Re: to cross drill? or not?

["Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike,

E36 M3 or E30 M3?

Why do you feel compelled to "upgrade" the brakes?  What driving conditions 
are you faced with where you're needing more braking capability than the 
stock M3 brakes provide?

Cross-drilled rotors tend to crack at the holes, and won't provide you with 
any real braking improvement.

Slotted rotors won't give you a big gain in braking performance, either.

Euro floaters won't give you a big gain in braking performance.  The Euro 
floaters will be less prone to warpage under extended hard braking 
conditions (high speed entry to low speed exit on a turn during a driving 
school), but bad braking technique can warp ANY rotors.

Frozen rotors are supposed to be more immune to warpage.  Some people swear 
by them, others ignore them.  Maybe under racing conditions you can notice a 
difference.

The EBC red and green pads SUCK, and you should avoid them.

The only REAL braking improvement that you can make to an E36 M3 is with a 
Big Brake kit, which will set you back more than $4k for all four corners.  
Unless you're doing some serious track work (racing or LOTS of driver school 
events), it's an expense you can do without.

The other brake-related upgrade that can give you a big performance boost 
(again, for track driving) is a cooling/ducting system.  If the stock brakes 
have a major deficiency, it's in their ability to get heat removed from the 
front brakes quickly enough.  So, you can make the rotors bigger (more 
surface area to distribute the heat), you can add cooling ducts, or you can 
do both.  Wheels that are more "open" will also promote cooling of the 
rotors.  IFG wheels are a good example of an open wheel.

You don't need a brake upgrade for street driving...even highly spirited 
street driving.  At the track I drive my E36 M3 harder than I'll ever drive 
it on the street, and the stock brakes are more than adequate.

- -rb

>
>Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 06:24:54 -0500
>From: michael chaves <mikechaves@domain.elided>
>Subject: to cross drill? or not?
>
>hi
>on a m3, looking to upgrade the brakes but not by spending 3000 on a new 
>kit
>
>here's my options
>
>
>cross drill
>
>slotted
>
>euro floating m3 rotors
>
>
>frozen rotors, either oem or with the option of crossdrilled/slotted
>
>
>WHat is better,? crossdrilled do look nice, but i have m-contours on my 
>car, so i don't knowif you'll see it that much
>
>i keep on getting different stories!
>
>HELP
>
>thanks
>mike
>------------------------------
>
>Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 06:25:24 -0500
>From: michael chaves <mikechaves@domain.elided>
>Subject: m3 brakes
>
>oh
>
>anyone have any input on those ebc green or red pads?
>
>
>mike

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