Well, I may get my brakes redone along with the bearing job. Occasionally I descend a steep road (4,000' down to sea level in about 15 miles) and the rotors take a terrible beating.

Do any of you Western US owners who drive in high mountains have experience with cross-drilled rotors....are they effective? Do they solve the overheating problem?

This is for safety and durability, not really performance. I'm tired of burnt rotors. My neighbor is dealing with this same issue right now on an S70 Wagon.

 

ventilated/drilled rotors are excellent for shedding water when driving in the rain. Additionally they effectively cool the pads and rotors. The negative is that your pads will wear a tad quicker. I use ventilated on 5 autos I own to include my old c70. Incidentally I have found that the best pads to use on a Volvo are the mfg original equipment. I have tried metallic and ceramic but the Volvo pads work best. The negative to original Volvo pads are that they are 'dirty'.

r

 

Drilled rotors still overheat and crack.
Have seen it happen....will never buy them.

If I where you, I would go for some slotted rotors.
They will provide you with the best the braking world can offer you.

Edit://
You must do A lot of braking....I suggest IPD SS brake lines and synthetic brake fluid.

 

I drove my C70 from Providence, RI to Charleston, SC via 95 south and suffered from overheating brakes the entire way. When I did my rebuild, I purchase these rotors w/ ceramic pads:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VOLVO...1%7C240%3A1318

They work 110% better than my stock s/u and don't ever overheat on long trips to/in the Great Smoky Mountains (These roads are made for this car!). I payed just under $300.00 delivered, so you have room to haggle the price. I used these brakes on my fiance's 05 Turbo Beetle and they were noticebly better. One gripe about cross-drilled rotors is the air noise when braking. Not loud but it's there.

 

+1 to that I have them all the way around on my car and hear it all the time with the windows open.

I did notice a difference with them in braking.

 

I thought I had a defective set so I contacted the supplier/manufacturer....LOL. After they seated the noise toned down a bit.

 

Yes they calm down a little with time. But to me it is all good.

 

contrary to an earlier poster.............if drilled rotors were as poorly designed as he indicates one must wonder why BMW, Porche, and a number of other MFG's use them as original equipment. The liability factor is so great today that no MFG wants to defend a products liability case................The fact is that drilled rotors are fine!

r.

 

Yes...They are also made out of Carbon Ceramic....better suited for high temp and drilling, then iron brakes. I have never seen the Carbon ceramic rotors for volvo????

 

No........not true Tips. The Porche and BMW are not ceramic..........they are steel........ummmm I know. True, the rotors on the exotics are ceramic but not the 'normal' BMW and Porche. Really.
Of course you are 100% correct if one purchases the 'el-cheapos'.

reg

 

True.....

Ok....I dont know what brand they where...They must have been cheap!
Also....They where at the race track. It was a while ago...so I dont fully remember...hehe.

Point is.....Buy good name brands....and you'll be fine

 

the reason why porsche, BMW and benz don't have a high failure rates on their rotors is cause they cast the rotor with the holes in 'em instead of drilling.

 

I have Hartge Gruppe II brakes on my H-3 BMW. Hartge drills the rotors and then heat treat them. These are 'racing' items and are costly and I have never heard of a failure. Like TIPS was mentioning, he had a set of inferior drilled rotors and had a bad experience. As the old adage goes..........."you gets what you pays for". I've use drilled rotors for years and never had a failure. My old c70 has a set and also stainless/teflon hoses and everything is better than stock. Brembo makes fine cross drilled rotors.

reg