Hi Guys, I have a 2011 Vantage S and have been advised at my recent service by my dealer that I will need new rotors at the next service. (Long way off). This gives me some time for research as what I'd prefer as replacements is Cross Drill Rotors. I could give a whole range of justification for the technical and performance benefits of cross drilled rotors but to put it simply I just think they look cool!!! Look at just about every high-performance top end spec vehicle including many Astons and they have cross drilled rotors. I have spent hours on the various Brembo related sites and can not find a satisfactory answer that seems to tick every box. I have also searched this forum and while I have found plenty of discussions most are for non-S Vantages and or upgrades of smaller rotors rather than replacements for an S.

So far I have found references on sites like racetechnologies.com and carid.com for rear 2 piece/drilled rotors that are Brembo GT Series rotors PN# 201.6001A. These are 328mm and the supposed OEM spec is 330mm? There is also a Kit for the front that includes 380mm drilled rotors and 6 pot callipers (which I obviously don't need or want) which is PN# 1M1.9023A1. These also have a quirk as they are 32mm thick and the OEMs are supposedly 34mm? It makes little sense to me that you could not just buy the rotors as at some point someone who bought one of these kits would need rotors and won't want to buy the whole kit again ($4K+). This is obviously intended as an upgrade for a standard Vantage as it also has all mounting hardware. I had read that there may be very small clearance issues with different offsets etc that can cause issues so I need a perfect fit.


Brembo Front Rotor Kit

Brembo Rear Rotors

Some of the posts I have read had expressed frustration with the little of no help from Brembo and stonewalling about having to buy OEM parts. Most of these were quite old posts and I had hoped things have changed. I'd preference is the stick with Brembo if available but if not I'd look at other brands provided they will match my existing calipers. While I will get the scheduled servicing done at the AM dealer I can do the brakes myself.

If someone could provide some insight on this I'd really appreciate any leads. (I'd appreciate resisting the urge to give me advice on sticking with OEM parts ).

Regards Cobra66

 

Question--- How many miles on your car? 2011 doesn't show if a car needs them. My E63 AMG went into service at 40k miles and the dealer said within 5k miles I would need new rotor in the front and new pads. 3.4k Total installed. After reviewing forums I realized this is just protocol for the service writer at some point in miles. This is the service trying to get additional work from you.

It is possible that you may need new pads. However OEM pads suck and you should work through REDPANTs to get low dusting non squealing pads.

Likely do NOT need rotors unless you are possibly in the 50-60k mile range, or tracking the car. Just get new pads and seat them to your rotors. Enjoy for 5 or more years.


But if replacing all, don't go OEM, its likely cheaper to go aftermarket with the above examples

Racing Brake.com or Wilwood REDPANTS is a supplier for Wilwood I think.

 

Here's a thread about my brake upgrade:

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...de-review.html

They are the same ones used on the GT4 race car. They're made by brembo but are not cross drilled.

I think your calipers may be different since you have a v8s.

 

Brian

You could contact Rich at Redpants -he has this upgrade kit available

http://www.redpants.lol/shop/wilwood...e-brake-rotors

Graze

 

Hi SherrifDep,

My car has done just under 50,000 Klms or about 31,250 miles. They were projecting that in roughly 12 months it will need new pads (6mm F & R) and rotors as they are just on minimum spec thickness wise now. I am the 3rd owner and I doubt the previous owner gave the car a hard time but the first may have? I have not measured the rotors myself but will but it seemed reasonable to me. As I mentioned in my post I work in the motor industry (30+ years) for a large multi-franchise multi-dealership company and we certainly look for extra work so I get the process. Some of our european brands chew through rotors faster than that!!! Unfortunately we do not have any prestige brands for our staff don't have any experience in this space.

Redpants only lists rotors for standard (non-S) V8 Vantages ie:- 14 inch front & 13 inch rears. The S has 15 inch (380mm) and 13 inch (330mm) rears and has 6 pot calipers on both while the standard has 4's all round. I do not know if the rear rotors are different but that is why I am looking for advice.

Thanks for the response, much appreciated. Cobra66.

 

Hi Spyder997s, As with the Redpants replacement or upgrade the rotors in this link are only 14 inch (355mm) rotors for the front. My Vantage S has 2 piece 15 inch (380mm) rotors standard. The calipers are definitely different as they are 6 pot front and rear. They are labelled Aston Martin but I believe are manufactured by Brembo and according to some posts are slightly different in spec/clearance to the equivalent Brembo Aftermarket 6 pot Caliper that comes in the kit in my post. This kit is obviously intended as an upgrade to 15" rotors & 6 pot calipers for a standard Vantage.

The Brembo website is a real rabbit warren and hard to find anything. I have tried a lot of other performance sites and most only list parts for non-S V8 Vantages and if they actually have an option for the S they come up with no products under brakes for the S. I am sure there is an answer out there and I have only just started the search but have plenty of time up my sleeve.

Thanks for the reply, regards Cobra66.

 

IMO cross drilled rotors = cracks waiting to happen = a bad idea.

The "technical and performance" benefits you refer to are unlikely to be noticeable under normal road driving conditions i.e. Australian speed limits. At any rate, slotted or dimpled rotors will give you everything a drilled rotor does if you plan to go to a track, but without the cracking. And if you are going for the cool look, I think slots or dimples look more exotic and racier - you certainly see them less often than holes!

 

A while back when searching the web I found these guys, they do custom disc for all cars

www(dot)adamsrotors(dot)com

 

I can get the larger OEM rotors as well. Wilwood doesn't make rotors for the 6-piston calipers, but I'm working with another company on a couple products, and one of them is an aftermarket option for the larger rotors. They'd be 2-piece, slotted, and substantially less expensive than the OEM ones. I can do a drilled option if there's interest in it.

The plan was to recuperate some money from the massive investments I've made for the intake filters, coilovers, V12 catch cans, and corner lights/reflectors/side repeaters that I'm wrapping up right now, then pursue the brakes.I wasn't going to announce anything until I got closer, but I'll make a separate thread to go over the brake project since there's more to it than just the rotors. But rotors-only is definitely an option from the outset of it.

 

Fact. When you cut the rotor, either with slots or cross drilling, you are effectively reducing the structural integrity of the rotor.
The tradeoff is that you get better stopping power. Drilled or slotted rotors simply have more grip that stock rotors.
Slots in rotors are there primarily to help pull brake dust away from the pads. By reducing the debris between your pads and rotors, you allow more of the pad’s surface area to come in contact with the rotor, which means better grip, and better stops.
Cross drilled rotors came into vogue in the old days of asbestos brake pads. When those pads were applied it resulted in a buildup of gases that got trapped between the rotor and pad. This decreased stopping ability. To counteract this, holes were drilled into the rotors to give the gas somewhere to go.
Of course we no longer use asbestos brake pads, and cross drilling benefits now are a lighter rotor and more importantly, a rotor that helps air ventilation and expels heat.
Slots and cross drilling also eject water better between the pad and rotor than standard rotors.
Which is better? Cross drilling weakens the rotor more that slots. So, under extreme conditions. (Racing or serious track use) I believe slots are superior to cross drilling under these extreme conditions.
On a car that is not tracked but driven hard on the street I believe there is no chance of cracking a quality cross drilled rotor.
Note that cross drilled rotors come standard on many Porsche models, and the Porsche faithful is known for driving their cars hard.
If you have your heart set on cross drilled rotors and you are not racing your car on the track I say go for it. They do look gorgeous.

 

Based on my own (admittedly non-scientific, not statistically proven) experience, there are plenty of street cars out there with visible cracks around cross-drilled holes, including Porsches. Whether these cracks are of structural concern is another matter that I am not qualified to address, but I wouldn't be comfortable with them on my car.

I think that you'll find that many of the Porsche faithful who are truly dedicated to track use have swapped out their cross-drilled rotors.

 

Talk with Rich, Redpants, about this. Whether he will or can ultimately provide the parts to you or not within your timeframe, he will discuss all the option you have.

I would bet RacingBrake which may be a sponsor here, maybe not, has the sizes you want. I would assume the rears are possibly the same across a lot of models. I think the DB9 and V8V are the same at least for the 4-pot ones. But, my suggestion is work with Rich, either go Wilwood or Racing Brake for whatever you end up with. If Rich has a separate option, I would trust his advice and go that route rather than my two current options given.

 

As an FYI - The V8VS has a 6 piston front and 4 piston rear. - There are not many after market options here... At the time I found two for the rear (brembo and wilwood) and have not found anything for the fronts. I believe Racing Brake has an option for your rears as well. There is a company in the UK that claims to have a carbon ceramic upgrade for the front and rear but that company never responded to my inquiry... I have the wilwood rears on mine that I did for a lightweight 2 piece upgrade.

I agree with others to pursue your project with Redpants. Rich is a great guy and extremely helpful. I do not believe the option you desire is readily available.

I am more of a fan of slotted rotors for function. If you are looking at cross drilled for aesthetic reasons be sure you get a cad coated rotor. Rust on cross drilled rotors is not very attractive... My 2 Cents

Best of luck with your search!

 

Hi Handyman2009, I checked out the site you mentioned it is very interesting and it seems to have definite possibilities. They at least have a specific listing for both Standard Vantage and Vantage S which is better than 90% of the other brake system sites I have looked at. They appear to be able to offer a huge range of finishes including slotted, drilled or dimpled and/or a combination. While the dimpled finishes supposedly overcomes the rumored cracking issues with drilled rotors it seems to have odd noise issues? (Like clicking or locusts?) Not sure what to think on that one? I will do a little more research and get a quote from them and ask a few questions. Thanks again as it seems a very good lead.

Regards Cobra66

 

Hi Richard, I really appreciate the contact. I was initially a little surprised you didn't have a listing on your site for OEM or aftermarket replacements for the larger Vantage S brakes. I then guessed that as there are far fewer of them around even in the US it probably wasn't worth the effort?

There is a guy here in Sydney that does genuine AM parts at far more reasonably than the scary prices charged by the AM Dealers. The whole point of my post was about my passion for drilled rotors and while I am well aware of the supposed issues with cracking it is a choice I am keen on. Eyes wide open! I read your comment about potentially being able to do a drilled option and I will contact you directly on that. I also need pads etc. I am in no rush as I mentioned so will send you a message and query through your website.

On a side-note thanks very much for the posts and videos, they have been very good for me and in particular the tail light change-over was invaluable to me. It was also helpful while I was researching and prior to purchasing my car.

Regards Cobra66