[Patman]

Or is the disc/drum of the Cruze good enough, I would say the disc/drum is more than enough! You say Patman I need 4 wheel disc. What do I base this opinion on? Do you ever drive down the road and pay attention to what is in front of your car but not immediately in front of your car? Well 2night that happened to me. I was driving down the this road and did not see a red traffic light in front of me until my wife panicked and yelled red light and noticed this light that was red within 25 of me. I immediately jammed on the brakes and stopped just over the crosswalk. The car had no problem doing so with the disc/ drum set up in my 2012 Eco with 15000 miles on it. The only problem I had was my wife's overreaction to the situation. I stopped in time! She asked if I saw the light I had to say no. I was paying attention more to the next light(where I was going) more so than to this light on an obscure street!!! That did not exist until it became a point of conflict in my car and seemed kinda out of place! All I trying to say is the disc/ drum set up on my car was good enough to stop my car in a short distance just as well as 4 wheel disc. The only thing I have done to my drum is to adjust them. :2cents::2cents: You can make up your own decision! I base mine off of experience and that is mine

 

[chevycruze2012]

Personally as far as stopping power, the rears wont do much at all as the fronts will. Secondly...discs are much easier to work on. So if I wanted to convert mine from drums to discs...I would in a new York minute. All I need to do is get the rear axle assy with all the brakes **** on it from the LTZ's and yank mine out and put the other in and whala lol. Third..im not sure why GM is still doing this drum brake **** to begin with. I would of thought they do away with that long ago.

 

[jblackburn]

I've done that same thing before a couple times.

The Cruze has great stopping power for such a heavy car. I see no need for rear discs, though I would like to upgrade my front brakes to something that don't overheat and shake like crazy during repeated braking.


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[obermd]

I have driven GM cars with both disc/drum and disc/disc setups. The disc/disc setups handle multiple, repeated stops better than disc/drums. Disc/drums catch quicker when wet. For a single emergency stop either will do just fine. I have made emergency stops with both setups, including in my ECO MT. This car will stop on a dime compared to most other cars on the road. So unless you're towing or carrying heavy loads the disc/drum configuration on the ECO and lower trims is more than sufficient.

Drum brakes are cheaper - thus the reason to use them.

 

[chevycruze2012]

I've done that same thing before a couple times.

The Cruze has great stopping power for such a heavy car. I see no need for rear discs, though I would like to upgrade my front brakes to something that don't overheat and shake like crazy during repeated braking.


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Drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic brake pads from r1concepts.com...Perfect combination. This is my personal experience btw.

 

[zeoalex]

having worked on drums on a previous car, I made sure to get all wheel discs on my cruze...drums suck when it comes to work. most of the brake bias is to the front of the car, so in the grand scheme of things, the drums will work fine, but I find it's a lot of a convienence thing

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Personally as far as stopping power, the rears wont do much at all as the fronts will. Secondly...discs are much easier to work on. So if I wanted to convert mine from drums to discs...I would in a new York minute. All I need to do is get the rear axle assy with all the brakes **** on it from the LTZ's and yank mine out and put the other in and whala lol. Third..im not sure why GM is still doing this drum brake **** to begin with. I would of thought they do away with that long ago.

I think the number is somewhere around 80% front, 20% rear. Consider that the difference between rears is so small at that point that it is a fraction of 20%. Pretty small really.

Discs are easier to work on, but then you have the common issue of rusted sliders (on older vehicles), warping rotors (not as common with drums), and pad life. Drum shoes often last over 120k miles.

The drum brakes disconnect more cleanly than the disc brakes do, from what I've heard. That, and our drums are FAR larger than what GM has used in the past. Consider that if GM is still doing this, there is probably a good reason for it. They work.

I have driven GM cars with both disc/drum and disc/disc setups. The disc/disc setups handle multiple, repeated stops better than disc/drums. Disc/drums catch quicker when wet. For a single emergency stop either will do just fine. I have made emergency stops with both setups, including in my ECO MT. This car will stop on a dime compared to most other cars on the road. So unless you're towing or carrying heavy loads the disc/drum configuration on the ECO and lower trims is more than sufficient.

Drum brakes are cheaper - thus the reason to use them.

Agreed. My car will also stop on a dime. It is noted that if anyone has poor braking performance (as did one friend on Facebook), they seriously need to adjust their rear brake drums as they may not be adjusted at all from the factory (as my friend's were). Adjusting them resolves all of those issues.

To add to what you said, the drums function very well for a single emergency stop. If you need to make constant, repeated emergency stops, you have a problem bigger than your brakes.

 

[zeoalex]

Drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic brake pads from r1concepts.com...Perfect combination. This is my personal experience btw.

why are people so horned up about drilled/slotted rotors? Now adays, there's no need to drill and slot rotors, except for weight saving. The biggest issue is that you'll get significant micro-crack propagation from the drilled holes when they heat up, and slots were only necessary when there was asbestos in brake pads. Give me a set of brembo blanks, and I'm a happy boy

 

[jblackburn]

Drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic brake pads from r1concepts.com...Perfect combination. This is my personal experience btw.

Better pads and larger rotors will be my attack plan. The Cruze's rotors are small and the brake pads don't handle heat well (but they are quiet).

I will never use drilled rotors again - I cracked one. Slotted rotors just chew up brake pads. They're really both just to look "cool".

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Better pads and larger rotors will be my attack plan. The Cruze's rotors are small and the brake pads don't handle heat well (but they are quiet).

I will never use drilled rotors again - I cracked one. Slotted rotors just chew up brake pads. They're really both just to look "cool".

X2 on that and just going with a high quality set of blanks. Cyro treated rotors are out there. That's what I'll be doing as well.

Drilled or slotted? Nope, nope, nope. Useless. I don't care what anyone says or what they think they noticed when they change their brakes, slotted and drilled rotors are just plain useless. No benefit whatsoever, and the next person who tells me that they "clean the pad" better or "eliminate water" will get a virtual smack.

 

[jblackburn]

X2 on that and just going with a high quality set of blanks. Cyro treated rotors are out there. That's what I'll be doing as well.

Drilled or slotted? Nope, nope, nope. Useless. I don't care what anyone says or what they think they noticed when they change their brakes, slotted and drilled rotors are just plain useless. No benefit whatsoever, and the next person who tells me that they "clean the pad" better or "eliminate water" will get a virtual smack.

They make funky noises too. My car shouldn't sound like a lifted Jeep on mud tires coming to a stop.

 

[obermd]

To add to what you said, the drums function very well for a single emergency stop. If you need to make constant, repeated emergency stops, you have a problem bigger than your brakes.

There are some mountain roads in the county I live in that will give disc/drum combinations a really hard time, even without emergency stopping. These roads are steep, low speed, and with a large number of very sharp switchbacks. On one of these roads my Pontiac Transport (disc/drum) would always come out of the canyon sans brakes. It would take about half a mile for the brakes to start working again. On the other hand my Pontiac Montana towing a 3,000 lb trailer never had problems. I haven't taken my Cruze on this road yet so I don't know how the disc/drums it has will fare. I suspect it will be more like my Montana because of the manual transmission.

 

[jblackburn]

I suspect it will be more like my Montana because of the manual transmission.

Wouldn't count on it. Twisty mountain roads overheat mine pretty easily.

That, and every auto I've driven offered a LOT better engine braking than the Cruze does.

 

[obermd]

I've come down Pikes Peak in a manual transmission without even warming up my brakes. The speeds on the particular road I've had problems on are at most 3rd gear and most of it is 2nd gear. Even the ECO MT has good engine braking in 2nd.

 

[steve333]

I have 4 discs on the Mazda 3 I just bought. The brake pedal is spongy and there is a lot of play before the brakes activate plus they are just as notchy as my Cobalt when slowing down to a stop.
If discs are supposed to be superior to drums I ain't seeing it (or feeling it).
On the other hand the Buick Encore I test drove had really nice feeling brakes (I believe they are all disc), so there's more to brakes being good than just being disc.

 

[brian v]

I recall a how to on this subject !

 

[XtremeRevolution]

There are some mountain roads in the county I live in that will give disc/drum combinations a really hard time, even without emergency stopping. These roads are steep, low speed, and with a large number of very sharp switchbacks. On one of these roads my Pontiac Transport (disc/drum) would always come out of the canyon sans brakes. It would take about half a mile for the brakes to start working again. On the other hand my Pontiac Montana towing a 3,000 lb trailer never had problems. I haven't taken my Cruze on this road yet so I don't know how the disc/drums it has will fare. I suspect it will be more like my Montana because of the manual transmission.

I was going to wait to try this myself, but Smorey noted that Amsoil Dot3 brake fluid actually provides very significant improvements in braking. I wonder if that has anything to with it.

I'm planning on bleeding mine some time this year to get the Amsoil fluid in there. Never would have thought it would make a difference but he says it was pretty big.

Sent from mobile.

 

[jblackburn]

I have 4 discs on the Mazda 3 I just bought. The brake pedal is spongy and there is a lot of play before the brakes activate plus they are just as notchy as my Cobalt when slowing down to a stop.
If discs are supposed to be superior to drums I ain't seeing it (or feeling it).
On the other hand the Buick Encore I test drove had really nice feeling brakes (I believe they are all disc), so there's more to brakes being good than just being disc.

Yes - there's a lot to a good brake setup. Pads/rotors are only part of it.

I had a Gen 5 Camry with HORRIBLE 4-wheel disc brakes - really had to stomp on them, and it was that way from the factory. OTOH, the girlfriend's 7th gen isn't half bad.

The Cruze's brake pedal has a little more travel than I'm used to with other cars, but it stops well.

I was going to wait to try this myself, but Smorey noted that Amsoil Dot3 brake fluid actually provides very significant improvements in braking. I wonder if that has anything to with it.

I'm planning on bleeding mine some time this year to get the Amsoil fluid in there. Never would have thought it would make a difference but he says it was pretty big.

I could usually boil standard Dot-3 fluid when I used to run track days. If the Amsoil provides anything, it's simply a higher heat resistance and raised boiling point.

ATE Super Blue was some of THE BEST fluid I've used. However,
Braking News: ATE Super Blue Deemed Illegal for US Distribution*|*Hooniverse
Frown.

Also, seems a lot of Sonic owners have the same complaints I do. I have already had my rotors turned once (at 8k miles), but they will shake under hard or repeated braking on a hot day (repeated stops in heavy Interstate traffic; back road shenanigans). I'll have a bit of fun with it, but don't really drive this car like a race car on a day-to-day basis.
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/for...uspension-discussion/7461-brake-rotors-2.html

 

[Markj2222]

Stock breaks overheat too fast.

Sonic guys have a conversion kit. ZZPerformance - ZZP Sonic Rear Disk Brake Conversion Kit #ZZ-SNCRB

I can't wait to get real brakes. I can't do an honest lap before the overheat warning comes on.

Im really excited, you don't need high horsepower to race, you learn more with less car. (And save alot of cash!)

The cruze has an amazing chassis, and one of the best feeling car's in the sub 30,000 range.
I've recently got my car dialed in nicely, producing more then enough power for the windy roads, and im addicted. It is one of the funnest (grammar can suck it) car's i've ever driven. I'll go to sleep so excited to drive to work the next morning that i can't sleep.

A new 2.7 km course just opened up about 30 min from my house (next closest is 3 hours) So next season i want to run hot laps all summer! So ZZP please make a Rear disk conversion/big brake kit. I might even get sway bar if I get passed by a civic!

I also believe this will be one of the cheaper cars to keep on the track, just imagine taking an A4 or WRX to the track!

Cruze: 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.85 g
WRX STI: 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.90 g
A4: 300-ft-dia skidpad 0.88g

 

[steve333]

GM is known for putting thin rotors on their cars. I suggest changing to aftermarket as soon as they warp-don't bother to turn them.

The Cruze has the best chassis out of all the Compacts I've driven. Can't wait to get back into a Chevy, just hope they don't let me down with the next Model (I don't think they will)