RacingBrake Rear Rotors at last!

[Doc]

Good news! The rear rotors from RacingBrake are finally ready for production! Got the first pre-production set installed on my car today. There are no clearance issues; they look great and work great. We've been waiting for these for almost a year but the wait was worth it. The group buy is still open for a short time for those who want either the fronts only, or a complete set of front and rear rotors.

Here are some pics I took today of the rear rotors:

This first pic is of the backside of the rear rotor showing the iron drum insert for the parking brake:



Next shows the weight of the stock rotor versus the RacingBrake rotor; as you can see the RB rotor is 5.825 lbs lighter:




Next is the rotor installed on the car; I went with their ET500 brake pads which are inbetween a performance street and racing pad with minimal brake dust:



Lastly is the way the rotor appears behind my wheels which are 19":



I can't say enough about the professionalism of the people at Racing Brake; they've been a pleasure to work with through this whole process of getting these rotors developed for the new Camaro. They didn't compromise quality or safety just to rush these out to make a fast buck; they took the time to do it right and these are a work of art.

Driving Impressions:

I was surprised that I could actually feel a difference; especially considering that I had almost 48 lbs of stock rotors in a box in the trunk while driving home. What I noticed in particular was the improvement in the way the car responded when accelerating while rolling. When on the freeway and changing lanes the car responded quicker to the gas pedal. Before, I'd push the pedal about an inch or so and there was a slight lag before I felt the surge of power. This time when pushing the gas pedal the car was already accelerating before I'd gotten the pedal the full inch down. The car and the throttle now feel more like they're connected as one unit.

Before it felt like I was making a request to accelerate, then waiting for the car to respond. Now it feels like it's responding as I push; it feels much more like a genuine mechanical throttle cable. It makes the car feel lighter when driving.

As far as stopping power, these brakes stop! I have the stainless steel brake lines and the pedal feel is very solid, very firm, very linear; no sudden grabbing. The braking is strong, very predictable and smoothly controllable. You get exactly what you push down the pedal for in direct proportion to how hard you're pushing the pedal. And it has a good range; it's not an all-or-nothing type of feel.

I'm very glad I got these and it's great to finally have a full set on all 4 wheels!

Here's the link to the thread about the group buy and the prices which are for Camaro5 forum members:

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...t=Racing+brake

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showth...?t=425&page=10

[600hp-lpe]

Hey Doc.. did you wait all this time to put the front ones on?

The rear's look fantastic! I have been pleased with the front rotors. They have stood up perfectly to a lot of abuse on my car through this year's racing season.. I am really looking forward to getting the rear rotors installed as soon as they come in.

How soon till they go out the door from RB? any idea? I paid as soon as I heard RB was accepting payment for them...

[Doc]

No I've had the front rotors on since they came out. I'm also very pleased with them. They have all the rotors done, now they're working on the center hats. I believe it will be about 4-6 weeks before everything is done, assembled and ready to ship. They're worth it though!

[mws444]

Damn Dac, how did you get ahead of me?
I can't wait til I get my rears on, the testing I did for them was like a big tease. I will bet the ride even changes with all of that weight dropped off below the springs.
Good going on scoring the first set!!!

[Doc]

I'm the one that got all this started in the first place hehe. They've used my car for fitting and testing from the beginning. I recommended you for the high speed tests on the rear rotors. I saw the rotor you had on your car when I was at their facility and the rubbing issue, which they used my car to help figure out what needed to be done to fix that.

The set on my car now was the final working set where everything cleared and fit perfectly after they made the changes needed.

I'm looking forward to reading your impressions and others. I really like these and the way the car feels now. I just got a set of light-weight, forged racing lug nuts which I put on. A full set of factory lugs for all 4 wheels weighs 3 lbs 2.2 oz. The lugs I bought weigh 12.6 oz for the full set. I'm a big fan of reducing unsprung rotational weight.

[d69chris]

Rears on order and waiting.....

Couldn't stand the wait and had to blend in my stock rears by painting the centers.

[Doc]

It's surprising how much better the stock rotors look by just painting the centers black.

[Indpowr]

I may have to get rear 2 piece to go with my 2 piece fronts.

Doc, surprised you have not upgraded the calipers yet. We have 8 pistons getting powder coated right now.

[d69chris]

Originally Posted by Doc

It's surprising how much better the stock rotors look by just painting the centers black.

Next best thing to the real thing........still 4-6 weeks out??? I thought Nov. when I ordered.

Originally Posted by Indpowr

I may have to get rear 2 piece to go with my 2 piece fronts.

Doc, surprised you have not upgraded the calipers yet. We have 8 pistons getting powder coated right now.

How will the 8 piston limit your choice of wheels? Whose fit?

[Indpowr]

Originally Posted by d69chris

How will the 8 piston limit your choice of wheels? Whose fit?

No rubbing issues on the oem setup so I am told. They are not out yet for the public. My set has already been test fitted and used for 1000 miles with no issues. Since I run even larger wheels it is even less of an issue.

[mws444]

Originally Posted by Doc

I'm the one that got all this started in the first place hehe. They've used my car for fitting and testing from the beginning. I recommended you for the high speed tests on the rear rotors. I saw the rotor you had on your car when I was at their facility and the rubbing issue, which they used my car to help figure out what needed to be done to fix that.

The set on my car now was the final working set where everything cleared and fit perfectly after they made the changes needed.

I'm looking forward to reading your impressions and others. I really like these and the way the car feels now. I just got a set of light-weight, forged racing lug nuts which I put on. A full set of factory lugs for all 4 wheels weighs 3 lbs 2.2 oz. The lugs I bought weigh 12.6 oz for the full set. I'm a big fan of reducing unsprung rotational weight.

Well thanks for the chance to play with them! The fronts are amazing, on the track the difference in heat buildup, was noticable in the color of the stock vs. RB, I could also notice the backs start to fade.
Cant wait to get the rears on the car!

[Stewcam]

Just ordered. Waiting to put all four corners on at once. What brake pads are you guys using?

[FrankT]

Got mine ordered today! Fronts have been on the car, can't wait for the rears. I went with the ET500 pads as well for the rear (to match the front). I'm a little OCD, so having a matching set of rotors will look a lot better to me. Thanks to Racing Brake for finally making these available!

[Doc]

I got their ET500's all the way around. Great pad with very little dust.