Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes Cougar brake rotors

I just received a pair of replacement brake rotors for the Cougar (ordered from PartsAmerica.com; 278mm dia., Raybestos brand, U.S. made) and I noticed something that I hadn't seen before (on other ventilated rotors) in their design. The vents on my rear rotors ('96 SE) vent from the back of the rotor to the outside edge. My original fron rotors are the same way, as have been the rotors on every other vehicle I have personally worked on. These new rotors are vented through a "slot" on the front (nearest to the wheel) and the outside edge.

Are the rotors on the SVT like this? How about the stock Cougar rotors?

I'm not really worried about this, since the rotors are from a mainstream manufacturer, but I am a little bit curious.

Any comments?

Mike

There are some that would say that your new rotors will not cool as well as the originals. I'm not really sure that it makes much difference though.

Look at this auction on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1837798933

This is what I'm talking about. Look at the slot around the hub area. Looking at the other auctions available from this seller, I found another rotor with a similar design (Audi A4 if I remember correctly).

Big Jim: You could be right, but I'm not sure.

Mike

those dba's slotted look really nice.

I don't see anything unusual about the hub area. I do see that these are slotted rotors with slots cut into the friction face. The intended function of slots in the rotors is to allow gasses that form from very hot pads to vent off so that the gas does not build up a barrier that can degrade braking. That was a problem in days long past. The formula's used on nearly all brake pads today don't have the gas problem. That makes the slots unnecessary. Some would say that the slots may cut brake pad life by slicing off a little bit every time the pad hits the slot on the rotor. Personally I doubt that the wear difference is significant. Some like the looks of the slots, especially if they have wheels that show a lot of the brake. If you look back on past postings, you can find a lot of discussion about slotted rotors. The factory rotors for the SVT are not slotted.

On your original post, I thought you were talking about a difference in the design of the vents that are between the friction faces, and answered accordingly.

Well, I installed the rotors today [along with the new caliper brackets (thanks, Bill Jenkins)]. The install went just as smooth as any rotor and pad replacement could.

Thank you to everyone who found out the information that said that this could be done.

Thank you to Big Jim (the first person who I remember posting this) confirming that the larger rotors would fit under the factory 15" wheels [one thing at a time ].

BTW: The EBC grooved rotors are a well made product. But, I believe that they have a design flaw. The grooves cut into the faces of the rotor extend all the way to the edge. When the rotor heats up during normal use, it warps. My rotors would return to 'normal' after an extended cooling period. They would warp again after just a few gentle stops from as low as 40 mph. They were much worse from freeway speeds, especially if I needed to stop quickly. I would buy EBC rotors again, just not the grooved ones. (I had the rotors on my car for 5 months, 8700 miles. I have had the warping problem for about 2 months.

After re-reading my last post, I realized that the last part was a little unclear.

On January 20,2002 I replaced my front rotors and pads with EBC parts.

Today, I replaced the EBC rotors with SVT size rotors and the required caliper brackets.

I was just posting my opinion of, and experience with, the EBC grooved rotors.

Mike