I've been too busy to start a post about R1 Concepts but I installed their setup & highly recommend them. I went with a pair of their GEOMET slotted rotors with their semi-metallic pads for a grand total of $102.09. Cheap af so of course I was weary. I've been on them for 10k miles so far and I love them. I drive hard and the braking performance of their semi-metallic pads is excellent - better than the Hawk HPS street pads. Easy to modulate with great initial bite even when cold. And very, very, VERY little dusting. I've only faded them once coming to stop for a red light from 120+ mph (I play too much). That being said, I wouldn't auto-x with them lol But for an aggressive street setup they haven't let me down. Even that single fade incident was easily managed by pumping the brakes a couple times (and puckering up). I don't go through that section so fast anymore
The trick with them is to sign up for their coupon codes and just wait. The last one they sent me was for 30% off.
I also put them on my Mazda5 with the Mazdaspeed3 brake conversion and they've been great there as well. That MUCH larger setup cost $223.13 cuz I didn't have time to wait for a coupon code to show up in my inbox. Still reasonable tho. The MZ5 proved to be a good rust test since we hardly drive it and the rotors are rusting over all the time. But the centers on these GEOMET rotors have yet to rust...AT ALL...the centers look brand new after a year! After 10k, the centers on the FiST look exactly the same. R1 is my new go to for brakes. I guess sometime you DON'T get what you pay for.