I guess that's part of my question: is it worth it to go from "Daily Driver" or "Coated" to "Premium" to "Heavy Duty". Is there really that big of a difference? Does a 98% soccer mom vehicle need more than the Daily Driver / Coated brakes?
I was referring to the pads with the 3 different product lines, actually not the rotors.
The coated rotors aren't usually worth it in this climate zone, because of the lack of road salt. A painted or e-coated rotor will look better for longer though, versus the cheap bare rotors. Coated rotors are different, as the anti-corrosion coatings are more than just paint or e-coat.
Daily driver rotors are usually fine, and you likely don't need the differences in vane geometry, sometimes slightly different alloy, etc., that the heavy duty usually have (based on how you said it gets used). Often the premium (sometimes called daily driver, depending) are just a painted or e-coated version of the economy rotors, with no other changes (Centric Premium, for example). There's really no standardization of what you'll get in a certain product line based on the name.
So I would say to get a premium or daily driver-labeled rotor, if it's painted or e-coated and only a small incremental increase in price over the cheaper stuff. It doesn't sound like you need any more fancy than that.
That was totally helpful, wasn't it...?
Just use your intuition and compare prices.
So no, I wouldn't spend the money on Powerstop rotors, unless they're relatively cheap. I don't think they're going to add anything useful for your needs.
After looking at the RockAuto rotor listings, anything in the Daily Driver category is fine. I've used Centric Premium, Bosch Quietcast, and AC Delco Professional (everything in that category), many times all with good results. For not too much more, you could just get the OEM AC Delco and know exactly what you're getting, but I don't think the extra money is generally worth compared to any other quality choice that
doesn't come in an OEM box.
