okay I know this has been talked about before but I can't seem to find any threads that answer my questions.
I recently took a 4 hrs round trip through tight cornered mountian roads and and got so angry every time I had to hit the brakes for a turn and the damn car was vibrating like mad and sounded like the thing was falling apart. Its done this off and on since I got it and the dealer has said they are special rotors that will warp and unwarp to prevent permanent damage. I actually felt the smoke going up my a$$ as he was saying this and asked if they would turn them under warranty. "NO" of course!
So my question is....
Were did you get yours (if you have them) and what was the cost?
I am looking for drilled AND slotted and was wondering what kind of pad should be used with these rotors. Ceramic is the best I know of but what is recommened with these. Did you notice any miracle in stopping power or just the feel of a nice calm steering wheel when you need to stop?
I'll be heading through the snow in a couple weeks and want this done before I go so the car doesn't vibrate off the road when its icy.

Thanks everyone

 

i would seriously direct you away from drilled AND slotted rotors... at that point the surface area has been drastically reduced and you won't be able to stop as fast - and i've never heard of a rotor that was "designed" to warp... bs.


i would suggest you get just slotted... drilled are ok but if not done well can promote cracking and warping quickly...


DO NOT BUY EBAY! resist the urge....

brembo
alcon
stop tech
powerslot
racingbrake
project mu

are all good companies... check into them!

 

I've never heard of rotors that warp and unwarp. Although cross drilled and drilled rotors are supposed to cool faster, there is less, albeit slightly, surface area for braking. There are different grades of rotors and the more expensive ones should be manufactured with a better grade of metal which should hold up better under lots of braking.

 

Special Rotors, ehh!!! That warp & unwarp to prevent permanent damage!! Humm?!?!?!?

Seems to me, when these special rotors, warped it was causing damage, not preventing it!!!!

I too, experienced REAL bad vibrations in Mtn. area driving!

The stock HHR rotors are special alright!

Most of my driving is in relatively flat area, commuting in Atlanta. I did rack up a lot of miles in 2 years, 60,000+. I recently switched out rotors, just with stock replacement from Auto Parts store. I did not justify, the more expensive slotted or drilled rotors, over basic replacements. The replacing of the rotors is pretty easy project, also! The brake pads still had a lot of braking surface left, and I only switched out rotors. No shimming or vibrations; have yet to take an Mtn trip yet, to see if these are SPECIAL types, hope not!!!

Good Luck!
Mark

 

I have run slotted and cross drilled rotors on some of my vehicles. To be honest, a good quality set of standard rotors along with a properly functioning brake system will get the job done without issue. I have a hard time believing it is your rotors that are causing your problem. Warped rotors never go away, just like hard spots can't be curred by resurfacing a rotor. Being that you have a 2LT, do you also have ABS? I would actually be looking for a malfunction if it were mine. My parents had roughly the same issue on their '07 Tahoe. No ABS or brake light came on until a few months after the problem started. Once the light came on, GM replaced the faulty computer and the brakes were actually better than when the truck was new (overall feel and stopping power).

 

Our '06 w/ 24,000 miles has had the rotors turned 3 times and pads replaced once. The last time they got turned was at a different dealership than where we purchased it. Turning the rotors IS covered under the warrenty. No problems so far after the last turn, althought have had one instance of grinding when it was raining. Which had happened once before. Maybe the rotor fairy brings those "special rotors" to the dealerships while everyones away.

 

as said above...

a good set of plain replacement rotors (can be aftermarket) will be more than enough

if you want more bite, hawk makes some great pads

if you want a more consistent pedal feel, stainless lines

if you want to brake from high speeds repeatedly, or run mountain passes a lot, upgrade to dot 5 fluid (motul makes great stuff)

 

I've run Powerslot rotors on my '00 Jetta and '04 Impalla... plan on getting them for the HHR probably in the spring. When shopping for them I was cautioned on 'affordable' drilled rotors as many of them aren't engineered to be drilled. If you're paying $1000 for a brake kit it's probably fine, but on a set of < $500 rotors it's just a rotor that was 'also' drilled and stands a good risk of reducing the overall strength of the casting...

Powerslots are probably going to be around $200/pair and spend some money on some good pads You'll be much further ahead than getting inexpensive drilled.

J

 

Okay so I guess I'll be looking at just slotted rotors at around 200.00 a set. I thought there were a few owners on here that had these. Doesn't some vendor here sell a good set?
The dealer was talking about the stock rotors that are on the car now from the factory being made to unwarp, I know he is full of B.S.
I don't think the vibrations are a problem with the ABS, because even under light braking after a few heavy brakes it does it and only if I've been stopping a lot. But I will definatly keep it open as an option if new rotors dont fix the issue.

Thanks for all the replies

 

Okay the company EBC makes a slotted and dimpled set that is not fully drilled there for gives the apperance of drilled and slotted but with the endurance of a standard or just slotted rotor. I have found that the HHR boutique offers these. These will be the rotors I get, now time to shop for the best price shipped.

Here is the link,
http://hhrboutique.com/items/hhr-per...ors-detail.htm