Has anyone on here tried the Rotora Brake kits? Now before anyone says go get a wilwood they're cheaper and so on. That's great and it is one of the things I am considering and talking to Todd about, but I want to keep my options as open as possible and hope to leave the wilwood discussion to another thread. Rotora was always a good brand in the import world where I came from and many people used it. I don't know if it's price, or people are skeptical or what, but I haven't heard much about them over here.
Also I have a kind of general question about aftermarket seats. I am looking at Recaro specifically and apparently they don't make rails and everything neccesary for the seats to go in our cars. I was wondering what my options are that way, what kind of price am I looking at for custom rails and anything else I need to worry about etc. I am looking mainly for the harness inserts as well as a quality brand seat to use with a harness bar. I refuse to spend a lot of money on ACR seats when I can just throw inserts in mine and have for the most part the same thing. Although it would fit better than having to get custom rails for an aftermarket seat, but I think my money is spent better elsewhere than on the ACR's, so I am keeping that out of my head for now.
Thanks
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Last edited by siberian57 : 06-12-2008 at 09:02 AM.
Just to clear some things up about my needs with the brakes. I am in no rush to buy them I am just testing all my options for the future. However I will be honest. I am building my car to a road racing setup (although still a daily driver so nothing crazy). But I also want the car to "look good". I quote that because one of my goals is to get into a magazine with the car, not go to shows with crazy body work and such, but for it to look good and become magazine worthy. So the brakes I am not going to try and fool anyone, but in my eyes I want a nice balance of a system that looks good (decent size) and functions well at the same time, so I am trying to mix it up. I was told the pad support for the 6pot Wilwoods is very limited and that's something I hold very highly in a brake system so it kind of steers me away from those. Price on the Rotora isn't as cheap as the wilwoods but isn't as high as the Stoptech ST-40 kit, so it seems like a decent middle ground.
Last edited by siberian57 : 06-12-2008 at 09:03 AM.
bbks you already know the budget for: 1200 - 2400.
plus pad sizes are not quickly to attain as OE...you just have to search around. or order and wait.
plus then you have to keep remembering the model # etc. in a nutshell the components are rather SPECIFIC.
if it's for the track they are going to wear. if it's for show then you have lots of time before those components need replacement!
seats range in weight, style-(for harnesses), and pricing: 300-1600+
seat rails, are not ultra cheap. they are within the couple hundred (more or less that work), plus a chance of custom fabrication-which is labor. be sure to match your seat type & harness bar with your style of harnesses. the rails might be fixed and non-adjustable as well.
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I have no experience with the Rotora brand and have nothing against them nor would I say much if I did.
None the less I think it's hard to balance the needs of a true track car with those of a show car. The requirements for both are different enough that you'll compromise something. Which application is really more important to you? Be honest with yourself; how many real track days a year do you plan to attend? And I'm speaking of true days at a road course with a club like SCCA or NASA with four 30min sessions, dedicated track rubber, spare parts in the tubs...down to a back up plan to get it home if you break it. A HPDE with a no passing clause and enthusiast club day doesn't really classify you a track car in my opinion. With gas prices up can you really afford this?
On the other hand you have the show circuit or outings. Style points rule over function a lot. Again you have to factor travel cost and how many days. Luckily you can drive it home much easier too!
Now like a lot of things the more "track worthy" you make it, believe me; the less you'll like driving it daily. Firmness goes up, reliability goes down, repairs climb....resale declines.
What's all that have to do with Brakes? Different things will benefit both decisions. Drilled rotors and shiny colored caliper will look great for the show. They'll suck for the track. Cracked rotors, discolored finishes, embedded brake dust in everything, wheels coated with perma-dust...not to mention the rock chips and windshield stress cracks and other oft track related issues.
But if you opt for "the look" be prepared to keep the colors clean. Do PC over anodizing. Anodizing all fades with heat regardless of color. But PC inhibits heat dissipation too....and those slotted only track rotors with deep grooves from the track pads will be nothing to look at. Plating? Forget about it. That stuff was burnt off after the first day- you have rust from the power wash later.
Todd, would you reccomend a ceramic coating for calipers? It's something I've been toying with for a bit know, nowing how things turn out after track days..
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Unfortunately, you'll never get a world-class meal when you start with Spam, and neither will you get a world-class hot hatch when you start with a Caliber.
I have no experience with the Rotora brand and have nothing against them nor would I say much if I did.
None the less I think it's hard to balance the needs of a true track car with those of a show car. The requirements for both are different enough that you'll compromise something. Which application is really more important to you? Be honest with yourself; how many real track days a year do you plan to attend? And I'm speaking of true days at a road course with a club like SCCA or NASA with four 30min sessions, dedicated track rubber, spare parts in the tubs...down to a back up plan to get it home if you break it. A HPDE with a no passing clause and enthusiast club day doesn't really classify you a track car in my opinion. With gas prices up can you really afford this?
On the other hand you have the show circuit or outings. Style points rule over function a lot. Again you have to factor travel cost and how many days. Luckily you can drive it home much easier too!
Now like a lot of things the more "track worthy" you make it, believe me; the less you'll like driving it daily. Firmness goes up, reliability goes down, repairs climb....resale declines.
What's all that have to do with Brakes? Different things will benefit both decisions. Drilled rotors and shiny colored caliper will look great for the show. They'll suck for the track. Cracked rotors, discolored finishes, embedded brake dust in everything, wheels coated with perma-dust...not to mention the rock chips and windshield stress cracks and other oft track related issues.
But if you opt for "the look" be prepared to keep the colors clean. Do PC over anodizing. Anodizing all fades with heat regardless of color. But PC inhibits heat dissipation too....and those slotted only track rotors with deep grooves from the track pads will be nothing to look at. Plating? Forget about it. That stuff was burnt off after the first day- you have rust from the power wash later.
Easy choice? Nope. One size fits all? Nope.
Probably 3 maybe 4 HPDE events with NASA plus various autocross days throughout the year would be something I am looking at.
This isn't a show car and I can't stress that enough. I know the shows have all sorts of whacked out crazy too much flash for me. I don't want to win trophies or get points or anything like that. I just want a nice clean car with some quality parts and worthy enough to be put in magazine. Things like crazy body work and tvs and lambo doors would win shows but they wouldn't put me in SCC or something like that plus those show cars aren't my taste anyway. Of course I would keep it clean just like other parts of the car, but this isn't a show car I am not going to be THAT anal with everything and not drive it and let it sit in a trailer all day or anything.
I am not making tons of money by any means, but I'm not saying I would have these bought in a week either, this would take some time to save for. But I don't plan rushing this project just to move into another one. Travel costs and gas is getting high, at which point I might buy a beater or a bike or something that just seems to make more sense.
As for function, yeah I know the stock brakes are plenty. By visual appeal I mean something that looks like it fits the part I guess. I mean even the stock evo/sti brakes which are a bit better than ours would do the job but we can't bolt them up so I don't have that option. That would be perfect for function and look IMO, but that isn't what I have to work with. Which was one reason I was discussing the wilwood 6 pot and factory kit with you in the pm's and one reason why I brought up the Rotora's in this thread. I do understand the overkill of a BBK and the price and all that. For all I know I might not go this route in the future. I don't know, I am just gathering ideas.
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Rotora Brakes and Aftermarket Seat questions
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