I will begin by saying that my poor experience with this company is partially my fault.
Against my better judgment, I bought a set of their grooved SS rotors for my CTSV wagon, thinking I might save a few bucks over the original Brembo OEM items. I have been changing brakes on my cars for 40 plus years . Street cars, antique sports cars and full on race cars for 40+ years.
Before I bought them, I actually called the company and got in touch with a person eventually. I asked if they were made in China . I was told yes, but machined in the US. It was only about 300USD so I was willing to gamble.
They came packaged poorly, which was my first warning sign. But I soldiered on and put them away to install when I had the time. That was in late April. I did not install them until early August in anticipation of a road trip of about 1400 miles. Yeah, I know. Dumb idea to make a major repair right before a trip.
All went well with the installation of the 4 rotors. The fronts were allegedly directional and had stickers denoting right and left. Common in rotors for high performance cars to facilitate cooling while rotating. I also installed Hawk HPS-Enhanced compound pads in front and HPS compounds in the back. Bedded them as directed by Hawk and changed the brake fluid as I do after bedding brakes.
Initially they seemed to be just fine and were efficient at stopping the car.
I was a bit concerned when I saw they had quite a bit of surface rust on the sept area the next day. Another warning sign.
I began the road trip. 700 miles into it, I noticed a bit of vibration when braking that got worse over time and was very bad when the brakes were hot. Completed the trip, got home and checked the rotor run out with a dial indicator. Both fronts were horribly "Warped" .
I called the company and told them what happened. Their attitude was "Sorry, it's out of the 90 day warranty." They were correct and it was my fault for delaying the installation. But, I was not even offered a slight discount on replacements. Not that I would have accepted.
I purchased OEM Brembo rotors made in Italy and replaced all 4 rotors.
Upon close examination of the Brakenetic rotors I noticed some things.
1. The swept area rusted overnight from atmospheric humidity. Very low carbon content Iron, if my college chemistry serves me. I've never seen that happen on any rotor.
2. They came with a sticker denoting left and right. Upon closer examination I saw they were symmetrical side to side. The internal vane structure was NOT directional . The sticker was bullshit. That is why there is no directional arrow cast into the rotor.
3. There are no cast in or etched numbers denoting minimum thickness.
I will not do this again. Never go cheap on rotors or any brake component. Make sure they are made in the USA, Europe and especially Italy. Even my Porsche and Lotus rotors are made there, by Brembo.
If you are serious about brakes, I suggest not getting these.
OEM on high performance cars are all you need. They cost more, but stopping fast is much more important than going fast. read more