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Is there a risk in buying cheaper discs?


leightonjames

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I don't think anyone said they were dangerous. I came closest with my comment I guess, but I meant it more as a general rule rather than ZOMG YOU'RE GOING TO DIE LOLZ.

 

Speaking from experience, cheapy discs do not last anywhere near as well as a decent name, and neither do they stop you as well. Personally I quite like my brakes to not warp after 500 miles and to stop me when asked to, but each to their own.

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I don't think anyone said they were dangerous. I came closest with my comment I guess, but I meant it more as a general rule rather than ZOMG YOU'RE GOING TO DIE LOLZ.

 

Speaking from experience, cheapy discs do not last anywhere near as well as a decent name, and neither do they stop you as well. Personally I quite like my brakes to not warp after 500 miles and to stop me when asked to, but each to their own.

 

Sounds like poor bedding in procedure. Alex has a guide that can help you. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

This topic came up at a meet last weekend. One of the attendee's said "I've got a set of the Kintix discs fitted to my Zed". I instantly ran to the front of his car to look at the egg shaped, cracked, split and dangerous discs. Guess what, they were fine.

 

They're fitted to a daily driver Zed and have covered just over 6000 miles. There were no lips on the discs and they looked in great condition. The owner reported no issues with them at all and they performed as brakes should. Unfortunately I forgot to ask what pads he was using with them.

 

I think a key factor to a brake set up's performance is the bed-in procedure. As long as this is followed, I don't think your average Joe, using his/her Zed on the road will have any issues.

 

Just thought I'd add a bit of 'real world' feedback to accompany flyboy's and also to say, I've just ordered me a pair of fronts with some Brembo pads.

 

I'll report back after a few 1000 miles :)

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I got a pair of Apec front brake discs 18 months ago for my z for £85 delivered

 

These are plain vented discs, no dimples or whirls, these I think: http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4ac1aac98d

 

I run them with EBC Yellow pads, which are much "dustier" than previous DS2500.

 

11000 miles later (only 1 trackday last year :( ) and they are going fine, however I'm not expecting them to last as long as the OE discs, but they wanted £500 for those.

 

Braking performance I would say is not quite up to DS2500 + OE discs previous. probably down to the pads as much as the discs. The brakes are still utterly fantastic on road or track though :)

Edited by was8v
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I always go for cheaper parts but then ask your self this

 

"Would I buy a cheap 'man sheath' to save a few quid"

 

Of course the answer is that you could because it will have passed x,y,z saftey tests and be kite marked or whatever the hell it is........ultimately though to you want your man batter unleashing without consent?

 

Probably not and therefore you'll always have in the back of your mind that the little general might just flex his bicep and burst out thus ruining the enjoyment of your female liason or posh onionism.

 

If you don't want your enjoyment ruined or man batter unleashing then you'll probably buy a Durex.

 

Here endeth the lesson.

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Many mixed views on this, as always! If the belief that 'its the most important thing on the car' were true then anyone running anything except a £5k big brake kit is seriously risking their life as their cheapy £500 discs are not good enough...I am not sure why we have as a collective decided that the premium offerings from traders are the be all and end all, there are much better brake sets out there for more money so why aren't you buying those?

 

Of course there is going to be a difference in performance of some parts, are we talking 100 yards difference braking from your average speed of 14mph around london, of course not. What about other variables? What if one brake company runs with a bigger mark up on its products than another? Just because its £50 more expensive doesnt mean its had £50 worth of extra 'quality' spent on it.

 

Go online, read the reviews on review sites of the many (and very rarely do the most expensive options come out top in any product category review) and make a call on it based on your budget.

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Many mixed views on this, as always! If the belief that 'its the most important thing on the car' were true then anyone running anything except a £5k big brake kit is seriously risking their life as their cheapy £500 discs are not good enough...I am not sure why we have as a collective decided that the premium offerings from traders are the be all and end all, there are much better brake sets out there for more money so why aren't you buying those?

 

Of course there is going to be a difference in performance of some parts, are we talking 100 yards difference braking from your average speed of 14mph around london, of course not. What about other variables? What if one brake company runs with a bigger mark up on its products than another? Just because its £50 more expensive doesnt mean its had £50 worth of extra 'quality' spent on it.

 

Go online, read the reviews on review sites of the many (and very rarely do the most expensive options come out top in any product category review) and make a call on it based on your budget.

 

+1000000

 

The sheep will bleat but take no notice of them. They just pay their money and take comfort in the fact they are being told what's good. For 90% of people oem discs will be fine. How much worse can 1 lump of metal be to another?

 

E.g. Porsche oem pads are textar. They aren't cheap. You can buy textar pads from other places for like 2/10ths of the price. Are they any worse? No.

 

Same with oem discs or any plain disc. I bet a drilled disc is more likely to crack than a plain vented disc as the drilled one is weaker. How many people have had their oem discs fail or crack from road driving?

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I find it funny peoples POV's it should be remembered that pads make more of a difference in braking than the actual discs. They are in their base element a large lump of iron. More expensive discs may well be made of a better grade iron, but its still a stinking thick piece of iron. The grooves and drilling are all there to release heat quicker from the discs and to avoid fading. It is still the pad at the end of the day that makes the biggest difference in braking. Take a patent disc, and you can greatly improve its braking with better pads. Take a good disc and pad and swap the disc for a patent and you won't notice as big a difference. Biggest thing with these discs is a higher risk of warping, or possibly the odd crack, but not enough to stop them working. And nothing a brake skimmer couldn't fix. And your more likely to warp them if you either haven't bedded them in properly, or if you drive hard and then stop with your foot on the brake at a junction instead of using the handbrake.

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Oi - it said warping doesn't happen in that link I posted ;)

Sorry I meant it as a worst case scenario. As a side note there are people on here who have warped DBA discs. So brand doesn't always mean better. Admittedly DBA did replace them I think FOC

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How many people warp plain vented discs on the daily?

 

Probably someone that lives at the top of the Stelvio Pass :D

 

I don't know what that is?

 

Moral of the story is pay what you want and get what you want. No one cares. But don't go round saying oem type discs will make your wheels fall off and blow up your engine.

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Oi - it said warping doesn't happen in that link I posted ;)

Sorry I meant it as a worst case scenario.

 

Only messing, but I personally do think that what people claim as warping is just no bedding in procedure, eventually leading to pad deposits (DTV) rather than extreme braking:

 

Another linky if anyone is interested:

http://www.brakeworl...ARPED DISCS.pdf

 

Dblock: (I'm sure you do know what it is check google images)

Edited by RobPhoboS
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I'd normally agree with most of what you say.

 

however......

 

Long story short.

 

Both my 350Z and my brothers 350Z went in for new discs. His Brembos were warped and mine were just well worn. Both cards had new discs on. both bedded in and within about 500 miles both started showing signs of vibrations. both then got progressively worse to not being liveable.

 

Both replaced with EBC discs, bedded in and both ok 1000 miles on.

 

The original discs were sent back to the manufacturer who were shocked but acknowledged it must have been faulty discs.

 

..............................

 

On another note, different world but I work in the motorcycle industry and we see no end of warped discs. Its actually amazing how little runout causes such huge vibrations under breaking!

 

.............................

 

And lastly, back on subject, a good friend of mine is a service advisor at a performance car garage and he says hardly anyone ever follows a running in procedure with new brakes. Most people dont even realise there is a procedure and 99% of discs are fine. We are talking porsche, mercedes etc etc.

 

 

 

 

Oi - it said warping doesn't happen in that link I posted ;)

Sorry I meant it as a worst case scenario.

 

Only messing, but I personally do think that what people claim as warping is just no bedding in procedure, eventually leading to pad deposits (DTV) rather than extreme braking:

 

Another linky if anyone is interested:

http://www.brakeworl...ARPED DISCS.pdf

 

Dblock: (I'm sure you do know what it is check google images)

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MidnightRacer, who were the manufacturer of the discs you mention above that we're sent back? And was any compensation given after they confirmed they were faulty?

 

Just wondering how that story ended :shrug:

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