Admittedly I am a lead-foot. And, my 300 is happy to comply with my speed demands. Chrysler got that part right. But when it comes time to halt the mass of my silver bullet, the brakes shutter a little and fade fast. This can be a little scary.
A few weeks ago I took a trip to the Sierras for a weekend fishing trip. On my return, dropping down from 9,000 feet, I was made painfully aware of just how under-engineered my stock brakes were. I came hauling around a corner to find a Ford truck going way too slow and I had to hit the brakes pretty hard. To my dismay, they barely had enough stopping power to keep me from destroying my beautiful front end. My stopping power had faded so much that, I swear, it was like trying to stop a train Fred Flintstone-style – with my feet. It was at that moment I decided to replace my stock brake rotors.
I have had this thought before but haven’t wanted to fork out the extra dough for better brake rotors. And, I wouldn’t trust myself to install them properly. This incident changed my mind and when I got back to sea-level I started my research.
The first thing I did was go to Google and searched for brakes but this proved too generic. Then I did a search for performance rotors and came across a couple decent looking websites. Turns out there is a huge market for aftermarket rotors, I guess I am not the only one with this need. I don’t really know any brands so I relied on the customer reviews. The two brands that stuck out as positive from a performance and price standpoint were EBC rotors and Power Slot rotors. I thought they would be a lot more expensive but a set of front rotors is actually pretty affordable.
I also learned about slotted rotors and how they help conduct heat away from the rotors which is one of the things that creates fade. But the other thing is that these performance rotors are also larger in diameter then stock rotors so they have more surface area. The EBC brand was pricier then the Power Slot brand, I think because they also have these dimples which I presume help to cool the rotors more efficiently. In the end, I figured that it wasn’t that big of a difference and purchased the cheaper Power Slot rotors.
The next think I needed to do was decide whether or not I would install them myself. The sales agent that sold me the rotors said it was pretty simple. But, I am a musician and don’t want to destroy my hands so I contacted my local auto mechanic and asked him how much he would charge to install them. He said it would take about two hours. I figured this was worth the piece of mind that comes with proper installation.
I got my rotors in like three days, took my beloved 300 to the mechanic and now I am driving and stopping in style.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
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1 comment:
First of all, I need to tell you I usually drive along the german highways very often, seen I live in Switzerland, just at the boarder.
My problem is that driving at 250km/h with my 300C 5.7L Touring with originals 18" wheels, I get serious problems from the brakes.
I hear a metallic sound from the rotors when from the 220-250 I slow down to about 60-80km/h, then to stop the car I almost can't.
The brakes are way too hot and I need them to cool down for a few minutes, then all comes normal till the next few times I touch the brake pedal to slow down around 200-250km/h.
Do you know if I can upgrade the brake fluid to DOT 5.1 with my brake system?
I 've found on ebay USA a few rotors from R1, sure you know.
Moreover, I've red on the net that the Drilled rotors used at high speed simply get broken, and as a consequence the best solution would be to buy just slotted rotors.
Please, give me some advice to be able to drive safe on the germa highway.
-J. Copernico
motorcycle brake rotors
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