Brake Upgrade

[ricodemus]

Along with the b16 swap, I think it would be fitting to upgrade my brakes. What is the best route to go? EX/integra brakes? Aftermarket rotors with other calipers? I wanna have some nice stoppers, but I cant afford to go overboard money wise. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

[FatBuddha]

IMO, the best thing you can do is to get a good set of brake pads...there are many choices available. I use the Axxis Ultimate which I think it probably 20% better than the stock pads.

-Fatty

[kris]

I have the rear brakes, ebrake, and all that crap off a 93' integra if you want to upgrade the rear end.

[DarkImportGrey]

I suggest you get larger brake discs up front, and do a rear drum-to-disc conversion. Make sure you also get bigger, beefier calipers to take advantage of your increased disc size up front. You can get those rear-disc components from an Integra (conveniently from kbslacker!) for pretty cheap. Lots of companies (like AEM) make kits that increase your front disc size and put new calipers and pads on em. Steel braided-brake lines would be a good bet too, to keep your pressure up. Old rubber lines can expand and defeat your master-cylinder's pnuematic pressure. Make sure your rims will clear your discs.

Now, the rear discs are kid of a big project, but they look great under rims, and can help your braking performance. If you get larger discs up front, you NEED bigger calipers and new pads to take advantage of your increased braking surface.

If you just want something simple to start out with, just get new pads. Something more than that you might want to get new discs AND pads/calipers. FINALLY, I would take on the rear disc conversion.

Here's a link: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill.../Disc2Drum.htm

[ricodemus]

Thanks man, that was really helpful. I might try to go after the aem kit for the front for now and upgrade the back later on. I jus want some quality stoppers because I think my stock ones arent doing a well enough job anymore.

[ricodemus]

aem doesnt seem to make the kit for my 90 si - which other cars would I be able to apply the front rotors, calipers, etc from? Or should I get EX rotors with better calipers and pads?

[DarkImportGrey]

Ah crap, I forgot AEM only makes it for I think 92-95 civics. Hmm well I'm sure you can find bigger brake rotors somewhere. Remember, the 90-93 Integra brakes fit, so if a kit works for them, it would probably work for a 90 si.

[DarkImportGrey]

Ah crap, I forgot AEM only makes it for I think 92-95 civics. Hmm well I'm sure you can find bigger brake rotors somewhere. Remember, the 90-93 Integra brakes fit, so if a kit works for them, it would probably work for a 90 si.

No problem man, I'm just tryin to help people just like they help me. I think the 4G forums are the best. WE know what a REAL honda is. Hehe.

[CRX586]

I was thinking the same - faster engine needs better brakes - how much do you think you'll spend on the brake upgrade?

[ricodemus]

eightohone mentioned fastbrakes.com before, and I looked on there and they have an upgrade kit for us for 360, which includes everything (discs, calipers, pads,lines). I guess you have to pay more for braided steel lines and slotted or cross-drilled rotors. I guess its an oem based kit with some kind of adapter - anyone know? Could we piece these together with teg parts? How hard are the brake lines to install?

[DarkImportGrey]

Hmm... Is that kit for the front or rear? Sport Compact Car magazine just did a big feature on a 5th gen civic and they did a big brake job on it. I assume the basic concepts behind putting in steel-braided lines are the same, it just comes down to generational differences like placement (and even that can't be much different). I'm not familiar with that kit so I couldn't tell you if it would work with the Teg stuff. Might want to try talking to a performance shop. I think they have books or something that show what parts can cross over and whatnot. If you want to improve your stopping power beyond just larger brakes and calipers, I would spring for slotted/drilled rotors. They vent gasses to improve friction between the plate and the pad. Like I said before the steel lines are for more reliability and better pressure, and they are just plain cool.

[ricodemus]

that kit is for the front and is comprised of oem quality parts, sourced from different cars with a larger rotor. The guy who runs that site has written a few articles on the big brake swap like this one http://hybrid.honda-perf.org/tech/4g-brakes.html , so I guess this is a ready to order version of it. The price may be worth it for those of us who are lazy (like me) and have little resources in our area (like me). Performance shops are nill around here. He wants an extra 75 for slotted rotors. I think I'm gonna try to fit that into my budget cuz I dont even like the way my car stops now. I get some shaking when I'm braking, that mean my rotors may be warped/uneven?

[DarkImportGrey]

Ah, the infamous Honda shaking steering wheel during braking. Yeah you have warped discs. Either that or messed up pads. I get it too. Definately time for new brakes. I think you'll be very happy with your kit, I wish you luck! Please tell us how it goes!