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I just picked up my Z51 rotors from the platers. I went to an industrial plater that specializes in hard to plate parts. It cost me $96 for two sets of front rotors and one set of rears. I have an extra set of plated fronts for backup. The zinc finish looks like chrome and he was able to plate into the cooling fins etc. I have a set of base rotors that are drilled and slotted that I purchased from SportBrakes a year or so ago if memory suits me that I never installed for comparison. The Z51 rotors have a lot more cooling veins than the base. The plating is much better on the Z51's done by the industrial plater vs the aftermarket D/S by SportBrakes. The Z51 fronts in the picks are new Brembo replacements from Tire Rack, the Z51 rears are OEM. The main thing I noticed on both rear rotors is how the base are vented into the back or inside on the Base rotors and the rear Z51 rotors are vented on the front side or face side. My bathroom scale shows approx 2-3 lbs difference on the rears and 1-2 lbs on the fronts with the Z51's bieng heavier, +/- 1lb. This thread was not started to fuel the ongoing debate over which rotor is better etc, only to show the differences. I Just was bored thought I would post some pics. I will post some pics on my base OEM C6 rotors as well once I swap them out later this week. I'm adding these for apperance purposes only, and so my freshly strpped and polished wheels will not be covered in rust stains. I'm going to add a set of Raybestos quiet stop ceramic pads when I do the swap.

Base vs Z51 Front Rotors back side view. The Z51 has 31 cooling fins vs 23 fins on the Base Rotor.


Z51 vs Base rear Rotors front side view


Base Rrear rotor backside view, note the plating is not on the cooling fins.


Z51 rear rotor back side view, note no backside venting.


Z51 Front rotor, backside view, shows how well the plater was able to work the zink into the cooling fins


Base vs Z51 front Rotors, front or face side view