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Are these brake discs ok?
wombat - 3/1/12 at 09:14 PM

MTEC are selling ''Ford Cortina mk3 mk4 mk5 Drilled Grooved Brake Discs'' with 22% off = 34.99 pair with free delivery on ebay.
Anyone used these?
Will they be ok for road use?

steve m - 3/1/12 at 09:43 PM

drilled and grooved ?

for the road ???

I would not put them on my car !

Nash - 3/1/12 at 10:04 PM

Curious, Why not Steve?

......Neil

craig1410 - 4/1/12 at 12:08 AM

I would only accept drilled and grooved discs from a manufacturer with a reputation for quality and the price point you mention is pretty low to be honest. I'd be a bit worried about disc failure just when you need them most. I don't think there is any real need for drilled discs on a road car, can you not just get some good quality standard discs and decent pads instead? Or get grooved discs by all means but just avoid the drill holes?

C.

wombat - 4/1/12 at 07:22 AM

steve, thanks for reply :-
drilled and grooved ?
for the road ???
I would not put them on my car !

In the spirit of a ''help'' forum, perhaps you could expand on this and explain why not?

Craig - Thx for feedback - indeed std disc available, just came across these while searching ebay and was tempted by the discount from 45 quid, but still a little cautious hence asking you guys, cheers.

craig1410 - 4/1/12 at 07:38 AM

No probs. Just for info, the thing I'd be worried about is cracking between drillings. The quality of machining is crucial to avoid stress raising features such as sharp edges by using radiused edges. Grooves aren't so bad as they are surface features but still need to be done right. In racing applications the discs are replaced every race and certainly before they get anywhere near minimum thickness.

C.

TAZZMAXX - 4/1/12 at 07:42 AM

Wombat, the only real downside to drilled discs is that they are prone to filling the holes with compacted brake dust which in turn can cause cracks radiating from the holes at high temperatures. I have drilled and ventilated discs on my Nissan and have never had a problem with them but a lot of the guys who track them have swapped out to grooved or J hook rotors to alleviate the problem. Unless you are running big power in a heavy car and pulling down from very high speeds, I don't think you'd encounter a problem with them. I think people overestimate what the cost of a plain, or drilled disc, should cost. I'd give them a go if it were me.

craig1410 - 4/1/12 at 08:02 AM

quote:
Originally posted by TAZZMAXX
Wombat, the only real downside to drilled discs is that they are prone to filling the holes with compacted brake dust which in turn can cause cracks radiating from the holes at high temperatures. I have drilled and ventilated discs on my Nissan and have never had a problem with them but a lot of the guys who track them have swapped out to grooved or J hook rotors to alleviate the problem. Unless you are running big power in a heavy car and pulling down from very high speeds, I don't think you'd encounter a problem with them. I think people overestimate what the cost of a plain, or drilled disc, should cost. I'd give them a go if it were me.


That raises a salient point, if you never get them properly hot then why bother with the drillings? I'd rather spend the money on better quality steel.

I used to have black diamond grooved and drilled all round on my rover vitesse turbo but it was a heavy 280BHP car and I used it hard. They were more like £60 a corner 12 years ago for discs alone but were good quality.

C.

dinosaurjuice - 4/1/12 at 09:36 AM

ive used those ebay discs for nearly 2 years, had no problems the drilled holes are chamfered, and the groove machining is neat.

MikeRJ - 4/1/12 at 10:04 AM

A lot of the Fiat Coupe owners use these disks, and considering these cars are quite hard on brakes I haven't seen anyone reporting problems.

The worst thing about grooved discs IME is the horrible noise they make under hard braking.

Just to add they are an excellent company to deal with. When some scrote at Parcel Farce stole my package of 4 discs and pads and then refused to do anything about it MTEC sent out a replacement set for me immediately. The girl on the phone has a lovely Irish accent as well

[Edited on 4/1/12 by MikeRJ]

designer - 4/1/12 at 10:08 AM

Why do you need vented and drilled discs when standard discs are adequate?

Is it just for show?

thefreak - 4/1/12 at 12:43 PM

I sell a lot of pairs of these discs to many Jap car clubs. They're decent quality, good longevity and a decent price.
Most opt for grooved, mainly for looks. I dont tend to recommend drilled as no matter what manufacturer I've used, they always seem to crack - even a set of AP Racing 330mm 2 piece discs cracked.
Give me a shout and I'll see what I can do on the price if you're interested.

wombat - 4/1/12 at 07:05 PM

Ok so not conclusive, drilled might crack and grooves might be noisy or will be ok go for it. So taking the safety factor........... Where is the best place/price for plain cortina discs???