Brake rotors for Gen3

[Sparhawk]

I need to replace the front brake rotors on my '98, as they've developed a shudder when braking from high speeds. I've already had them turned before in the past, so I'm real hesistant to have them remachined again. Between these two brands that I'm looking at:

- Raybestos PG Plus Rotors (Kragen), $59.99 ea + tax
- Brembo (Tirerack.com), $41.00 ea + shipping

what would you say I'd be better off with? The car's my daily driver, and I rarely do any serious <u>driving</u>, so I can't justify some of the costlier rotors.

Also, I intend to reuse the ceramic pads that I have on the car as they've got plenty of pad left. However, I did notice that my rotors (OEM; never replaced) have a nice blue scorch mark on its surface, indicating that my rotors might have overheated. This is the second time this has happened: the first time, I had the rotors resurfaced. I wasn't sure whether the ceramic pads may be the culprit. Anyone have a similar experience with ceramic pads (Raybestos QS, or similar) doing this to your front rotors?

 

[Mr. SHO]

I have the Brembos from TireRack and EBC Greenstuff pads. The Brembos are what you want, IMO. Some people swear by the cheaper AIMCO or Napa rotors, but I prefer to be on the safe side and get the Brembos. You can't beat the TireRack price, either.

As far as pads go, the stock Ford pads (NOT Motorcraft) are very high quality. If I had to go back and do it all again, I would consider the Ford pads, since these EBCs are a bit noisy (well it's only been ~500 miles, so maybe they'll quiet down.) Check FordPartsNetwork.com and 1stFordParts.com.

 

[97V8SHO]

I have Raybestos all round and have had no problems yet. So would go with them. I went with them mianly because I get all my stuff at cost so it was $87 for new rotors and pads, the QS series. But they do have some great brakes and it stops alot faster with em.

 

[Sparhawk]

The Brembo prices are really attractive for me; that's why I'm seriously considering them for my replacement rotors. I haven't had any problems with Raybestos in the past either and wouldn't mind paying extra for them, but seeing that Brembo is a highly-recognized performance brand, it is quite attractive.

As for the pads, I'm very happy with the Raybestos QS pads I have because they leave virtually no brake dust on my chrome rims, and they're very quiet. However, my only concern is whether they're causing the blue overheating marks on my front rotor, or perhaps when I bought the car at 30k miles, the rotor conditions were already marginal at that time.