $80 and online I found place where I can get a pair of rotors for $50. Is there any real worth while benefit to the $300 rotor sets at our vendors? I'll spend the money if it's really worth it but if not then I'd rather put that money towards suspension or more go-fast parts.

Thanks!

 

[HitandRunDriver]

What are your goals for the car? If you're going FI I'd definitely recommend at least upgrading your front brakes and pads all around. I believe I've seen a couple "big" rear brake kits but a lot of people run stock rotors. I've looked into and will eventually probably look for a set of dimpled rotors all around. On some of these cheaper rotors that are cross drilled you'll end up with stress cracks. You're buying them more for looks than performance than say...a Baer, Wilwood, Brembo, kit.

 

[darrens07gt]

I'm guessing I'm at about 330 rwhp with the mods I have now. No FI plans but I was considering a small 75 shot of N20. I'd like to have around 400 rwhp with maybe 380 rwtq. I think that's a nice safe number for keeping both my stock motor and stock TR3650 alive. I just don't want to invest thousands in a TR6060, forged pistons and rods.

This car will be 90% street with an occasional 1/4 mile track visit. The N20, if I get it, would only be used at the track.

 

[702GT]

Rear rotors? What about the front? Even though I don't always follow what I preach, spending even more than a dime more than is necessary on rear brakes is a waste. Unless, you're a big drift enthusiast and really need the rear to pull their own weight, or you're competition auto-X/Road Course.

However, as a street man myself, I wanted rear rotors that would fill the wheels and give it a "high performance" look, even if it wasn't doing much more than looking good. For stopping power, you really need to address the front brakes and tires. I highly recommend a take-off set of early S197 GT500 brembo's. They are the most readily available and cheapest. If you can swing for the '13+ bigger brembo's, by all means.

For the rear, if you truly want a rotor "upgrade" look no further than the '13 GT500 rear rotor/caliper swap. The rotor size increases to 13.9", giving the pads more overall surface area to apply friction as well, and most importantly, dissipate heat faster. You *can not* do better than '13 GT500 rears for the price. ($200-$300). Anything better than GT500 rear brakes is going to likely be a wilwood set of custom calipers/brackets/rotors, and will likely set you back at least a grand.

If you just want a better look than an ordinary rotor, just do a slotted design in OE size, put a nice set of pads in the calipers, and call it good 'nuff.

Edit: Just want to add, the faster you go the more important it is to be able to stop. Most stock GT's take too long to get past 120mph (hence the average 13-14 second 1/4 mile trapping around 100-105mph) therefore stock rotors/pads are more than adequate to get the job done. The difference between stopping a car going 100mph and stopping a car going 160mph is massive. The amount of heat generated can cause rotors/sub-quality pads to fade, and reduce your stopping power before the vehicle is even back to a sane speed. I had one too many scares with the OE brakes while I was on the bottle, and decided for my sake to give myself a fighting chance and upgraded all 4 corners. Now that I'm FI, I couldn't imagine not having GT500 stopping power, it should be a mandatory upgrade for anyone playing above 100mph.

 

[darrens07gt]

Rear rotors? What about the front? Even though I don't always follow what I preach, spending even more than a dime more than is necessary on rear brakes is a waste. Unless, you're a big drift enthusiast and really need the rear to pull their own weight, or you're competition auto-X/Road Course.

However, as a street man myself, I wanted rear rotors that would fill the wheels and give it a "high performance" look, even if it wasn't doing much more than looking good. For stopping power, you really need to address the front brakes and tires. I highly recommend a take-off set of early S197 GT500 brembo's. They are the most readily available and cheapest. If you can swing for the '13+ bigger brembo's, by all means.

For the rear, if you truly want a rotor "upgrade" look no further than the '13 GT500 rear rotor/caliper swap. The rotor size increases to 13.9", giving the pads more overall surface area to apply friction as well, and most importantly, dissipate heat faster. You *can not* do better than '13 GT500 rears for the price. ($200-$300). Anything better than GT500 rear brakes is going to likely be a wilwood set of custom calipers/brackets/rotors, and will likely set you back at least a grand.

If you just want a better look than an ordinary rotor, just do a slotted design in OE size, put a nice set of pads in the calipers, and call it good 'nuff.

No drifting, no autocross. I have to replace the rear rotors because I failed to keep an eye on the pads and there was some metal grinding on metal. One rear rotor is completely shot now. The other is ok, but I figured I would just replace them both since I am replacing the pads on both anyway. The front pads are at around 50% so there is no immediate need to replace either the pads or rotors at this time.

I don't care about looks. I was just wondering if there was good reason to spend $300 vs $50.

 

[702GT]

I don't care about looks. I was just wondering if there was good reason to spend $300 vs $50.

No reason at all. Pick the rotors that fit your wallet.

When you get into slotted/drilled rotors, cheapy rotors tend to crack/streak. Slotted/drilled may look pretty, but there isn't much performance gain. But a solid rotor, just about anything will do. Particularly in the rear.

 

[v6tungsten]

Autozone rotors will work

 

[bcb06gt]

I used Centric because I like the black hats. Got them for a good price from Amazon.

 

[darrens07gt]

Cool. Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it. I'm going with the cheap rotors from autozone.

 

[LordBritish]

I got stock Motocraft OEMs from eBay dirt cheap.
I don't think it's worth spending a lot on rear rotors.