I'm running PBR Delux pads, rotors are Brembo Fronts, ATE rears. Got whole set up for around $225-250 from GetCoolParts a year or so ago..they often have sales...and were doing so on the rotors at the time so I'm sure prices now are a bit more. Front pads made some noise...not squeal, more like a rattle (yes I double checked the anti rattle clips)...just about the time I was gonna pull the pads and apply anti rattle shims...problem went away...been working great ever since. There is rust on the nonbraking surfaces, but no staining etc. so I'm not goin to the trouble of painting the rotor hats etc.
I looked at the marketplace on Passatworld and saw the deal on Brembo plainface rotors and PBR pads. I passed on the pads because of several comments about rattle/squeal. I passed on the Brembos because I was told in an email by the vendor that they aren't treated for rust. I went with Ate pads and Ate Premium One rotors from getcoolparts.com (free shipping!). They have a MetaCote rust preventative coating. Read about them here : Ate PremiumOne Description. I haven't installed them yet, so I can't comment on noise yet. But the coating sounds promising.
Although it is just an 8V, I run my GTi hard at autocross and road race events. I still have the 9.4\" brakes up front. I just upgraded with SS lines, ATE super blue fluid, ATE power disks, and a ceramic compound pad. They stop great and have not shown any signs of fade.
just installed the power disks and mintex redboxes on my 90 b3 passat. i drive \"spirited,\" (fast) as well, and from what ive felt, and heard, these rotors are nice. the way i look at it, if the are good for the new beetle cup car and lupo cup car, theyre good enough for me.
In general, race cars will use flat (not drilled, not slotted) rotors if possible, or if restricted by the rules. If restrictions on wheel or rotor sizes are such that it's not possible to get fade free braking without resorting to slots or cross drilling, then slotted (or cross drilled) rotors are used as a last resort to reduce fade. For example, in SCCA club racing, for the improved touring category, drilled or slotted rotors are prohibited. Only stock replacement rotors (stock diameter, stock thickness and configuration) are allowed. Where materials and pads are unrestricted, even though size might be restricted, teams tend to go without drilling or slotting if they can get the brakes to operate fade free with flat rotors. Most Formula one teams today use 275mm (10.9\") flat surface rotors (ventilated, two plate rotors with vents between the plates, but no crossdrilling or slotting). I'm not sure if the rotors are limited to that size by the regs, or if that's the largest rotor that fits within the required wheels, but that's what they run. Since they can run full carbon rotors and carbon pads, there's no fade issues and there's no reason to slot or drill the rotors. Actually, slots or cross drilling would wear the pads quicker and would be a disadvantage for them. In Nextel Cup (formerly Winston Cup), there is a maximum wheel diameter of 15\" and wheels must be steel (alloy wheels are prohibited). Those cars weigh 3400 pounds, too, and the air flow to the brakes with the steel wheels is poor. Those teams tend to run slotted rotors, though they change rotors for every race weekend (some teams change rotors several times during practice and qualifying and start the race on another new set of rotors). They aren't too concerned with fatigue life issues and brake pad wear issues on their brakes. If the pads wear too quickly, they start the race with thicker pads. In sports car racing, ALMS prototypes generally try to run big enough rotors and wheels so they can avoid drilled or slotted rotors. On the long endurance races, the added pad wear from drilled or slotted rotors is significant and can require additional long pit stops to change brake pads more frequently. If you can get the brakes working fade free without slotted rotors, you'll have the advantage of fewer brake pad change pit stops. So most teams try to run rotors with flat surfaces in the long endurance races. For sprint races, they might go to slotted rotors at tracks that are particularly hard on brakes because they might have fade issues that the slots help resolve. For the GT classes in ALMS, the cars are heavier and the thermal loads on the brakes are higher, so they are more likely to use slotted rotors. I don't think many teams use drilled rotors any more. Drilled rotors have serious cracking problems and slotted rotors are much less likely to crack. But even when race teams use slotted or drilled rotors, they use only well engineered slotted rotors when they go to slotted rotors, or very well engineered drilled rotors if they use drilled rotors. There are a few well engineered slotted rotors (ATE Power Discs come to mind) that are sold through retail channels. And most of the Brembo and some of the Zimmerman cross drilled rotors that are availbe through retail sources are very well engineered, too. Most of the rest of the \"tuner\" sourced cross drilled and/or slotted rotors are not as well engineered. And these can cause very serious problems due to design compromises. The \"custom made\" rotors that are made this way are often purely decorative, and to someone who knows the engineering principles behind drilled or slotted rotors, they just look stupid. So, for your VW, you'd be better off running better pads (higher cF, higher operating temperature range) on stock rotors. If you're already running the highest performance pad that's feasible and you are still having issues with fade due to racing or aggressive track driving or very aggressive canyon runs, then slotted rotors might be something to consider. Bigger brakes might be something to consider as well. But you can go way, way better than Mintex Red Box and get much, much better performance on stock rotors, without going to slots or cross drilling.
Pros:flat rotors preferred if possible
Cons:drilled/slotted rotors crack, wear pads faster, difficult to resurface
I have Ate rotors and Mintex Redbox on my Golf 2.0 and it stops well...no brake dust and the bite is much better than stock pads although it could still use a lot of improvement though.
