Brake Rotors
 

1987 RX-7 GXL N/A

The rotors on my car right now have deep groves.

Should I:

Get rotors from Autozone?
Get rotors from RX7 specific websites?
Get rotors turned, or the other technical word for machining them?

Please give a reason for your answer to support my decision.

All participation is Appreciated!

Just buy some new plain vented Brembo rotors. You can get them from many dealers such as Tire Rack for about $40-55 each. That is what I have on my car.

if they are within spec, just get them turned.

+1 for tire rack, super fast delivery, great product, great price

NAPA or Brembo NAPA is actually starting to stock Brembo.

The auto shops I have in town are:
Autozone, NAPA, Advanced autoparts, and O'reilys.

I bought lifetime rotors from the O'Reilys and run really aggressive pads. So every time I change front pads I get free rotors because the aggressive pads wear down the rotors. It works good for me.

Ha!! I love people who figure out how to screw "Da Man" Who knows next time I need pads I may copycat. Which pads are you using? You have problems with noise, etc?

thats a very good idea. i need new brakes soon, and i might try n do that!

my poll failed, it is asking me to vote, i lol'd

I like the aggressive pads technique!

NAPA w/ life time warrenty

I was running Hawk HP+ pads, they stopped great. But they were noisy sometimes and they put out a shitload of dust. So this time I tried the EBC Red Stuff, and they are quite and don't dust near as much but they also don't stop near as well. I will not be trying any more Red Stuff pads after these, they just don't stop near as well as the HP+ pads but is is nice to have clean wheels most of the time.

I fell in love with the Porterfield kevlar r4 after I locked up a set of 26.5x8-15 Goodyear G-24's a buddy lent me.
Im now using the r4s pads as they are about half the cost and need lots less heat than the r4's to work its best. best damn pads under $100 I've found.

So if my rotors are in spec, it would be cheaper to get them turned and get hawks pads. If they aren't, than I should get brembo's with hawk pads.

Turning rotors isnt always a good idea cuz it might be cheaper than buying new ones. With that you can run the risk of them possibly getting too hot and creating failure or stress cracks since there isnt as much of the rotor when it was first bought.

A preformance pad on a non preformance rotor will wear the rotor faster than a non prreformance pad. So you can do what George84 does or get preformance rotors and pads IMO.

Brembo blanks from Tire Rack are your best bet as Evil Aviator has mentioned. They are cheap and Tire Rack has great customer service.

So the combination is Brembo blanks with OEM pads, or Hawk pads? NAPA has Brembo here.

For the track I agree, for the street...no. Those pads need lots of warm up time to grab.

To the op, I would grab a pair of rotors and a set of pads. But if out of budget then you can get it turned (for about half price of new rotors) and a set of pads.

I'm planning on getting Brembo rotors, Hawk HPS street pads, and a separate set of autocross/track day pads for my GXL. If you race your car, get a second set of pads specifically for racing (i.e. Hawk Blue 9012). That way, you'll get better braking performance on the track and not wear through your street pads prematurely.

If you're worried about looks, remember to paint the center section of the rotors as Brembos and most PepAdvanceZone rotors come unpainted.

For the street, brake pads will ultimately come down to your personal preference. Everyone I talk to about street pads for the S4 seem to like Hawks, so I'd use that as a starting point. If you know someone with a stock brake system but different pads, ask them if you could try their car.

I have hawk HPS pads on my car and love them. I took them to the track a few weeks ago, and there was no hint of fade. It wasn't a heavy braking track, but thats still pretty impressive, especially considering the rotors/pads/fluid has 3 years and 15-20k miles on them.

I also second the brembo blanks from tirerack.com idea, at least for the front. My rear's weren't too bad so I just had them turned, but I got new ones for the front.

This is mostly street. Looks to me don't matter as long as I can stop. I'm replacing my rotors because when I checked them(I've had this car for 2 weeks) they have 2 groves in them. It feels mushy when braking. There could be air in the lines to explain the mushy feeling, but the contact on the brakes is very minimal.

So far, my decision is Brembo blanks from Tirerack.com, with Hawk Street Pads from Tirerack.com.
This decision falls under the RX-7 Specific website(kinda)

since you are going to change the brakes, you should also change the brake fluid, and change it all!!!

Flush the entire brake system clean with fresh brake fluid. It will do WONDERS!!!.
Always start with the wheel closest to the master cylinder and work your way out, that way all the old fluid will be gone.

I flush my entire system once every year just to get rid of water and contaimenated fluid. I recommend everybody do it .

DOT 3 is fine, but if you want better you can go castrol SRF, Motul RBF, or ATE Superblue. Always better to have a higher wet boiling point, and dry point.
Motul you cant mix DOT 3 with it, ATE superblue you can, I dont know about Castrol SRF

Flushing the brakes is a great idea! The fluid is BLACK!

I want to get stainless steel brake lines, but it sounds like overkill, and I don't know if all the calipers are the same on an 87 GXL Rx-7 N/A. You guys are a big help!

SS brake lines are definetly not overkill, especially on a car as old as the FC3S. If you have ever felt any sponginess in the brake pedal, it's often because the old rubber lines are bulging when you depress the brake pedal. Who knows when the last time the brake lines on your car were replaced? They could be 22-23 year-old factory stock. Steel brake lines firm up the pedal very nicely.

I'm springing for the Corksport brake lines because they're street legal (not all SS brake lines are) and have a jacket around them to protect them from the elements. Whatever you buy, make sure you get the lines for the 4-piston front calipers. GXLs have 4-piston calipers and vented rotors up front, and single-piston calipers and vented rotors in back.

+1 for the SS brake lines.