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Old 03-24-2004, 12:59 AM   #1
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Thumbs up iON/KVR performance 2-pieces anodize aluminum hat brake rotor (real life PICS)

Hi guys,

I have these front rotors on my daily driven 04' USDM WRX STi for a few months now, I put about 7000 miles on them already. Now is a good time for a review.

I LOVE these rotor, they fulfill every one of my requirements:

Looks : The 2-pieces design with the anodize aluminum hat looks perfect, combine with the stock Brembos caliper, it really looks like highend exotic racing brakes!! Please see pictures below.

Performance: I don't know if you guys know, I am a weight saving freak, I love weight saving mods. That is the biggest reason why I love these rotor so much. Because of the aluminum hat replacing the cast iron stock rotor hub section, they are 6 lbs lighter per rotor (yes I weighed them personally, I didn't believe iON's claim at first because it is such a big claim) That is A LOT!!! Taking weight off the brake rotor is good for handling of the car because it is unsprung weight, it is good for both acceleration and braking of the car because it is rotational weight. It works exactly like having lighter weight wheels, but the highest quality, lightest forged aluminum wheels out there are only 2-3 lbs lighter then the stock wheel at the most, these are 6 lbs lighter each!! Remember, the more weight you take off any rotating assembly of the car, the less power the drivetrain losses, meaning the car put down more power to the ground, so the car is quicker without adding stress to the motor. Just like how light weight pulley and light weight flywheel works, but without any driveability issue. A 5 lbs lighter weight aluminum pulley set is dyno proven to free up 5~7 whp, imagine how much power you gain from taking 12 lbs off the 2 front wheels!! (I haven't re-dyno my car yet). Another benefit of the 2-pieces design is separating the intense heat of the rotor from the center hub, so the wheel bearing last longer, the rotor also dissipate heat faster due to the 2-pieces design.

Price: They are cheaper then the OEM rotor from Subaru, need I say more? OEM rotor from Subaru is $400 each. What even better is, iON can replace just the rotor for you when it is worn out. The replacement rotor are $250 each, which includes labor on disassembly/re-assembly and dynamically rebalancing them . Other aftermarket 2-pieces brake rotor company offer similar service, but they are all in Japan and Australia, so turn around time is a lot longer then iON being in Canada.

Customer services: They have been great, they answer every one of my questions (I had a lot) with professional knowledges. They ship out the rotor to me right away. They answer emails and phone call promptly.

Driving impression: The front end of the car feels lighter on its feet, initial turn in is better. Initial acceleration feels more explosive. Acceleration in general is a little better thru the whole power band.

Here are some pics:

Stock:


iON 2-pieces:


Comparison:





I am not affiliated with iON performance in any way, I am just one of their very satisfied customer.

I do have something I want to accomplish with this review/post. I need more people to be interested in the 2-pieces rear brake rotor for the STi from iON. They need 10 commited buyers in order to make the product cost effective. I am commited, so they need 9 more buyers. Come on guys, you know you want it, trust me, it worth every penny. The rear rotor is 10 lbs lighter (info from iON) each because the rear parking brake hub is huge!!! So the total weight saving from the 4 rotors are 32 lbs Here is their thread on the rear rotors:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hreadid=510965

Here is their thread on prices and infos on the front rotors:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...5&pagenumber=1

Here is their website with their contact infos:

http://www.ionperformance.com/

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Last edited by JDM addict; 04-25-2005 at 04:23 AM.
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Old 03-24-2004, 01:44 AM   #2
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Awesome write-up. I wasn't aware that there were such weight savings on these rotors. Do you know if there are the same savings for OEM WRX rotors vs. their WRX rotors? I shot them an email either way.
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Old 03-24-2004, 01:57 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally posted by InfamousDX
Awesome write-up. I wasn't aware that there were such weight savings on these rotors. Do you know if there are the same savings for OEM WRX rotors vs. their WRX rotors? I shot them an email either way.
If you are talking about 2-pieces rotor for the WRX, yes the weight saving should be similar.

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Old 03-24-2004, 02:53 AM   #4
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I installed mine as well. They are much lighter. Specific weights are:

OEM STi Rotors: 22.415lbs
KVR Rotors: 16.275lbs
Difference: 6.14lbs

This matches the weight savings in my wheels (12.7lb SSR Competitions), though saving weight in the wheels is better since the weight is in a more important area (further out on the circumference). I also am trying the Ground Control Coilover kit which saves 4.6lbs in each front strut and 4.2lbs in each rear corner. 16+lbs total savings per front wheel and 10lbs per rear is nice! All told, this is a 52lb savings, all unsprung and much rotating/unsprung.

One reason these rotors are lighter than OEM ones is that the metal in the disk's wall is thinner than stock. IE, while they are the same thickness, the KVR rotor has more venting space inside.

I'm not sure which is better on the track: more mass to absorb heat or more venting area inside to aid cooling. Track time (this weekend) will tell.

More Specs:
KVR Venting thickness: 15.5mm
STi OEM Venting thickness: 12mm

Here are comparison photos.


Note the difference in space in the center.


Russ
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Old 03-24-2004, 08:28 AM   #5
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Default KVR Rotors

Russ,

Are these rotors the ones that are listed on the KVR site for $214 a piece?

JP
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Old 03-24-2004, 10:17 AM   #6
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No... I don't think they are currently shown on their web site.

Russ
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Old 03-24-2004, 12:25 PM   #7
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Hi Russ,

Thank you for contributing to the thread

I got some JIC FLTA2 coilover, they are 6 lbs lighter per strut in the front and 5 lbs lighter per strut in the rear

I haven't done wheels yet, none of them have the size and offset I am looking for What size and offset are you running with the SSR Competitions?

So are you interested in iON 2-pieces rear rotor? Please!!

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Old 03-24-2004, 03:23 PM   #8
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My wheels are the standard 17x7.5 SSRs. I'm not sure what the offset is, but they require 5mm spacers to fit.

Alas, I'm not really interested in the 2pc rear rotor. My main reason for buying the 2pc fronts is replacement cost since I've about worn out my stock fronts with heat stress cracks.

The fronts take the huge majority of heat & wear, so those are the only ones I really need.

If the rears were crazy cheap (like $200 apiece), I might consider it for the weight savings and esthetics. But more expense isn't worth it to me for this alone.

Russ
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Old 03-24-2004, 05:04 PM   #9
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JDM addict - great to finally see your review FYI, the replacement rotors for the 2-piece rotors are $250US/each which includes labor on disassembly and re-assembly including dynamically rebalancing them

InfamousDX - Our 2-piece OE replacement rotors for the WRX is ~5lbs lighter then the OE rotor (both being plain rotors). Our 1-piece OE zied x-drilled rotors are ~1/2lb lighter then stock, while the slotted ones are ~1/8lb lighter.

rlavalle - remember before going to the track to make sure you break-in the rotors properly as well as the pads. (hope you'll be using a track pad). The better cooling allows for faster heat transfer, which more then takes care of the relative loss in mass from the cast iron.

jpimienta - The rotors you're referring to that are $214/each is the 1-piece WRX sized rotors. These 2-piece STi, 2-piece WRX etc rotors are co-developed with us and are exclusive to us and our dealers as well.
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Old 03-24-2004, 09:30 PM   #10
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Yep, I'm using race pads. I've used Porterfield R4 pads, Panther XPs and now Performance Friction.

The break-in on these rotors specified a handful of stops from 20 to 5mph... this seems awfully mild. I'm used to 8 aggressive stops from 60 to 80mph to break-in rotors or bed in pads.

Russ
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Old 03-30-2004, 04:17 PM   #11
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The SSR Comp C have been redesigned for the STI so they are now offered as fitting the STI under a different SSR name for that rim, according to some that have already purchased them. I think you can see it on tire rack.

Russ keep us posted of your experience at the track. Are the rotors you have any different than ION's or are they basically the same?

I think ION's offers some 48 veins. I am curious if IoN's is the same thickness if your are different.
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Old 03-31-2004, 01:51 AM   #12
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rlavalle - Break-in instructions were @ lower speeds b/c normally on the street you won't have an opportunity to go that fast Let us know how the track event goes.

Nivek-CA - those that rlavalle has are our rotors. They're done in co-development with KVR
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Old 04-01-2004, 01:58 AM   #13
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Hi Russ,

sorry I never reply to this post from you.

Quote:
Originally posted by rlavalle
My wheels are the standard 17x7.5 SSRs. I'm not sure what the offset is, but they require 5mm spacers to fit.
Thanks.

Quote:
Originally posted by rlavalle
Alas, I'm not really interested in the 2pc rear rotor. My main reason for buying the 2pc fronts is replacement cost since I've about worn out my stock fronts with heat stress cracks.

The fronts take the huge majority of heat & wear, so those are the only ones I really need.

If the rears were crazy cheap (like $200 apiece), I might consider it for the weight savings and esthetics. But more expense isn't worth it to me for this alone.
I understand what you mean

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Old 04-01-2004, 06:07 PM   #14
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I now have some feedback from using these rotors on the track...

They worked as well as the stock rotors did. The KVR Rotors and Performance Friction pads provided fade free braking.

My only concern is heat stress on the rotors. Take a look at this photo. There are already noticeable heat stress cracks after 2 days (total of 8 x 25 minute sessions) on the track.

I'll keep tabs on these for succeeding track days. As it looks, I may only get 5 or 6 days out of them.

Russ

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Old 04-01-2004, 06:20 PM   #15
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You are a mad man Russ

I think all rotor crack under use At least now they are cheaper to replace!

Maybe the carbon composite ones doesn't, but I am too poor to be able to try it

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Old 04-01-2004, 06:28 PM   #16
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I'm hoping that the thinner wall thickness doesn't promote quicker heat stress cracking...

It'd then be false economy: 5 days out of $500 rotors (replacing just the disks each time) or 8 days out of $700 USDM rotors.

We shall see.

Russ
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Old 04-01-2004, 07:22 PM   #17
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I was under the impression that these were of good quality or better than the Brembos?

5 days v. 8 days of track use? Can anybody answer why these rotors do not stand up to heavy track use? Can a better rotor be fitted to the hat?
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Old 04-01-2004, 07:41 PM   #18
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Nothing's been absolutely proven yet about track longevity of these rotors. I'll know when they crack.

I would imagine that the main reason these may heat stress sooner is that the rotor wall thickness is less. IE, with the same thickness of rotor, the venting is larger, resulting in thinner walls.

I'm looking into alternate sources for replacement rotors. If I can get the price down to $150 apiece, it might be OK to last only 5 track days.

Russ
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Old 04-01-2004, 10:39 PM   #19
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rlavalle - Russ, an easy indication is by looking @ the thermal indicator paint on the edge of the rotor. If they've turned color and the metal on the rotor had turned blue, it would mean you past the "limit" so to speak on the specified heat range.

By the looks of the picture though, it looks like your PF pads may have been leaving residue on the brake surface, which would attribute to higher surface temps. (what series of Performance Friction are you using? Have you checked your pad to see if there's "chunking" of the material @ the surface? This would indicate that this pad compound is not "hi-temp" enough for the type of track)

Before using them the next time, take some sand paper to the surface of the rotors to "buff-out" the surface, this will help to clean off the area to make sure maximum surface area for heat dissapation is available.
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Old 04-02-2004, 02:13 AM   #20
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Both of the painted-on temperature indicators changed colors.

I'm using the Performance Friction 97 compound pads. These are lasting far longer than Carbotech and Porterfield did in the past. While there are now some cracks in the friction compound, I don't see chunking.

Russ
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Old 04-02-2004, 03:49 AM   #21
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rlavalle - If the rotors are going to crack from heat stress it would be @ the slots first (since there is even less material).

Judging from the photos it's going to take awhile for them to crack. As mentioned, clean off the surface, bed the race pads in before the track day and you should be ok.

After the next track session, check to see if there's any of the pad residue on the rotors. Also check the pad as well for chunking. You may want to change to a Pagid pad or Ferrodo pad with a slightly larger heat range. (after your PF97's wear out).

Speaking of which, did you use the PF97's on the USDM OEM STi 1-piece rotors as well?

Also, when you installed the rotor, which way did you have the cooling veins pointed? These are directionally cooled, so it would make a difference as well.

Last edited by iON Performance Inc; 04-02-2004 at 03:57 AM.
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Old 04-02-2004, 10:27 AM   #22
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Hi Ion,

I used Porterfield R4 pads and Carbotech Panther XP's on the stock rotors. One cool thing about a 2nd set of rotors is you can swap rotors & pads for track use and not worry about different pad compounds on the same rotor or turning the rotor for each pad change.

I installed the rotor according to the supplied instructions: the vents pointing back at the top of the rotor.

Thanks,
Russ
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Old 04-02-2004, 02:09 PM   #23
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rlavalle - great to hear that the rotors were installed correctly for the cooling.

It would be very hard to compare the longevity of the 2 different rotors if both of them were to run different compounds.

If you had ran the PF97's on the stockers, you'll probably get less life out of them compared to the 2-piece rotors under the same conditions.

What color did the two thermal indicators turn? Do you have a picture?

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Old 04-02-2004, 03:22 PM   #24
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I'll see if I can get a photo today...

Thanks,
Russ
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Old 04-03-2004, 06:46 PM   #25
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Here is one of my new KVR rotors before 2 days on the track:


And after the track weekend:


I think they got some heat.

Russ
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