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Originally developed in the early aughts, Baer Brakes’ EradiSpeed line of high-performance brake rotors was designed to complement the burgeoning power and potency of modern muscle cars and sports cars. These performance-focused rotors also addressed a crucial shortcoming that’s still common in OE brake system designs today.
“At that point in time, automakers were starting to include larger, multi-piston brake calipers as part of their performance packages, straight from the factory,” notes Mark Fowler of Baer Brakes.
“That was certainly a step in the right direction, but there were still some limitations. While the factory calipers are pretty decent on a lot of these cars, more often than not, the rotor ends up being the weak link that limits the brake system’s potential. So we decided to develop something that would provide owners with a direct bolt-on solution to that. Something that not only had advanced features, better cooling, and an enhanced aesthetic, but was also lighter than stock. These rotors allow enthusiasts to meaningfully upgrade their brake systems without replacing the calipers they already have.”
Available for 1988-to-current Chevrolet Corvettes, 1993-to-current Chevrolet Camaros, 1994-to-current Ford Mustangs, and 1992-through-2010 Dodge Vipers, EradiSpeed+ rotors utilize design features typically found in motorsports, but Fowler tells us that they’re equally at home on the road.
“The great thing about EradiSpeed+ rotors is that they’ll work well in a wide range of different driving scenarios. They’re perfect for street use, and they’re great for hitting the track on the weekends. We also have a lot of competitive autocrossers using these rotors, and even endurance racers. It really comes down to pad choice. These rotors can be used with a high-ceramic street pad if you want to, or you can go in the opposite direction with a super-aggressive race pad. Or anything in-between. There’s a huge range of choices when it comes to compatible brake pads.”
And since EradiSpeed+ rotors are designed to work with factory brake calipers, it’s an upgrade that requires no specialized knowledge or equipment to install.
“The EradiSpeed+ rotors are direct replacements, so it’s truly a bolt-on operation,” says Fowler. “You unbolt the factory caliper from its mount, take the factory rotor off, and put the EradiSpeed+ rotor on in place of it. You don’t need to bleed the brakes or crack any lines; it’s very straightforward.”
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One of the key differences between a typical factory brake rotor and EradiSpeed+ rotors is the latter’s two-piece construction. This design not only allows the rotors to handle heat more efficiently, it also makes the rotor lighter.
“Most factory rotors are one-piece designs,” Fowler explains. “And with a one-piece rotor, the entire rotor is one cast-iron piece. With a two-piece rotor, you have the cast friction ring that the brake pad makes contact with, and you also have a separate billet aluminum center hat attached to it. And that means that with all things otherwise being equal, a two-piece rotor is going to be lighter than a one-piece rotor.”
Depending on the application, an EradiSpeed+ rotor can shed as much as five pounds per rotor versus its factory counterpart. Although five pounds might not sound like a lot on a vehicle that weighs more than a ton and a half, rotating mass is a beast unto itself.
“That rotation compounds the amount of work required to speed up or slow down the wheels,” he says. “The heavier the object, the more force is required to get it moving. And once you get it going, it takes a lot more work to slow that same object down as compared to mass that’s supported by the vehicle’s suspension.”
The EradiSpeed+ rotors’ two-piece design offers several other important advantages as well. “It also allows us to be more strategic about where the material is added to the friction ring,” Fowler says. “We put more ‘meat’ in the friction surface of the rotor. And it also provides us with more freedom when it comes to the vane structure of the rotor. OE rotors typically have straight vanes, while ours have curved vanes. That curvature improves the rotor’s efficiency because the vanes are longer than they would be if they were straight, and the curved vanes also function like a centrifugal pump. They draw air in from the center, down by the hub, and that air is pushed through the rotor to exit through the outer edge of the friction ring as the rotor rotates.”
Two-piece rotors also tend to have a more premium look overall. Paired with today’s spindly lightweight wheel designs, it can provide tangible aesthetic benefits. “Our center hats are anodized, which is more pleasing to the eye than a cast piece. It’s a more purposeful vibe.”
EradiSpeed+ rotors also boast performance enhancements that go beyond their two-piece design. By default, these rotors are cross-drilled, slotted, and zinc plated, though buyers can also opt to skip the cross-drilling treatment in applications where it makes sense to do so.
“The standard configuration is great for street cars,” says Fowler. “Cross drilling provides a great visual upgrade, and it makes the rotors slightly lighter, but it’s not necessarily ideal for a car that gets lots of track use. If the car is seeing extended track time on a road course, where you’re putting considerable amounts of heat into the brakes repeatedly, the slot-only version is going to be a better choice. The purpose behind both slotting and cross-drilling is to reduce what’s called outgassing. That’s basically pressure that forms between the rotor and the pad during brake application. The cross-drilling and the slotting provides a way for those gases to escape, which in turn creates better contact between the brake pad and the friction surface of the rotor.”
That improves pedal feel as well as overall stopping power. However, in extreme use-cases, there is more of a potential for cracks to form between the holes of cross-drilled rotors, largely due to the fact that there are more edges for heat to concentrate at.
“For day-to-day street driving and moderate performance use, it’s a non-issue,” says Fowler. “But it’s something to be aware of if you’re really going to be pushing the car hard on-track for considerable amounts of time on a regular basis. And the slots will still provide a place for those gases, dust, and other debris to escape.”
For those who are looking to take things a step further, Baer also offers EradiSpeed+1 kits for select platforms. As the name implies, these kits include rotors that are an inch larger in diameter than stock as well as caliper relocation brackets to accommodate the bigger discs.
“This upgrade is particularly popular with fifth and sixth-generation Corvettes,” Fowler points out. “The biggest advantage here is the leverage improvement. By moving the caliper further away from the centerline of the rotor, it doesn’t have to clamp as hard to provide as much stopping power to the axle. It’s a necessity because the larger rotor won’t bolt onto the factory caliper in the stock location, but it also provides a stopping power advantage thanks to that improvement in clamping force.”
This upgrade is available for 2005-2014 Ford Mustangs, C5 and C6 Corvettes, Cadillac XLR, 2005-2006 Pontiac GTOs, and other select models. Check out the full list of supported platforms on this page under the Applications heading.
“Folks should keep in mind that they need to verify wheel fitment with this upgrade,” Fowler cautions. “Because we’re moving the caliper out further, it takes up more space inside the barrel of the wheel, so it’s important to make sure everything will still fit.” Baer offers printable templates that allow customers to determine whether or not they have the space required for the upgrade.
EradiSpeed+ rotors for the aforementioned vehicles are available now, and Fowler says that development for other platforms is ongoing. “We’ll be adding support for other modern Mopar performance vehicles in the not-too-distant future, so keep an eye out for that as well.”
