To Black Diamond..or not?
 

Does anyone have any views on Black Diamond Disks or should I go with the camskill ones that people have recently recommended? I'm currently on standard disks that are 50k old and beginning to crack, running EBC Greenstuff pads (old compound....yes, I've read they're not good, but I bought them before reading up on it.!)

Is it worth going for drilled disks? What advantage do they offer? What matches my current pads? Not a harsh driver, but I like to stop when I need to.

Cheers,

Benji Lad

There's a lot of bullsh*t involved in aftermarket brakes, most of which is designed to waste your money. Drilled discs are prone to cracking, and while grooving does do some positive things if you're pressing on, grooving the thin Subaru discs isn't ideal as it removes material that then increases the tendency to warp.

From a stopping point of view, you would be just as well off with a decent set of OE pattern discs as any of the one-piece aftermarket products you're considering. Try here for a supply of good ones at prices that don't take the p*ss.

It might be a good idea to fit some decent brake pads at the same time, as your EBC's will be worn to the shape of your current discs, and will need to be re-bedded if you fit new ones.

Thanks Greasemonkey, much appreciated.

Benji Lad

Hmm, very cheap source of parts GM

will take a closer look tomorrow

Ta :)

I fitted black diamond discs (grooved only) and new pads all round a fortnight ago. As GM says, drilled discs can be prone to cracking, so I avoided these, but I wanted to find out what grooves were like.

They are quite a bit better than the OE setup I had, and they do seem a bit more fade resistant after sustained heavy road use. And they came at the right price - I would have thought twice about paying "full retail" price for them.

I haven't warped OE discs, even when they were right on (maybe over :o ) the wear limit. I wait to see if I can warp the BD setup.

Oh, and the grooves look nice ;)

GM - thanks for the parts supplier link - I can see this being very useful in the near future

Hi

In same boat as Benji Lad, need to do rear pads and disks v soon.

Been looking round at all the brake disks and pad combos, was thinking of black diam ond disks, and possiblly tarox pads, again I will not be driving overy hard but feel brakes could be a bit better.

Everyone seems quite impressed with the OE rear disks.
If you went with OE rears, would you consider running perhaps black diamond on the front, or are the front OE disks also v good.
What are the favourite fast road pads at the mo to go on say BD fronts and OE rears.
The Tarox seem good value.

Thanks

Lan Man

There is little, if anything, to be gained in fitting an alternative.

Personally, I wouldn't go with any of these one piece grooved/drilled/etc. so-called "uprated" discs, as none of them are, IME, worth the extra over the OE ones.

Virtually all of them suffer from the same problem, which is that the combination of a disc that's much thinner than ideal (at 24mm) plus a right-angled shoulder plus material removal (grooving, drilling etc.) makes a disc that not only isn't very good at dispersing heat, it's also chock full of stress concentrations to promote warpage and/or cracking.

If you can't/don't want to shell out on either a proper separate disc/bell (DBA 5000/Performance Braking etc.) or a big brake upgrade, buy the discs from SAP for £35 plus VAT as mentioned above. The stopping power will be as good as any of the aftermarket one piece products, and not only are these discs are more resistant to warpage than the fancy alternatives, if they do warp, who cares? They're £35 each...

Spend the money you save on better pads, braided lines and high temperature fluid if you haven't already got them.

As for pad choice, pick any one of Pagid RS4-2.1, Mintex M1155, Ferodo DS2500 and EBC Ceramic Red and you are unlikely to be disappointed.

I only went with fancy rears for looks.

Tart! :D

GM

im after some front discs for a MY99 Sti5

from your link i think ive found the ones i need

Does this sound about right:


Subaru Impreza - 2 - 9/98-9/00 - Brake Disc - (Single) (Vented) - BDC5165 - £35.19 - 4.5 - Sumitomo/Vented - 293x24x57x5 - No Notes - EJ205 - Turbo -/GT - AWD-ABS

Also is that price for a pair or per disc ??

They're the ones you need. That price is per disc. £35 a pair would be too good to be true! ;)

cheers mate

GM

Thanks for that exceelent explanation, that answers all my questions downto a T.

I shall be going for 4 OE disks from Sap. Some Mintex or EBC reds. Upgraded Lines, and some fluid.

One final question then GM

I was going to bleed the brakes anyway, coz they pump up, indicating air in the lines.
If I go for a fluid change do u have any reccomendations.
I will search for some threads on the best way to change the fluid before I get you to run through that too.

Thanks again

LM