Interesting.  I typically would do 5 light effort stops from 50mph with 5 minutes between them, 5 medium effort stops from 50MPH with 5 minutes between them, and then 5 hard stops from 50MPH with 5 minutes between them.  I started doing that on everything about 20 years ago and observed no rotor warpage and longer pad life regardless of vehicle.  When stopping its important not to keep the brakes on as noted.  Basically you stop and take off again immediately.  If you can't do that then put the car in neutral and use the e-brake if needed, but apply the bare minimum to hold the car still. 

This is an overlooked step when servicing brakes, but one that makes a tangible difference. 
 

BUT, all those years ago the compounds used in the brakes were a lot different than they are today.  Asbestos was a great material for handling heat that all brake pads and clutch discs used.  Unfortunately it was also carcinogenic.  

We also had good, American made iron back then.  It used to be that the rotors were harder than the pads.  Now its the other way around.  Bedding in the pads seasons the rotors just as much as it seasons the pads.  Maybe more so from that I've observed as far as pad life increase.  The more I think about it the more I think the rotors are actually being austempered and achieving a better surface hardness than out of the box, and that's why the brakes last longer when bedded in. 

There is an elementary school right up the street from my house. The front is set up like a mini oval race track to drop off/pick up the kids. I generally do my brake work on Saturday's, so no school. I run the vehicle up to 50 in the straight and hard brake down to around 5 at the turn. 10 times around gives me 20 braking times and at the end you can start to smell the brakes. This method has worked great for me half a dozen times, ymmv.

ultrastang wrote:

"Warped Rotor Myth"

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

Interesting, but I'm suspicious.  If that were true when you chucked the rotor in a brake lathe it wouldn't show the rotor to be out of true.  I've seen rotors turned dozens of times and if they are warped you will see the cutter take material off only on a high spot until the cut is deep enough to smooth out the entire surface.  I think racing and street use are very different.  Its easy to warp a rotor on street use because it occurs when someone makes a panic stop, and then sits stopped for a prolonged period with their foot still on the brakes.  That holds the heat only to one area of the rotor, which results in uneven expansion and contraction of the rotor material and warpage.  On a track, even after a a panic stop you keep on moving, and race cars in fact almost never actually fully stop except in the pits where the driver doesn't keep his foot on the brakes. 

I'm a bit skeptical of the idea of pad material being deposited on the rotor as well.  Most modern pads are so hard that I think its more likely that the opposite occurs.  The pads actually wear down the rotor now, so that by the time the pads are spent the rotor typically is as well.  Generally now either the rotors get replaced with the pads, or they just slap new pads on the old rotor without turning it.  Turning rotors is starting to become a dying art.  Three parts stores around me that used to offer the service no longer do (one of them, ironically named Brake Service, is also now closed).  Fortunately my neighbor still has a lathe and knows how to use it, but it doesn't get used all the much.  The desire for better braking and longer pad life has resulted in rotors having become consumable at the same rate as the pads. 

This has been on the tips and how to page since 2014.
Be sure to look on there for questions of recurring nature.
Thanks for bringing it to light again.

I suspect this rotor was not broken in properly.

Think the caliper got stuck?  Sadly not the first time I've seen that.  A good bit farther into the cooling vanes than the one I saw though...

Bedding the pads doesn't stop rotor warpage; it just increases brake performance and extends pad life.  By no means is it something you have to do, but as a car guy I'm usually looking for every little bit extra I can get on all fronts.  When I started seeing almost 1/3 more pad life from the fronts on my Blazer I just started doing it to every car I put brakes on.