[Blktjsport]

Let me start this thread off by sharing some background. I have always believed that the braking system should never be skimped on I have always replaced the brakes and rotors on my vehicles with centric cross drilled rotors and ebc yellow pads. So as u can see I have always been an advocate for cross drilled rotors in the many forum debates. I'm the last cross drilled rotors thread I heard members talking about Black Magic Pads and centric premium rotors performing better than any combo out there other than big brake kits. So I approached mr Blaine form Black Magic brakes about supplying me a set of their pads and centric premium rotors
so I could do an unbiased comparison of their brake system and my tried and true centric cross drilled/ centric premium ceramic pad/ EBC yellow stuff. Remember I have tried many rotor and pad combos and found centric cross drilled/ EBC yellow stuff combo to be the best by a full length. Well after bugging the hell out of Blaine he finally sent me the pads and rotors (even though so many other forum members have burned him).
Heres a pic of the goods:



Here's a pic of the centric cross drilled/ centric ceramic pads:





And after 30mins heres a pic of the Black Magic Pads/ centric premium rotors:

[Blktjsport]

The performance comparison:
So after completing the break in procedure which is very important for the pads and rotors to embed properly and their overall performance. I noticed that even though the pads weren't fully broken in yet they were already performing better than most pad/rotor combos ever did and have a better bite than my centric cross drilled rotors/ EBC pads did.
It has now been a week of abusing these pads and rotors and I will tell you these pads and rotor have really impressed me they have such a great bite and constant performance. And there is no brake fade I used to see with other combos.
I never thought I would say this but the centric premium rotors/ Black Magic pads outperformed my centric cross drilled combo. Plus now when I get on it I just feel smooth stopping power no more feeling the cross drilled and slotted rotors. I will tell you this though the competition was close but the Black Magic pads were just amazingly well designed, and we all know that as far as quality goes Centric rotors are some of the best.
Before the trolls start saying I'm affiliated of payed in some way I approach Black Magic Brakes with this comparison hoping to prove my combo was still reigning king. I'll keep you guys posted on there performance but as far as I'm concerned I'm gonna be swapping in the Black Magic brakes system into all my vehicles and recommending them to everyone I know because we all know that Chrysler didn't design our vehicles with the best braking performance in mind. Good luck guys and feel free to ask any questions you might have.

[C5_WJ]

I never run cross drilled rotors on my cars, on the track cars I run a good set of blanks, and a good pad compound. That's the same thing I do with my jeep. I treat rotors like paper towels , cheap and disposable. It's all about a good pad IMO..


Sounds like you liked the swap you made though

[billzcat1]

Agreed, the few times I've tried slotted, drilled, or dimpled rotors I've been disappointed with the noise and never noticed any appreciable difference in braking. ATE "PowerSlot" rotors are little warp machines, I would avoid at all costs. I stick with blank-face rotors as well.

I'm due up for a brake job very soon. I am planning on going with the Hawk LTS truck pads. These Black Magic pads are a little on the spendy side for me at this time.

[metalhead]

I used EBC rotors and pads. The rear set works good but the front set after only a year of not so hard braking are scored so bad that i get some death wobble when hitting the brakes. I will never use drilled and slotted rotors again. They are way too expensive and you can't turn them so when they warp you have to get rid of them.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by C5_WJ

I never run cross drilled rotors on my cars, on the track cars I run a good set of blanks, and a good pad compound. That's the same thing I do with my jeep. I treat rotors like paper towels , cheap and disposable. It's all about a good pad IMO..


Sounds like you liked the swap you made though

I can easily dispel that theory with 2 sets of rotors and 1 set of pads. We tried early on to use the lower quality economy version of the Centric rotors to save some costs in the Vanco Big Brake kits when we developed them. It didn't take long before back to back comparisons showed a huge difference in performance.

You may get by with it on a vehicle that has ample braking, but on a TJ or similar operating at the ragged edge of not having enough brake, it's very easy to see the difference in performance.

[billzcat1]

Curious to know what you mean by "performance". Are you seeing differences in performance in terms of single-stop distances, multiple-use fade resistance, long term wear, or resistance to warping? Or some combination/all of the above?

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by billzcat1

Curious to know what you mean by "performance". Are you seeing differences in performance in terms of single-stop distances, multiple-use fade resistance, long term wear, or resistance to warping? Or some combination/all of the above?

We had a hard used set come in with the tester complaining of discoloration. After I pulled the tires off, the dark blue spots were between each vane on the rotor and a heat crack ran right through each blue spot.

He also noted a severe decrease in fade resistance, cold bite, and of course long term wear is non existent at that point where the cracking shows up.

In other cases, we see just a serious lack of single stop performance and fade resistance.

Typically that is due to a couple of things, poor metallurgy and lower mass to reduce the amount of material in each part.

[billzcat1]

Interesting results. Thank you for sharing with us!

[Blktjsport]

Originally Posted by metalhead

I used EBC rotors and pads. The rear set works good but the front set after only a year of not so hard braking are scored so bad that i get some death wobble when hitting the brakes. I will never use drilled and slotted rotors again. They are way too expensive and you can't turn them so when they warp you have to get rid of them.

I have tried three different sets of cross drilled and slotted rotors in the past, first was raybesto cross drilled (total crap) pulsing and warped within 3k miles, next was the Ebc cross drilled also crap, pulsing and warped as well. Until I finally bought the centric cross drilled and slotted and I will tell you I have ran them ragged for 50k miles and got them turned twice and still outperformed the rest. These were just cross drilled combos I have tried before trying those I went through all the off the shelf pads and rotors just to be disappointed so as you can see between my Tj Xj Wj and F150 I've thoroughly tested many combos. I will tell u this Black magic pads and centric premium rotors surprised me at how well they perform. I will continue to beat the crap out of them and report back.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Blktjsport

I will tell u this Black magic pads and centric premium rotors surprised me at how well they perform. I will continue to beat the crap out of them and report back.

Please abuse the crap out of them. We've not found anything they are bad at yet other than the color of their dust. There really any such thing as a no or low dust pad, it's merely a marketing ploy due to the color of the dust being lighter than other pads.

If you think about it logically, you have an iron spinning disc being grabbed with high force by a pair of friction layers. Stuff is going to be turned into dust somehow, it's just the color that really matters.

[Thomahawk]

I have had my blank cheap Rotors and IDK what pads, but they have Been stopping my WJ now for 3 years and about 55k km/34k miles, is that good, what life time should i expect, i am not the most gentle driver, ha ha

I am up to new brakes soon, great thread!

[Kolak]

Are you talking about PowerSlot brand rotors warping? PowerSlot is the performance division of Centric - same people who make the Centric Premium rotors and the Centric SportStop drilled and slotted rotor.

Originally Posted by billzcat1

Agreed, the few times I've tried slotted, drilled, or dimpled rotors I've been disappointed with the noise and never noticed any appreciable difference in braking. ATE "PowerSlot" rotors are little warp machines, I would avoid at all costs. I stick with blank-face rotors as well.

I'm due up for a brake job very soon. I am planning on going with the Hawk LTS truck pads. These Black Magic pads are a little on the spendy side for me at this time.

[Cobra Jeep]

Anyone have any links to where someone could get a set of these rotors and pads for the best price?

[tjkj2002]

Originally Posted by Cobra Jeep

Anyone have any links to where someone could get a set of these rotors and pads for the best price?

There is only one.................

http://www.blackmagicbrakes.com/