Pad and Rotor reccomendations for a Daily Driven 2010 Mitsubishi Ralliart

Family of mine has been using Stoptech rotors and hawk pads on their 2010 Mitsubishi Ralliart Sportback, originally replacing the stock pads and rotors because the car had no brake feel whatsoever. Problem tho, this didn't really fix the problem- and while the aftermarket stuff made braking better, the Stoptech slotted and cryotreated rotors warp constantly to the point where they have had to be replaced each year on average.

Family states the Turbo EVO forums are inundated with sponsorships from these brake companies, so they can't really take their opinions as being unbiased. Do any of you have recommendations for improved rotors on these? They still use the stock calipers but have also replaced their brake fluid for sterner stuff when they were planning to track their car out a couple of years ago.

My 04 ralliart sportback is a very different animal, but I will comment.

I have recently put on stoptech sport pads on the front, and kept the parts store pads on the rear. I've been extremely pleased with the brakes since then.

I'm running solid rotors, I don't think slotted or drilled rotors are good for anything more than appearance.

StopTech rotors are made by Centric, who's quality have gone downhill significantly lately.

I would get Hawk or Brembo blank rotors. Which compound Hawk pads? I find their Street 5.0 to be too aggressive for actual daily driver use.

Javelin said:

StopTech rotors are made by Centric, who's quality have gone downhill significantly lately.

I would get Hawk or Brembo blank rotors. Which compound Hawk pads? I find their Street 5.0 to be too aggressive for actual daily driver use.

They use these Composite Hawk Street Pads. I'm not sure what to do about the brake 'feel' but I do think they need to go solid rotor.

I have been using Warner rotors and there carbon ceramic pads in my street cars and really love them. 
 

How have they been bedding in there brakes?  A lot of brake issues can come from pore bedding in of the pads and rotors or no bedding in at all.  Yes you actually bed both in not just the pads. 

dean1484 said:

I have been using Warner rotors and there carbon ceramic pads in my street cars and really love them. 
 

How have they been bedding in there brakes?  A lot of brake issues can come from pore bedding in of the pads and rotors or no bedding in at all.  Yes you actually bed both in not just the pads. 

I've never heard of "bedding". Can you explain?

NAPA pads and rotors always worked well for me.   Sometimes even better than OEM.

For regular street use. I lake Wagner thermoquiet pads. Skip the drilled/slotted rotors. 

To bed in new brakes get them hot with several firm 40mph stops and them cool. Don't keep driving around, heat them up then park it.

For anything street driven, I always use Akebono Euro Pro pads.  Good performance across the normal temperature range, good cold bite, low dust and noise.

I've typically gone with Brembo rotors if it really matters and Centric if it mattered less.

I'm liking my stop tech sport pads and normal cheap rotors. They're a little dusty, but have good bite.

HPS is an outdated compound. Though I'm not much of a fan of the new version (HPS 5.0) either. I'm not sure what I'd recommend but I'm pretty much off of hawk pads for now, at least for street use. Money no option I'd say Porterfield R4S if they make pads for that application, otherwise I'd honestly say the nicest NAPA pads you can get are probably worth trying. Rotors...not much brand favoritism, but on a street car slotted rotors aren't doing anything other than providing opportunity for weird wear, noises, and being a brake pad cheese grater. The last two sets of rotors I've gotten were cheap centric blanks and they seem fine. One set didn't get many miles on it, but the other has been on my DD fiesta ST for probably 20k miles now and don't seem to have any issues.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Just put a set of Detroit Axle slotted and drilled front rotors on my wife's Accord. Don't have too many miles on them yet, but they sure looked nice and the price was right (under $50).

Isn't warpage mostly tied to improper torquing of lug nuts, though? It never occurred to me that some rotors might be warpage-prone. I just figured that over-torquing lug nuts was an American epidemic. Even though I'm aware of the issue, it's not like I drive around with a torque wrench in my car.

I found that Hawk HP Plus and stock rotors work best on my 07 TL Type S. Better than Porterfield R4S. They dust a lot but that car never stopped like that with the stock or other pads. I was never impressed with the brakes on it, figured with 4 piston calipers it would have great brakes, never did til the Hawk pads. 
 

I have R4S on the rear. FWIW. 

I've run HPS and the R4S. Both had a very similar feel. good initial bite with more feel than the parts store pads I've used. I always use the cheapest rotors I can find and bed them in properly. I'd recommend either pad for DD car. 

I fear my family members got the "aftermarket is always better" virus- they're gonna take a look at Warner, but i've told them to go back to fresh OEMs with other brake pads just in case. Thanks!

b13990 said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Just put a set of Detroit Axle slotted and drilled front rotors on my wife's Accord. Don't have too many miles on them yet, but they sure looked nice and the price was right (under $50).

Isn't warpage mostly tied to improper torquing of lug nuts, though? It never occurred to me that some rotors might be warpage-prone. I just figured that over-torquing lug nuts was an American epidemic. Even though I'm aware of the issue, it's not like I drive around with a torque wrench in my car.

No. Drilled rotors are already cracked before use around the holes, and progressively get worse over time. There's tons of pics online of this.

Improper torque can totally warp them tho.

Bedding of the brakes I tend to probably over do it a bit but here goes.  
 

a long deserted road is best for domin this  

I will do several stops in a row starting from 30 then 40 then 50. I will add gas and be trying to accelerate while still slowing the car. This causes you to have to increase brake pressure (by at least 2x) to get it stopped. I will then drag the brakes for a quarter to a half mile or so. By now you should be smelling your brakes and they will be very hot. I will then drive the car a bit further trying to use the brakes as little as possible just to let them cool a bit before parking the car. You don't want to park the car with the brakes roaring hot as the pads can be damaged if they are stationary against a smoking hot rotor.  Once they cool a bit I park it and let them cool completely.  Take for another drive. The first stop may not be the best as the now cool surface of the pad needs to be cleaned off. But the second and there after should be noticeably better than before the bedding process and should stay that way for the life of the pads and rotors. 
 

I have even noticed improvement in the braking after a second normal drive and normal heat cycling the day after the initial bedding in. 
 

I know this may seem a bit extreme to some but it is the way I do it and I like the resulting brake feel and longevity I get from doing it this way.  

GIRTHQUAKE said: No. Drilled rotors are already cracked before use around the holes, and progressively get worse over time. There's tons of pics online of this.

Improper torque can totally warp them tho.

Well, if you don't want drilled rotors then get solid ones... your call. I'm just telling you the brand of rotors I bought after pricing a few, reading reviews, etc.

If you think drilled rotors warp more easily that's certainly one data point. Always figured that if they're evenly torqued to spec and driven normally they'd be OK.

My bed in procedure is usually 30-5, 40-5, 50-5, 60-5 and then drive without touching the brakes for another 2 miles to cool down. Then one hard 80-5 after cooled and then park it.