Get More Stopping Power with Cross Drilled And Slotted  Performance Brake Rotors

     Most Honda Acura cars now days come with a brake rotors on all the wheels. the front rotors are usually vented and the rear ones are solid. vented rotors improve braking and reduce rotor wear caused by heat. Vented rotors are found on the front wheels because front wheel drive (FWD) cars manly stop with their front wheels. Typically 75 % of the braking is done by the front wheels. Vented rotors have a series of air channels between the two disks. The separation walls that create the channels are called vanes. Vented rotors are designed to provide maximum cooling. The cooler the rotor the better the stop distance is. Some vented rotors have straight vanes and some curved vanes. The vanes help to disperse heat away from the rotor by sending cool air in between the two disc faces. Most performance brake rotors are vented for the front wheels and solid ones for the rear wheels.

    Some performance rotors are drilled or slotted. Cross drilling is done to help reduce the gas pressure between the rotor and the pad. When the brake pad is being pressed to the rotor heat is being generated because of friction. In some brake pad compounds the heat can make the resin binders in the pad material to start make gas which creates gas pressure layer between the pad and the rotor. By drilling the rotor the gas can escape and the pressure between brake pad and rotor is eliminated. This gas build up isn’t an issue any more with today’s brake pad technology. Rotors still come cross drilled but that is more for a decorative purpose and some people like the look of a cross drilled rotors. Some Honda Acura enthusiasts think that the holes are going to increase the coefficient of friction between the brake pad and rotor. With today’s technology that is no longer a reason to have a cross drilled rotors, because the performance brake pads have a high coefficient of friction. Other Honda Acura enthusiast think that the edges provided by the small holes are going to shorten the life of the pad by grinding away small pieces of material. There is a little bit of truth in either statement. One thing is for sure don't try saving money by drilling your rotors on your own you are going to create to much stress in the rotor and they are going to crack after a while. Cross drilled rotors provide a little bit better cooling for the rotors as opposed to slotted or not drilled ones. They are also the lightest ones compared to a vented slotted or non drilled steel brake rotor. Performance cross drilled rotors are usually made from steel and can be solid or vented.

    Performance slotted rotors do provide a benefit to have them. The slots or groves job is to improve braking bite, and as the pad friction material wears out the debris is removed away from the pad and the rotor. The slots can be machined into the rotor in straight lines that are angled or curved lines. The number and shape of the lines depends on the manufacturer. There is no difference if the rotor has four or five slotted lines on it. The slots or grooves do not cool the rotor. The cooling is done by the vanes in between the rotors faces. Slotted rotors are directional they came in right hand disc or left hand disc. There are rotors out there that are slotted and cross drilled at the same time. Some of them have the slots about 0.5 inches long and they are spread randomly all over the disc surface. Those rotors are trying to bring the best of the both worlds. Slotted brake rotors are usually made from steel and can be solid or vented.

Performance cross drilled and slotted brake rotors can be installed on any Prelude, Civic, Integra, RSX or any other model  Honda Acura Car. They are going to improve your braking distance and car handling. Putting on cross drilled rotors can also give you some extra horse power gain because they are a little bit lighter than the stock ones. Don't expect huge horse power gains. The weight loss is around a pound which means probably a 0.5 hp gain. The big gain is in the improved braking distance and car handling. Performance cross drilled or slotted rotors are fairly easy to install and require a basic set of hand tools. An example of good manufacturers of performance Honda Acura cross drilled or slotted brake rotors would be Brembo, Power Stop, Baer, Power Slot, EBC and DBA.