Centric Parts Premium Brake Rotor
Your car’s braking system is probably the most important part of your vehicle because in the life-death situations, it is the part that you need to rely on the most. By using the best brake rotors, you can feel safer that car’s braking system is secure and there’s a less likely chance your braking system will malfunction.
Brake rotors are an integral part of the braking system, along with brake pads, calipers, and brake fluid. When you press on your brakes, brake fluid flows into calipers that are straddle to your brake pads.
These calipers then squeeze the brake pads against the rotors, creating friction and slow the brake rotors which in turns slow down your vehicle. The brake pads gradually wear away each time you apply your brakes. Since the rotors are made of metal, they wear down at a much slower rate. These rotors can also become grooved, pitted or warped from heat generated from braking.
Best Brake Rotors Reviews
- Centric Parts Premium Brake Rotor with E-Coating (Best Value)
- ACDelco Advantage Non-Coated Front Disc Brake Rotor (Economic Option)
- Power Stop Ceramic Brake Pad and Cross Drilled/Slotted Combo Brake Kit (Premium Option)
- Wagner BD125654E Premium E-Coated Brake Rotor
- Raybestos Advanced Technology Disc Brake Rotor
Centric Parts Premium Brake Rotor with E-Coating (Best Value)
If you want the best brake rotors with e coating to prevent rust, look a good look at the Centric Parts Premium Brake Rotors. Centric Parts brake rotors are your standard run of the mill smooth brake rotors with no drilled holes, vents, or slots. The braking surface is smooth and offers more surface area than drilled or slotted rotors, so it is a bit more effective at dissipating heat.
These rotors will last you a long time and are not prone to cracking under extreme heat. The selling point of these premium brake rotors is the e coating, which prevents rust and corrosion. Why would you want this? Well first of all, they look much more attractive. Since most of the time your brake rotors are exposed, you probably also want them to be nice and shiny instead of old and rusted. The e coated rotors do not protect your brake rotors forever, but it certainly does push back the onset of rust.
On a non-coating rotor, the working surface is usually kept clean by the scruffing of the brake pads. However, if you go on extended vacation, these rotors will rust just from being exposed to the humidity in the air without having to get wet. Rusted rotors will not perform as well and may even be a danger to you and your passengers. By having an e coated rotor, you prevent rust from building up on your rotor surface even when you are not using it everyday.
We really like the e coating on these rotors, which can reportedly withstand 400 hours of salt water exposure without rusting. In terms of coating finishes, the ones on Centric Parts look nicer and perform better than most other brake rotors on the market with e coatings. In terms of price, these rotors are not cheap, but also not expensive: they are the best brake rotors for those who want e coated rotors and are willing to pay a slight premium to normal blank rotors.
ACDelco Advantage Non-Coated Front Disc Brake Rotor (Economic Option)
If you are on a budget, ACDelco Advantage rotors are the best brake rotors for you. ACDelco has many variations of standard brake rotors, including advantage, OE service, specialty, performance, and professional durastop. Advantage is their budget line vented brake rotor and does not come with premium rust protection or a nice appearance.
Although they do have coating for rust protection, this coating isn’t their top of the line product. If you are just looking for a set of brake rotors that work without caring about appearance of the development of rust stains in the future, these are the perfect set of brake rotors for you. They are really designed for the budget commuter who just needs something functional and somewhat durable.
Over time, rust will get to these rotors and they will show sand casting marks where the rotors touch the disc, which will ruin the appearance. However, don’t worry, they are completely functional and offer good performance for the money. They come with a slew of nice sounding features like mil balanced and quality validated for correct brake plate thickness. There is also a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty on these rotors. In the end, there is nothing to brag about with these rotors, but you don’t really have too much to lose as well. They work and they are cheap.
Power Stop Ceramic Brake Pad and Cross Drilled/Slotted Combo Brake Kit (Premium Option)
If you want the best brake rotors that offer more performance at a price premium, you should look into the Power Stop Brake Kit. This kit comes with everything you need to change your entire break system by yourself including brake pads and parts. The brake rotors itself is a cross drilled and slotted combo, which is a nice combination of both technologies. The slotting is great at venting gasses and the drilled holes are good at dissipating heat.
This leads to superior performance in the racing world, which also transfers to the street if needed. The drilled and slotted brake rotors will help you displace heat faster, but will also wear down your brake pads faster, which is kind of a double edged sword: superior performance comes at a cost. These brake rotors also come zinc coated, so you don’t have to worry about rusting and corrosion anytime soon.
Of course all metals eventually rust, but the zinc coating slows this rate down. These brake rotors are great if you are doing any kind of driving that will put stress on your brake pads and rotors such as racing and towing. Stock brake pads may not be able to dissipate heat and vent gas as well in high pressure situations and may end up being warped. The Power Stop brake rotors offer no noise and great stopping power for drivers who need the extra support. This kit is easy to install as long as you make sure the kit matches the make and model of your vehicle.
Wagner BD125654E Premium E-Coated Brake Rotor, Front
We think Wagner is one of the best brake rotor brands on the market today. They really do make a premium set of brake rotors. First and foremost, their brake rotors are e-shield coated, which prevents corrosion. They fit perfectly with almost all makes and models. Furthermore, you get very little pedal pulsation. We think the black paint like coating like quite nice. Overall, we would say the Wagner is a very high quality brake rotor brand.
In terms of some more features, you get a smooth surface finish that allows you to break in your brake pads easier. There is also a Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor or VCI, which helps reduce rotor prep. This in turns helps you save time on installation. We are quite impressed by the overall effectiveness and stopping power of the Wagner Premium Brake Rotor. It even has more surface area than its competitors, which helps improve heat dissipation. The Wagner also has a patented vane/rib like design, which helps reduce rotor noise and provides good cooling capabilities.
All in all, we do not hesitate to recommend this brake rotor. We think the black colored coating is great in that it is all visually appealing. Removing these brake rotors is quite easy as well in case you want to clean it up or service them. If you want the best brake rotor brand, Wagner is certainly a wise choice.
Raybestos Advanced Technology Disc Brake Rotor
We think the Raybestos Advanced Technology offers a nice balance between performance and affordability. Raybestos is one of the best brake rotor brands on the market. They make three different kind of brake rotors, regardless of your make or model. The most basic type is the Professional Grade series, which is for 99% of cars. Then theres the advanced technology, which is for high performance vehicles. Finally, you have the R-300, which is for large vehicles and towing.
We think the Advanced Technology series is more than enough for all cars and most trucks. It is the best brake rotor for trucks if you want to factor in value. The next step up is the R-300 and it is clearly much more expensive.
We like the Advanced Technology because it provides the best noise reduction. There is also a cool black fusion coating that keeps the brakes running cool. It also looks quite nice and sleek. These brake rotors also have a tuned finish that helps reduce noise. The Raybestos Advanced Technology also has great responsiveness and durability. It is ready to install out of the box and great for light cars to heavy duty vehicles.
Picking the Best Brake Rotors
In terms of brake rotor types there are really only four main ones: conventional, vented, drilled, and slotted. Conventional rotors have a smooth surface and offer stopping power for the typical car on the road. They typical come OEM or stock with your car and most likely the type of brake rotors you have on your car now. They generally have the longest wear because they are not prone to cracking under extreme heat. Next up are vented rotors which are commonly used on the front brakes for cars because it allows for better cooling. Vented rotors come with two plates and a vented air gap in between to help heat dissipate. Some vented rotors come with curved veins in the air gap which turns it into a fan. This also allows for better cooling and longer lasting brakes.
Drilled rotors are the next type of brake rotors and are basically rotors with air holes drilled through it to dissipate heat. They used to be popular but have now exited the market because the holes become stress points and lead to cracking. The people who do use them today do so mostly out of fashion. Finally, there are slotted brake rotors which work kind of like drilled rotors but don’t weaken the rotor as much. There are grooves and channels that are engraved in the surface of the brake rotor that keep the surface of you rotor and pad clean. Since the grooves and channels don’t go all the way through the metal, they are not as fragile as drilled rotors and do not crack nearly as easily. In performance cars and racing, you will pretty much always see vented and slotted rotors and rarely drilled.
So what are the best brake rotors? It depends on whether you want a performance rotor or a traditional one. All performance rotors (vented, drilled, slotted) clean the pad, give more bite, and dissipate heat, gas, and water during braking. However, they also wear down faster than traditional rotors. In general we recommend you go with slotted rotors if you are doing more demanding driving and stopping, such as street racing and towing. Otherwise for normal everyday driving, go with a conventional or vented rotor. Avoid the drilled rotor unless you like the way it looks.
