Power Stop Brake Kits?

I'm sure many of you have seen the Power Stop Brake Kits that have been proliferating to all the major online vendors lately. If you haven't, check this out:

http://www.powerstop.com/products

My question is... are they any good?

I have to do brakes soon on my daily driver 2012 Mazda 3, and I want something decent. When I did brakes on my wife's 3, I went with Centric blank rotors and Wagner ThermoQuiet pads, and they are disappointing. They fade, squeal, and generally stop like E36 M3. The worst part is they moan like a female humpback whale in heat every time she backs the car up. I'd like to avoid that if possible.

I've found complete kits with 4 blank rotors and the "Z16" pads (essentially a ceramic performance pad) for $220 shipped. I can get the cross-drilled and slotted kit for $288, but I'm weary of cheapo drilled rotors. But they would look cool, yo!

Anyone on here try these before?

I just ordered this for the Durango off of Rock Auto in December. So far they seem pretty good. I don't have any complaints. I have the ceramic pads as well.

I upgraded my 2007 Mazda3s hatchback to the Mazdaspeed3 front rotors/calipers/pads and was a bolt on affair. My stock 17" wheels clear the larger brakes. There are a few postings in the Mazda3 forums on this. The rear brakes are the same between the Mazda3s and MS3. I went with genuine Mazda rotors and rebuilt a set of calipers from the junkyard. All in all, it cost me $300 for the parts and made a big improvement. I can't comment on the Power Stop kits but am a huge proponent of OEM upgrades whenever possible. As far as the brake noise, my car's rear brakes have done this for a long time now with the original parts. Its much worse backing up on damp days and goes away when warmed up. I'll have to try smearing anti seize or brake quiet paste on the back of the pads to see if it helps.

I ran the Power Stop kit on my P71 through many a track day, autocross, and drag race and was very pleased. Last summer I put the kits on my Grand Prix and Mazda5. I'm very happy with both. They are high quality components and work very well.

Javelin wrote: I ran the Power Stop kit on my P71 through many a track day, autocross, and drag race and was very pleased. Last summer I put the kits on my Grand Prix and Mazda5. I'm very happy with both. They are high quality components and work very well.

Did you get the kit with the blank rotors or the kit with the slotted/drilled ones?

And I'm not doing the MS3 upgrade right now. This car doesn't get tracked, and it stops awesome with the stock-sized brakes, which are a decent size for the car. The fronts are bigger than my 2009 WRX brakes were, and the car weighs about 200lbs less. Maybe later if I decide to autocross with it, I will do this upgrade.

Drilled and slotted. They are zinc coated and the holes are chamfered. No cracking on any of the three kits.

I just checked, and they offer the fronts in a kit! Or should I just put some normal rotors on and run their pads?

EDIT: Just checked normal rotor prices and it is cheaper for me to run their basic (non slotted/drilled) kit.

i'm not one to buy drilled/slotted rotors. feels like putting a spoiler on my car that's only effective above 150mph.

In reply to belteshazzar: I bought slotted rotors on my old car and the stopping power increased significantly. They will help plenty if the factory brakes are only average.

The only thing I will complain about is that I had a bitch of a time getting the pads on over the rotor. I thought I possibly didn't push the pistons back in all the way, but I had. It was like the pads or the rotors were a few mm too thick.

I have never had to beat my calipers back on before.

I have been using power stop brakes for about 6 yrs now totaling over 260k between my XJ, CX-7, a couple dodge 2500s and have put them on many other cars for friends and family and ever OE I have done loves the improvement but Depending on how hard you drive it you may not get the greatest wear but its work it for the stopping power. On my 06 dodge I would go about 40k on the fronts and that truck was driven like a sports car and did a lot of stop and go driving in the city and commuting so no nice easy use. When you put your foot down they just flat out work. My 2001 dodge only got about 25k out of them but then truck averages out at 5tons everyday with tools and such and it tows a 28ft trailer that grosses out between 6k to 15 k and I have had a lot of issues with the trailer brakes so the fronts on the truck have done a lot of work. I finally replaced the rears on the truck with power stop but have yet to drive it but my main guy who drives it as much as me said its crazy how well it stops now. I am a very spirited driver and have faded other brakes but have yet to make the fade until they get down to needing replaced. Hope this helps

Im looking at this kit for my 2011 Elantra:

Powerstop Kit

so I’m reviving this thread to see how the power stop kit held up long term. 

Any feedback on the long term performance and durability is appreciated      

Thanks

I've put about 35k miles on my Grand Cherokee with powerstop pads on it, they've held up respectably and offer plenty of stopping capacity even when towing racecars through the hills of Atlanta

I have their drilled/slotted front and rear kits on both my F30 BMW 335i, and my wife's 2013 A6 3.0T. For the price, they cannot be beaten. No surprises upon installation; everything fit just like OEM, and the pads are decent for a ceramic street compound. I'd like a little more initial bite, but since they don't dust at all, I can't really complain. Aesthetically, they look great, as well. 

I put slotted rotors on the front of the wife's Highlander and it helped keep the pads from glazing as desired.  Worth it for the slight loss of surface area.

Drilled rotors are a waste of thermal mass and surface area on top of the potential for cracking (even chamfered holes can crack, but it is less likely).

I put powerstop z series pads and blank rotors on my mustang before I took it to my first track day with motul fluid. They did great. Even the Cayman driver I had as instructor was impressed. It wasnt the most brake intensive track but I had no fade and would haul it down from 130 in no time. That was a couple years ago and I'm still driving them on the street. 

killeen_john said:

I'll have to try smearing anti seize or brake quiet paste on the back of the pads to see if it helps.

Smear it on the front. And I *guarantee* the noise will go away. 

I used their Evolution kit plus their rebuilt calipers on my S10 when I had it, and all parts fit and worked great.  I would not have reservations about using them again on the next project vehicle.

Good timing on thread resurrection! I've been hemming and hawing between this kit and hitting Napa for a refresh on the '97 F-250. Hard to argue with.

Thanks everyone for the feedback on the kits. 

Ill order one up soon, but won’t get it installed until late August. 

My sons like helping so I’ll need to wait to install. They won’t both be back home from sleep away camp until late the end of August. 

Been running that kit with blank rotors on my 05 Cobalt SS and the wife's 09 WRX for 4 years now.  About to do it again on both, and will need'em on the '10 f350 soon.

I've used them on different vehicles before. Always used blanks with the supplied pads and grease.

Honestly can't complain. They stopped my cars just fine, very little brake dust, and were cheap as all hell.

They can and will rust pretty quickly, but honestly when all four corners w/ pads come in around or even under $200, I don't even care. I'll even swap out the rotors when the pads go out at that price point.

Ransom said:

Good timing on thread resurrection! I've been hemming and hawing between this kit and hitting Napa for a refresh on the '97 F-250. Hard to argue with.

I also have a 97 f250- Looking forward to your feedback.  Mine stops fine, but more brakes is more better. 

I got an awesome deal on their 4-corner slotted and drilled kit for the mr2 spyder and I've been really pleased. They went on easily, the breaking performance is phenomenal, and they're quiet and easy to modulate. Having used the "super cheap" set I scored off Craigslist, I'd pay full price for it no problem.

Interesting. I exhaled sharply at the $53 shipping from rockauto (I know, truck rotors are heavy...) and went and found what I hope are the right parts at Napa (all websites and shops are a little confused by my F-250 HD, which is a holdover body style when the new trucks were 7-lug new body style, but mine's 8-lug, same body style as '96; napaonline confidently tells me that both 7-lug and 8-lug parts are "exact fit" for my truck)... With higher-end brake pads (Napa's "Fleet") and their "Premium" rotors, the total was *exactly* the same as the Power Stop from RA with shipping: $230.45. I guess I'd still need a tube of anti-squeal, but I could also drop back to the Proforma pads and drop $50...

EDIT: Ordered the pads and rotors from Napa, the seals from RA. Came out about $15 ahead of doing everything from either place, and I prefer the notion of Napa parts, while the seals were both overpriced and unavailable from them.