Choosing solid metal rotor over floating rotor?

[Bluedog1]

Hello, experts.

I will need your help again.

After I posted my question before regarding judder problem on my Rapide(https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=135&t=1741487), I finally received a feedback from my dealer. But I don't get it.

Apparently, they(Aston Marting techs) had a meeting in Japan and some Aston Martins(not sure which models) had similar judder problem that occured at light braking during heavy traffic(stop and go situation).

AM's solution was replacing current dual cast rotor to "solid metal" rotor???!!!

Below is the current rotor.



Dealer said this one is floating rotor but I have Brembo floating rotors on my other cars and they don't look like this. And if they are right, I don't want to replace the floating rotor with solid metal one. But dealer said this replacement actually cured judder problem in Japan.

What do youguys think? Any input will be appreciated. Thanks.

Edited by Bluedog1 on Thursday 21st June 15:57

[paintman]

Appears AM have identified a problem and its solution.
If you choose not to use the solution - for whatever reason - then you'll either have to live with the judder you're currently experiencing or buy a different car.

[227bhp]

.........Or find an owners club/forum and find someone who has done the swap already.

[Bluedog1]

paintman said:

Appears AM have identified a problem and its solution.
If you choose not to use the solution - for whatever reason - then you'll either have to live with the judder you're currently experiencing or buy a different car.

Well, I'm just not happy that AM's solution is that I need to ditch floating rotor over solid one. Even AM tech guy told me that I would be replacing more expensive rotor with cheaper one.

[Bluedog1]

227bhp said:

.........Or find an owners club/forum and find someone who has done the swap already.

Couldn't find one. So, I'm posting here at least to get technical opinions on this.

[GreenV8S]

Bluedog1 said:

Well, I'm just not happy that AM's solution is that I need to ditch floating rotor over solid one.

Why aren't you happy about it?

[Dave Brand]

Bluedog1 said:

Well, I'm just not happy that AM's solution is that I need to ditch floating rotor over solid one. Even AM tech guy told me that I would be replacing more expensive rotor with cheaper one.

So it's more about how much it costs than how well it works? Sometimes the simple solution is the best!

[Bluedog1]

GreenV8S said:

Why aren't you happy about it?

Well, now problem is taken care of.

The reason I was not happy about floating rotor is that floating rotor is more expensive than sold one.

BUT here is what I've found out. Even though AM claims Rapide has "floating disc" system, it doesn't. It is actually dual cast rotor. So, today my dealer received new parts to cure this judder problem, guess what. It was not sold rotor and it WAS 2 pc true floating rotor! So, I'm getting actually better rotor and AM knew they had judder problem with current OEM rotor.

If you see the below pics, the rotor with black bell in the middle is the new replacement rotor. That rotor is new solution and part number is not publically available.

[GreenV8S]

Bluedog1 said:

The reason I was not happy about floating rotor is that floating rotor is more expensive than sold one.

I really don't understand why you would prefer the most expensive parts for the sake of being expensive. But if you're happy with the resolution that's all that matters.

[227bhp]

All this boils down to OP not looking inside his wheels to see what discs he has in the first place

[Bluedog1]

GreenV8S said:

I really don't understand why you would prefer the most expensive parts for the sake of being expensive. But if you're happy with the resolution that's all that matters.

Let's say you paid $1000 for a new bike and the shop's trying to replace the broken part with cheaper one. Would you be happy? I wouldn't.

[Bluedog1]

227bhp said:

All this boils down to OP not looking inside his wheels to see what discs he has in the first place

Maybe you didn't read my posts right.

[Oscar011]

Bluedog1 said:

GreenV8S said:

I really don't understand why you would prefer the most expensive parts for the sake of being expensive. But if you're happy with the resolution that's all that matters.

Let's say you paid $1000 for a new bike and the shop's trying to replace the broken part with cheaper one. Would you be happy? I wouldn't.

I know where you are coming from but it’s not like the change in disc is going to decrease the value of the car nor has it put a dent in your wallet. They found your problem and fixed this problem. As long as it fixed the problem and it was a quality part and in this case it obviously is as it’s a Aston Martin part then yes I would be happy.

[227bhp]

Bluedog1 said:

227bhp said:

All this boils down to OP not looking inside his wheels to see what discs he has in the first place

Maybe you didn't read my posts right.

Maybe you didn't write them correctly.

Bluedog1 said:

Well, I'm just not happy that AM's solution is that I need to ditch floating rotor over solid one. Even AM tech guy told me that I would be replacing more expensive rotor with cheaper one.

[GreenV8S]

Bluedog1 said:

Let's say you paid $1000 for a new bike and the shop's trying to replace the broken part with cheaper one. Would you be happy? I wouldn't.

Well, I'd look at it differently. If the expensive OEM part didn't work very well and a replacement that worked better was cheaper, I'd view that as a marketing-driven scam trying to get some trendy buzz words into the marketing material to try to justify a higher price. Given your reaction here, I'd say that worked very well. In this scenario, that would have been a bad choice in engineering terms since it works less well than the cheaper alternative and pushes the maintenance costs up. It's similar to these high performance sports cars sold with ceramic brakes, which informed owners often replace with more conventional steel ones that work better and don't cost an arm and a leg to service. They can keep the original parts to refit when the sell the car to maintain the snob value.

So yes, I'd be happy to have overpriced unsuitable parts replaced with better working cheaper ones.