When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
question for racing brake. Ive been doing a lot of research on rotors and looking at dimensions and such. as a EE at one of the big 3, i know the process we go through to design something to last to oem spec. i am not a mechanical guy so i have a few questions pertaining to the rotors. i have a c43. i am upgrading to the c63 brakes. as i look at the dimensions of all of these rotors, i see where the weight is taken out. the first and most obvious is the 2 piece rotors use an aluminium hat. the oem and your design do this. this helps to reduce the weight of the steel hat and also allows the friction surface to expand and contract without effecting the hub as much. great design it seems as you and brembo/benz agreee on this.
the next part is where you and brembo/benz differ. the heaviest part is the rotor friction surface. the c43 and base c63 share the same size front disc. they are 360mmx36mm. both base models are solid one piece. the hat thickness on c63 is 4mm thicker but other than that the dimensions are the same. the difference between them in weight thought is a lot. the c63 base one piece rotors come in at 35-36 lbs. the c43 rotors come in at 27 lbs. almost a 10 lb difference in the same size rotor. how is that? looking closer besides the thicker hat, the friction surface is also thicker. total rotor thickness is 36mm. the space between friction surfaces on the c43 is 17.5mm. so 36mm - 17.5mm is 18.5mm/2 is 9.25mm friction surface thickness per side. the c63 rotor is 36mm-11.5mm = 24.5/2 is 12.25mm friction surface per side. so same size disc in the 63 has thicker friction surface making it heavier. now lets compare 2 piece to 2 piece. looking at the brembo (aka black series rotors) 2 piece. you can see the gap between is slightly less than the solid disc at 13mm and weight of the 2 piece comes in at 29 lbs.
so how can you lose another 5 lbs? hat for hat, aluminium rotor hats are going to be very similiar since you cant really change much of those dimensions. I am assuming your friction surface thickness is less by looking at the pictures. where else is weight removed? And why can you remove weight here where as the OEMs decided not to? When you say soft vs hard iron what does that mean? Fe is Fe to me. is it a different alloy? You say oem uses soft iron? I will assume the oem uses soft iron to make it cheaper to mass produce where as hard iron alloys are more expensive and specialized? Please tell me what makes your 2 piece rotos better than the brembo units and how you can make them lighter but still being strong to stand up to track usage. do you have a drawing we can see for your rotors?
Correct, to keep costs down Brembo's aftermarket replacements do not match their OE design
--Kyle B
once i get the c63 brakes on, are there any negatives to the brembo c63 rotors vs oem? I was planning to go with the brembo 2 piece fronts 360mm and i actually already bought the brembo solid rears as i didnt see any difference between the brembo rears and the oem rears and price was half in addition to the nice black coating. i wanted to buy the brembo rears from you for the lifetime warranty but didnt see them for sale. only see the front 2 piece and oems.
if racing brake has a good answer to the weight reduction, i may try theirs out but they are very expensive. but the unsprung weight saving is very tempting.
once i get the c63 brakes on, are there any negatives to the brembo c63 rotors vs oem? I was planning to go with the brembo 2 piece fronts 360mm and i actually already bought the brembo solid rears as i didnt see any difference between the brembo rears and the oem rears and price was half in addition to the nice black coating. i wanted to buy the brembo rears from you for the lifetime warranty but didnt see them for sale. only see the front 2 piece and oems.
if racing brake has a good answer to the weight reduction, i may try theirs out but they are very expensive. but the unsprung weight saving is very tempting.
I just installed the Brembo rotors from FCP Euro. They look great behind the wheels with the black hat and retaining screws. The braking feels the same as the OE rotors I had. From what I researched prior to purchasing, they were standard on other AMG models including the SLS63 and the C63 Black Series. Install was plug and play.
I will know within a week or two since my set will be arriving Sat. BTW, you have the links reversed. I went with the 2 piece front you have linked but also got the two piece rear from the same vendor. Not 100% on fitment yet as I'm not sure it will fit with the electronic ebrake or that the set scew holes will line up even though thats not as important. Fronts should be good from my research. Have a set of ebc redstuff pads will be installing as well to minimize brake dust.
I will know within a week or two since my set will be arriving Sat. BTW, you have the links reversed. I went with the 2 piece front you have linked but also got the two piece rear from the same vendor. Not 100% on fitment yet as I'm not sure it will fit with the electronic ebrake or that the set scew holes will line up even though thats not as important. Fronts should be good from my research. Have a set of ebc redstuff pads will be installing as well to minimize brake dust.
yeah i did have the links reversed. fixed it now. I didnt know that vendor had rear rotors too because previously they didnt. Messaged the vendor on ebay.
They technically aren't listed as compatible with the car. I paid listed price, $400/ea. Was surprising that they are more than the fronts but probably because they aren't as widely available since the are made for an older SL and the fronts are used on many different current platforms. They match all the specs of the oe one piece rears so hoping for the best. I would hold out and wait to hear back from me, it would be worth going with the 2 piece!
They technically aren't listed as compatible with the car. I paid listed price, $400/ea. Was surprising that they are more than the fronts but probably because they aren't as widely available since the are made for an older SL and the fronts are used on many different current platforms. They match all the specs of the oe one piece rears so hoping for the best. I would hold out and wait to hear back from me, it would be worth going with the 2 piece!
Oh its $400 each and not $400 for the set? I assumed it was the set because the price they quoted for the front rotors is $720 USD for the pair unless im mistaken?
Yep, you're correct. Paid $730 for the front pair & $800 for the rears. Let ya know if 6 rotors show up but pretty sure they're individually priced.
yeah that sounds about right.
Have you changed brake pads? Any recommendations there? Was going to get Porterfields but recent feedback from users here hasnt been all that great. HAWK only makes pads for the front!
Have you changed brake pads? Any recommendations there? Was going to get Porterfields but recent feedback from users here hasnt been all that great. HAWK only makes pads for the front!
Will be switching out pads to ebc redstuff on all 4 corners to cut the brake dust. I usually run Hawk HPS on my other cars but went with these for the same reason you mentioned. Will post part #'s once I can confirm everything fits.
Will be switching out pads to ebc redstuff on all 4 corners to cut the brake dust. I usually run Hawk HPS on my other cars but went with these for the same reason you mentioned. Will post part #'s once I can confirm everything fits.
So that EBAY vendor took my VIN and said they dont have rotors for my car even though those links clearly show they are in stock. Is it because they arent specifically for our cars but still fit? Im mostly just curious about the one in the front because rear being the same price, Id prob just buy OEM.
Yes, most vendors will only list the cars that are officially referenced by the manufacture. FCPeuro and others do the same thing since they dont want to be held liable in case there is a problem with fitment since they usually have not had the opportunity to mount the item to the exact car you're asking about themselves.. There's also a chance that the set screw holes will not line up with the hub which is not a deal breaker, you can still run them as long as everything else is in check. The fronts, from research am very confident will fit, set screws as well. The rears are more up in the air and worried about the electronic ebrake. Although I did look into 2011 SL65 (what the rear rotors are listed for) tech and it had an electronic ebrake and not a drum ebrake. Guess we'll see.
Yes, most vendors will only list the cars that are officially referenced by the manufacture. FCPeuro and others do the same thing since they dont want to be held liable in case there is a problem with fitment since they usually have not had the opportunity to mount the item to the exact car you're asking about themselves.. There's also a chance that the set screw holes will not line up with the hub which is not a deal breaker, you can still run them as long as everything else is in check. The fronts, from research am very confident will fit, set screws as well. The rears are more up in the air and worried about the electronic ebrake. Although I did look into 2011 SL65 (what the rear rotors are listed for) tech and it had an electronic ebrake and not a drum ebrake. Guess we'll see.
Thanks for the help. Just ordered pads and rotors all around for a total of $2550 CAD versus $4160 that I would have paid at the stealership!
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
