Protege Brake Rotor Question
 

Someone put some junk brakes on my Protege before I bought it and they're garbage. I've been looking at whats available on the cheap and something came to mind;

Most of you like the NAPA Blank rotors and OEM pads for the maita, including track events? Would the quality and overall joy of the NAPA rotors be the same with the Protege NAPA blanks as with the Miata blanks?

Napas website shows several rotors..

Premium is $37.99
Ultra Premium is $42.99
A Brembo is $82.79
An Ultra8 is $40.49

What should I go with, the Ultra Premium?

I haven't purchased brake parts from an auto store in over 10 years because I had a really bad experience with O'Reilly brakes in my truck that caused a crash.... Needless to say I haven't trusted auto store crap since but I'm on a tight budget for the remainder of the year and these brakes aren't going to last me another 5000 miles..

I always buy the cheapest rotors they sell. Done at least 50 brake jobs using Autozone/O Reilly's/Advance house brand rotors and never had a problem. I mean it's pretty hard to fuck up a rotor. If it's true, it's true. Only complaint is that a couple times the rotors I bought were not 'exactly' like the old ones. I bought a set when doing rotors on a jeep and the offset was off by ~5mm. I had to clearance the caliper brackets and then it worked fine. Other than that, they all fitted and performed fine.

And I say get the HP whatever brake pads that everybody recommends. I got some EBC/KY silicone coated greenshit pads. They suck for being a performance part.

+1
been using autozone/napa/kragen stuff for as long as I can remember and no problems yet

Right on.

The problem I've had with auto store brakes first and foremost is they warp like, the FIRST time I touch the brakes..

Shortly after I bought my MS6 I did a 100mph - 0mph brake test. Basically STOOD on the pedal hard as I possibly could, and it smelled pretty terrible for a few days after that. The rotors had to be GLOWING. Next time I touched the brakes, guess what happened? No screaming at me, didn't smell, didn't smoke, didn't make the entire car shake like crazy.. Instead it just slowed the car like they're supposed to. Still does just that to this day. Oh, and they dust like race brakes, impossible to keep front wheels clean. What the HELL were they thinking putting 300 spoke wheels on??

Last checkup at the dealer they rated the pads 100% still, with 20k miles and a few good hard retarded braking incidents. Not saying I expect a 30$ set of brakes to do that, but for fucks sake I just want them to stop my car and not shake my teeth from my skull in the process.

I'll give some of those blanks and OEM pads a shot and see what happens.

I used to swear by Brembo Blanks, but I am a fan of Parts Master rotors now. I don't remember who carries them, either Bumper To Bumper or Napa, but they have held up great for me.

I've had really good luck with a set of napa rotors and Hawk HP+'s on my 95 tracer wagon (1st gen protege). I "upgraded" to the thicker 99-00 protege rotors when I installed the pads and I havn't looked back. Fade never happens and I have yet to feel any shake what so ever. My wheels are perpetually black but my car stops when I want so I'll manage. I'm currently up around 12k miles of HARD driving and the pads are just about ready to get swapped out for a fresh set. The rotors are definitely worn but are still glass smooth which says alot for the Napa stuff. For the $, I'll gladly redo the brakes once a year.

For the record my car makes 190whp weighs 2500lbs and is driven like a stolen vehicle on a daily basis. Hope this helps.