Drilled front discs

[caduceus]

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

[itiejim]

I've got a receipt for the drilled discs fitted to my car which cost £110+VAT each a couple of years ago from TMS TVR - who unfortunately seem to have gone bust.

Gives you an idea on the price though.

Edited by itiejim on Thursday 5th February 21:58

[GreenV8S]

caduceus said:

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

There isn't a good place to buy them, drilled discs are a catastrophe waiting to happen. If you need the extra ventilation to stop brake fade then grooved discs are the best way to get it. And if you *don't* need the extra ventilation then plain discs will give you more braking, less pad wear and less noise.

[itiejim]

GreenV8S said:

caduceus said:

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

There isn't a good place to buy them, drilled discs are a catastrophe waiting to happen. If you need the extra ventilation to stop brake fade then grooved discs are the best way to get it. And if you *don't* need the extra ventilation then plain discs will give you more braking, less pad wear and less noise.

Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration? Badly made or designed drilled disc are going to be dangerous as will any badly designed or produced braking component! If they are designed correctly to withstand the stresses and the holes are correctly radiused there is no reason that they should be unsafe - there are plenty of production and race cars out there with drilled discs. The discs fitted to my car have been on for over two tears and show no nasty signs.

As you say, any performance modification comes at a price - so yes, they might be noisier or generate greater disc wear. However, that doesn't make them unsafe and my personal (brief) experience with them is that they are not noisy brakes.

I think perhaps it's reasonable to say that this is not a componant that you might want to buy from some unknown producer via ebay - but anything from a recognised and reputable company should be absolutely fine.

[Duke Thrust]

If anyone has a 4.2 and wants to upgrade to 4.5 spec brakes PM me as I have all the bits 'n bobs required.

[markh1]

Why do you want drilled disks? if you want to improve braking power can i suggest you change your pads first. My reason being that I originally had standard disks and pads and the brakes never suffered any fade or over heating no matter how hard you drove it.

Matt at Sebring put some upgraded pads in mine (ring and ask them what they recommend as i cant remember what they are called) They are high speed road/track and they take a while to get up to temperature but when they do they really are very good and a noticeable improvement over standard. Also due to them needing higher operating temps they will not over heat as quickly.

Edited by markh1 on Friday 6th February 09:42

[HarryW]

Duke Thrust said:

If anyone has a 4.2 and wants to upgrade to 4.5 spec brakes PM me as I have all the bits 'n bobs required.

yhm

[trackcar]

itiejim said:

GreenV8S said:

caduceus said:

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

There isn't a good place to buy them, drilled discs are a catastrophe waiting to happen. If you need the extra ventilation to stop brake fade then grooved discs are the best way to get it. And if you *don't* need the extra ventilation then plain discs will give you more braking, less pad wear and less noise.

Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration? Badly made or designed drilled disc are going to be dangerous as will any badly designed or produced braking component! If they are designed correctly to withstand the stresses and the holes are correctly radiused there is no reason that they should be unsafe - there are plenty of production and race cars out there with drilled discs. The discs fitted to my car have been on for over two tears and show no nasty signs.

As you say, any performance modification comes at a price - so yes, they might be noisier or generate greater disc wear. However, that doesn't make them unsafe and my personal (brief) experience with them is that they are not noisy brakes.

I think perhaps it's reasonable to say that this is not a componant that you might want to buy from some unknown producer via ebay - but anything from a recognised and reputable company should be absolutely fine.

Sadly the TVR drilled discs were very prone to cracking, I have fitted them to cars in the past when it's all I could get hold of, but if there's a choice i would avoid them at all costs. I've never seen a drilled tvr disc failures, but i have seen some very big cracks in them (more than just tiny heat crazing, proper cracks) .. for this reason I now will only sell grooved or plain discs as appropriate.

[shpub]

I'm with GreenV8S on this. I have had two sets of drilled discs on my wedge crack - one went from top to bottom - and the crack followed the drilled holes. Both discs were from well known suppliers. Grooved discs are definitely the way to go and do the job just as well without the increased risk of cracking.

[GreenV8S]

itiejim said:

Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration? Badly made or designed drilled disc are going to be dangerous as will any badly designed or produced braking component! If they are designed correctly to withstand the stresses and the holes are correctly radiused there is no reason that they should be unsafe - there are plenty of production and race cars out there with drilled discs. The discs fitted to my car have been on for over two tears and show no nasty signs.

As you say, any performance modification comes at a price - so yes, they might be noisier or generate greater disc wear. However, that doesn't make them unsafe and my personal (brief) experience with them is that they are not noisy brakes.

I think perhaps it's reasonable to say that this is not a componant that you might want to buy from some unknown producer via ebay - but anything from a recognised and reputable company should be absolutely fine.

No I don't think it's an exaggeration.

All discs have a tendancy to surface cracking when they get hot.

If they don't get hot enough for cracking to be an issue then you aren't going to gain any benefit from drilling/grooving and you are suffering the noise, pad wear and reduced braking surface for no good reason.

Even plain discs can suffer from cracking bad enough to weaken the discs if they get hot repeatedly, but usually they would have worn out before the cracks become critical. Grooved / dimpled discs are slightly worse but still not usually a problem. Drilled discs are much much worse and even the very best quality drilled discs can easily develop cracks that weaken them to the point of being dangerous. This is not just a hypothetical risk. Brake discs can and do shatter, it's a well known problem and I've seen the results - it's not pretty.

There are two situations where drilled discs are sensible:

1. You have an extremely hot braking system that requires the maximum possible degassing and you are prepared to monitor the discs and replace them very frequently.

2. The brakes are not going to get hot at all but you want them to look shiny and motorsporty.

[Flashheart]

I've got drilled disks for reason 2. above.

Boy does my car look cool.

And motorsporty.

[SimonSparrow]

Flashheart said:

I've got drilled disks for reason 2. above.

Boy does my car look cool.

And motorsporty.

[Demondad]

caduceus said:

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

Just out of interest, can anyone answer the question as I'm needing new discs (be they drilled or otherwise). How much and where from?

[Demondad]

caduceus said:

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

Just out of interest, can anyone answer the question as I'm needing new discs (be they drilled or otherwise). How much and where from?

[itiejim]

I wasn't aware that the TVR discs had a particular weakness and, if they're the only ones available then probably worth steering clear of - another case of lack of development(!?) I will certainly be keeping a close eye on mine.

Nonetheless, I do stand by the fact that properly produced ones can be safe! (Though whether they're worth having is another issue).

[GreenV8S]

itiejim said:

Nonetheless, I do stand by the fact that properly produced ones can be safe! (Though whether they're worth having is another issue).

Can you explain how you determine whether they're safe or not?

Since the cracking problem is associated with the use of the discs and not with a fault in the materials or manufacture, I don't see how you could conclude that it is possible to produce ones which avoid the problem.

[itsallyellow]

The reason why you will vary rarely see them used in motorsport!

Mike

[Buffoon]

A number of people do front discs. Believe EBC Brakes Direct can supply, worth a look. Rear discs are the pain to get hold of at anything other than extortionate prices

[TT Tim]

Just take it on the chin and buy grooved disks, or is it just the 'look' you're after?

Tim

[Steve_T]

Demondad said:

caduceus said:

Can anyone tell me where is the best place to buy drilled front discs at a good price please?

And are the OE pads ok to use with these items?

Thanks
Cad

Just out of interest, can anyone answer the question as I'm needing new discs (be they drilled or otherwise). How much and where from?

Tuscan S front discs from the usual suspects - Power, TVR car parts, Racing Green, etc - will fit the Cerb 4.5 too. I'm not sure if non-S Tuscan discs will fit the 4.2. If you have a bell and rotor setup, you can get grooved AP rotors that will fit provided you space the caliper out slightly (330x28s with a 12 bolt pattern on a 7" PCD). This is about twice as expensive as the standard TVR parts option though.

Steve.