Does anyone else who's run HPDEs have cracks like these in their Track rotors? I've done 20 track days with the car and although the cracks are not new, I'm concerned about them.

The mechanic at the dealership said I should replace the rotors ($520 each!), but I don't have time to do that before going out to Mid-Ohio this weekend.

Is there any chance of a catastrophic failure with rotors in this condition? Anyone here say I shouldn't go to a three-day HPDE with these brakes?

Expert opinions welcome. WAGs not.

 

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I would say that after 20 track days its time for new rotors. Check out the DBA 2 pc rotors that we use on our Grand Am Cup car.
We have some in stock .They are lighter weight , cool better, and after your first set you only need to buy replacement discs. You will have a lot better braking performance with them than the OEM rotors.
www.350EVO.com

 

Carbotech should have oem replacements for less than half of dealership prices. I got my non-brembo rear for $120 for the pair, nissan wanted over $260 for the same rotors...

 

So that's $785 per wheel for the 2-piece?!? Woof! How much do the discs alone cost when I need to replace them?

Are the 1-piece rotors $436 per wheel, or for 2? (It says "sold as a set.")

And if I come by the shop on Thursday afternoon, can you install them for me in time for Friday?

But if that's not an option, what happens if I run my old ones at Mid-Ohio this weekend? Merely poor performance or possible disaster? I want to get an idea of what the failure mode of rotors is. Can the rotors crack all the way through and fall apart (which could obviously ruin your day)?

 

I've got some very small cracks in my rotors, but I'm not too concerned just yet... maybe I should be?

 

No thats $784.95 for a pair.
Our prices on the rotors are for pairs not just one.
BJ

 

Well that's quite reasonable then.

What about that Thursday appointment?

 

The rotor failures I've seen usually aren't catasrophic meaning the rotors don't explode like you've seen in F1 or something like that.

A couple of the S2000 guys have used the rotors up until the point where there are visible LARGE cracks. Obviously you can feel them and so they stop using them at that point

I think you'd probably be fine... OTOH, it would kind of stink to develop a large crack and not have any replacement rotors there.

 

Here is what happened to my friend's Brembo kit:



And, this is what almost happened to me because of it:

 

My rotors look very similar to yours but I'm not going to replace them just yet. Have you removed the splash guards from your brakes? I'm wondering if that will help keep the cracks from getting deeper?

BJ, how much are just the replacement rotors? I would like to get the DBA 2 piece rotors when I upgrade possibly later this year.

 

James, I have seen rotors break apart on the track a couple of times. It can happen (and ruing your day).

Having said that, the last couple of events last season, I drove on rotors with deeper cracks than what you had. I just paid very close attention to them and made sure they weren't spreading or deepening beyond my threshold. Incidentally, the unofficial test for replacement is when you can catch a fingernail in the cracks.

So, I think you should be getting new rotors, but you will be fine for one more event if you can't get them in time.

 

Thanks all for the advice.

I'll probably get a set from BJ over the weekend, although I probably won't bother to install them until I get home. I think I'll start out with the non-slotted 1-piece rotors, see how they perform for me, and move up to the 2-piece if I think that's necessary.

BJ says they tried the slotted rotors and although they worked great, they ate up the pads too fast, so they use the non-slotted now.

 

That mustang looks like the hat sheared off of it... I'm not sure how the cracks in the rotor that James posted would cause the hat to break off. Seems like it would be more a function of the weight, brake pad, and tire size/type that would cause that along with some fatiguing.

I wonder if a 2-piece rotor would have helped his situation.

The worst thing I could think of happening is losing all your brake line pressure if the disc suddenly came out from between the pads. Yet another reason race cars run twin M/C's

 

You'll be fine with those rotors for a while longer. I wouldn't worry at all. As others have said, it's very unlikely that you would see some sort of disastrous failure.
The cracks you have are fairly small, and they are in the middle of the rotor...completely normal. Once you start getting cracks on the outside edge of the rotor that you can hang a fingernail on, then it's definitely time to get some new rotors.
Here's one of Aerorotors in much worse shape than yours that didn't get pulled...they kept on it...check out the picture on the right: http://www.stoptech.com/press_releas...hunderhill.htm

 

20 track days! I just finished 1 track day in my coupe and I think I wrapped my Brembo rotors. And no, I didn't put the brakes on after the session, but I did get a lot of track time and this track, CMP S.C. is hard on the brakes. They pulse when I stop now, didn't notice during the event, but driving home I did.

Maybe I just got a hot spot and it will go away in a few weeks. I did spin once, a very long slow spin down a short straight. Stayed on the track at least, but had the brakes on the whole time, last lap of the session.

I'm going to check them for cracks now, might be getting some new rotors, only had 10k on them. I'd go to Infiniti, try the warranty, but they might notice the extreme wear on the tires right now, I'll wait a coupe of weeks.

 

IMO it's very unlikely you warped the rotors. You probably just have some pad material deposited on them. if so, the vibration should go away after a while. Did you install new pads and not bed them in properly? That could have caused the pulsing.