Rotor/pad recommendation for 93, no 96 upgrade

[MG]

I did some searching on upgrading the brakes on a 93, but every post seems to say just to get the whole 96 set. I don't need this as my car is a regular street car, but I still want some brakes that do a good job. Can anyone recommend rotors and pads? I've seen Hawk HPS pads mentioned a lot, so those seem like a good idea. As for rotors I asked a mechanic for a recommendation and he said Raybestos. Are these pretty good? He quoted them at half the cost of regular SHO rotors which seems odd to me. I don't want anything that is noisy or requires warming up since this is my regular car.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SASHO91]

go with the power slot from planet performance.com there 70 or 80 bucks a rotor. and get ceramic pads. i have the ceramics but no slotted but i have bigger and thicker rotors though. just about the same though i think.

 

[shojuan]

Carbotech Bobcats. No need to look for any other pad. http://www.carbotech.com or get them from shonut. Josh is a distributor.

You can get Brembo replacement rotors for half the cost of the powerslots from tirerack.com. Their shipping should be quite good. The advantage to the powerslots is they're plated and the slots are good for cutting any glaze on the pads. The gas venting quality is a non-issue. There's no gas of consequence to vent with those carbotech pads. If it means the difference in getting a lesser pad vs. the carbotechs then definately pick the bobcats first and formost. If you want to save money get the Brembo rotors. If you want the plating and the venting or even just the looks and you're willing to pay extra for it then get the powerslots. Aside from those differences I'd expect the manufacturing quality to be about the same.

I just ordered a set of Brembo front rotors for my 89 yesterday. Will match my rears. Not quite to the point where I can afford wilwoods and I still have basketweaves so no "poor-mans" (aka 96) upgrades for me. My "new" (they're 18 months old) Ford rotors warped this winter. I've got Hawk HPS up front, Carbotech Bobcats in the rear. HPS aren't bad for the price. A really good pad that makes the stock brakes "barely" adequate (stock type pads on stock brakes are just downright unacceptable to me). The Bobcats are better though. And worth it. Don't even think twice about spending twice the money on those pads. And only if you're **** poor broke go for the performance friction PFC metallics. They're a decent pad, especially when you've got wide wheel upgrades and good rubber. But IMHO it's just not worth saving the money to go for those when you can spend a bit more for better pad (on crap stock brakes good pad material REALLY pays off). Screw the lifetime warranty. That's for truly cheap *****. It's BRAKES!! Consumable wear product!!! Faster wear is proportional to performance enjoyment! Just like with choosing ultra-high or max performance tires that need to be replaced once a year. Once you try you never go back. You just save your pennies for a few weeks or eat rice for a month or whatever, **** steal the lollipop from your baby's mouth if you have to. Sugar will rot baby's teeth anyways.

Re-read you requirements and still stand by my words. Even for the street duty you describe the bobcats will serve you best. Cold or hot. Silent pad to boot. Not dirty either. Cleaner than HPS.

 

[SHOtimer]

Ok, I'll stand on my soap box for a moment. I have a 95 ATX that is a purely street car - has never seen the track and prolly never will. My brakes were horrible and I was warping rotors like crazy. I went with the '96 upgrade and love it to death. It provides excellent stopping power and I think is perfect for a strictly street use car. But, if you have your mind set against it then that is that.

Ok, so if you don't want to mess with an upgrade and just want to replace what you have then you can just get stock Autozone Rotors or whatever you want - rotors don't really matter. What really matters is the pads not the rotors. I have heard Hawk HPS pads do wonders. One member off the top of my head is AutoSHO - he is running stock rotors with Hawk pads and has no warp and says that he has excellent stopping power. So, I would look in that direction. But, I wouldn't dump a ton of money into expensive rotors - concentrate on a high quality pad.

Doug

 

[MG]

I just looked up the Bobcats and Carbotech doesn't list them for the 93 on their site. http://www.carbotecheng.com/appguide-pads-ford.htm SHONut lists "Carbotech Baer/Cobra Front Bobcat (street pad)" for the front, but not the back. Is that the right brake? I assume the $98 price is for both fronts. I think I'll pair them with the Brembos since they are half the price.

 

[K-Dawg]

It doesn't appear that Bobcats are available for the <93 brakes. The discontinued F-Street pads (predecessor to the Bobcats) were available, but SHO NUT is out of stock. You could try contacting Carbotech to see if they have any sitting around.

Short of the Carbotech pads, I would recommend the Hawk HPS or the Porterfield street pads (don't remember the name). I haven't used either of these, but I've read that they are good. I would use nothing less than the PFC CM pads from Autozone.

 

[shojuan]

Carbotech custom makes pads on an individual basis. Some they keep in stock some they don't. Ignore the website. When I ordered my rears they weren't a stock item. Time to get them to me was about as good as if they were a stock item.

This is on some people's mind, the idea that rotors don't matter. The thing about rotor quality is you want a high quality one piece casting. You want metal uniformity. When the rotor heats up you don't want hot spots. That's why the stock rotors are so **** poor. Especially the 89 rotors. A lot of poorly made two piece castings for those rotors. Plus it's nice to get a rotor with better machining tolerances. It's really nice when they come straight and true when they're new hahahaha. The brembos are going to be a better rotor on both these counts. I'd expect the same from the powerslots.

I'm not saying everybody SHOULD go and get the more expensive rotors. Either go with the absolute cheapest rotor you can get, with the understanding they might need more frequent replacement (and bonus if they don't!) or spend a little more and know you are starting out with the highest quality you reasonably can get for this sensitive component...especially important with stock style brakes.

Whatever your rotor choice, a HIGHLY recommend a good pad. You want the best for your brake setup, just call up carbotech and order a set. It won'r break the bank either.

 

[MG]

Thanks for the recommendations. I think I'll go with the Carbotech Bobcats and Brembo rotors, that seems like the best combination. The Powerslots do look cool, but I don't feel like plunking down 2x the cash for them.

 

[K-Dawg]

You'll be very happy with that. That's the setup I have on the front of my car, except with the 96 upgrade.

 

[billyshoe]

PFC's. A no brainer.

 

[MG]

Assuming the Bobcats are backordered or unavailable, what would the next best pad be? I don't want something squeaky, which I read the Porterfield are, or something that needs to be warmed up. The Hawk HPS seem fine, but I can only find their front pads. Do they make rears?