R1 Concepts Brake Rotors

[jessefrank]

Have any of you had any negative experience with R1 Concepts Carbon GEOMET brake rotors?
I recently did brake pad and rotor replacements on my '06 A4 F/R and '12 Q7 F/R, replacing both with the R1 Carbon rotors and different Hawk and R1 branded pads. Within the last 1K miles since changing both, the A4 with ceramic pads has steadily lost braking performance and also has developed a wobble in the front (pretty sure its warped front rotors). The Q7 has steadily lost bite, requires much more peddle pressure and overall lost performance with Hawk LTS pads. The common denominator between both systems is the R1 rotors...which come highly reviewed. I previously used their E-Line rotors on a Japan spec Honda with great results (aside from surface rust). Visually compared to stock they look great and thus far have not rusted...but the gradual loss in brake performance since new is noticeable and concerning.
I swapped the front A4 pads back to OEM which helped a little bit with both of the loss in performance/wobble, and plan to turn the OEM rotors on both cars and remount them in the next month...just wondering if others may have a similar experience.

[Jayz691]

I used R1 drilled rotors on my car, when I did my brake upgrade. First had Brembo ceramic fronts and Akebono rear, were fine. On my second set of pads in front, now Akebonos, and still good.,maybe a very slight shimmy sometimes when braking, but think I have a bad lower ball joint also. But rotors have been pretty solid. Weren't geomet, just zinc coated.0324191823.jpg0324191222a.jpg

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[texasboy21]

About 10 years ago R1 was nothing more than a 'knock off' brand. Now with a lot of marketing they have become more popular, but at then end of the day its just cheap brake parts.

I doubt the rotors warped, that is quite difficult to do until you are tracking the car or doing something like endurance racing. You probably have glazed the rotors with the pad material cause reduced initial bite and pedal feel. Rebed the pads, and clean up the rotors.

If you are looking for a basic rotor in the future I suggest Zimmerman, ATE, Centric (or StopTech which is their performance line), or Brembo. All of these brands carry a strong reputation and are no more expensive than the 'other' brands like R1.

[Jayz691]

About 10 years ago R1 was nothing more than a 'knock off' brand. Now with a lot of marketing they have become more popular, but at then end of the day its just cheap brake parts.

I doubt the rotors warped, that is quite difficult to do until you are tracking the car or doing something like endurance racing. You probably have glazed the rotors with the pad material cause reduced initial bite and pedal feel. Rebed the pads, and clean up the rotors.

If you are looking for a basic rotor in the future I suggest Zimmerman, ATE, Centric (or StopTech which is their performance line), or Brembo. All of these brands carry a strong reputation and are no more expensive than the 'other' brands like R1.

Guess pretty good for cheap rotors, lol. Its a rotor, a hunk of metal, so if it stops good, don't rust or warp, what makes paying double for stoptech make sense?? Even brembos, hear lots of crap about their rotors..some people just like name brands, lol.

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[texasboy21]

Guess pretty good for cheap rotors, lol. Its a rotor, a hunk of metal, so if it stops good, don't rust or warp, what makes paying double for stoptech make sense?? Even brembos, hear lots of crap about their rotors..some people just like name brands, lol.

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Not all metals are the same, and that fact becomes more critical with things like brake rotors. Rotors are made from iron, carbon, steel, aluminum, and more. They all cost different amounts and have different levels of performance and longevity. In short, you get what you pay for.

That being said I just did a 20 second google search... Zimmerman rotors are within $15 of R1.

Zimmerman is OEM. R1 is crap. Same price point...

Its more than a name brand, it's about the brand's quality control, manufacturing process, materials used, etc.

[swazey]

I've used on many cars and never had a problem. They've been rock solid on my mk6 gti and perform incredibly well.

Like previously noted, did you bed the breaks properly? Did you use new pads with the new rotors?

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[Jayz691]

Not all metals are the same, and that fact becomes more critical with things like brake rotors. Rotors are made from iron, carbon, steel, aluminum, and more. They all cost different amounts and have different levels of performance and longevity. In short, you get what you pay for.

That being said I just did a 20 second google search... Zimmerman rotors are within $15 of R1.

Zimmerman is OEM. R1 is crap. Same price point...

Its more than a name brand, it's about the brand's quality control, manufacturing process, materials used, etc.

Ok, lol. Well, that crap has been working/stopping great for 2 yrs, 30k+ miles. Maybe someone should tell them theyre not supposed to be as good..,pretty sure zimmermans were quite a bit more than $120/PR when i bought them...and mine are drolled, so if they were so bad, than ya think they would crack, like everyone always complains about drilled rotor.. And rem, were talking about rotors for daily driver cars. I know they have different compounds, just saying theyve been fine. Have had multiple sets.

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[jessefrank]

Thanks for the replies. I have not had the opportunity to turn/clean & re-bed the pads/rotors to give an update just yet and I do hope they both just got glazed pads, however, I did follow the bedding procedure for Hawk/R1 pads and from previous experience doing so for both Audis. Set up I installed: A4 - R1 "better" quality blank rotors with R1 ceramic pads (all parts brand new), Q7 - same R1 blank rotors with Hawk LTS pads (all parts brand new). Swapping the A4 back to the almost worn-out OE Pagid pads helped with stopping, however, slight wobble/shudder is still there. I did not track/race the cars since installation...just "normal" driving.
I have had mostly good experiences with Zimmerman, ATE and Stoptec rotors before on other Audis/cars, as well as the R1 e-line paired with Hawk HPS 5.0 pads. I'll send an update when I get a chance to refinish.