Brake Upgrades - First Step

[WarpSpeed]

When I bought my City 06 last year it had already mounted wider tires and Brembo brake calibers (red off course he-he) on all 4 wheels and the car can brake for sure. I also noticed when waiting at Honda (Pattaya -Sukhumvit) for an oil change that 3 out of 4-5 cars coming in/out had the same brakes setup as my car.

Anybody know if Honda's are born with weak brakes, I don't think so as we all know this is controlled, so it must be a "fashion" trend or??

hel_l no! I used my stock brakes as was required by rule for 4 seasons while racing and winning in my Acura and every other competitor was upgrading their cars but the Honda brakes on my Type R were most excellent. I used to beat up on the big V8's in enduro races and run them out of brakes even though they weren't in my class and eventually pass them and run away.. I can tell you that during that time the shortest race in that series was 2 hours with the longest being as much as 6 and we even ran a 24 hour race without being required to change anything except pads one time and for 4 years never a brake related failure or incident, we changed the calipers just for the purposes of maintenance of course but never had one fail even close..

This is achieving speeds of 150mph at Daytona too and then slowing to approx. 50-60 MPH for both the turn 1 and the back stretch chicane though the back stretch was only about 130 MPH entry and slowing to about 80-90MPH very hard on brakes but we did have upgraded pads our pad of choice was Performance Friction... It's just cool to have on your Honda but you must not forget they also sell fake Brembo brake caliper covers here so maybe they were not all what they appear to be..

[katabeachbum]

When I bought my City 06 last year it had already mounted wider tires and Brembo brake calibers (red off course he-he) on all 4 wheels and the car can brake for sure. I also noticed when waiting at Honda (Pattaya -Sukhumvit) for an oil change that 3 out of 4-5 cars coming in/out had the same brakes setup as my car.

Anybody know if Honda's are born with weak brakes, I don't think so as we all know this is controlled, so it must be a "fashion" trend or??

hel_l no! I used my stock brakes as was required by rule for 4 seasons while racing and winning in my Acura and every other competitor was upgrading their cars but the Honda brakes on my Type R were most excellent. I used to beat up on the big V8's in enduro races and run them out of brakes even though they weren't in my class and eventually pass them and run away.. I can tell you that during that time the shortest race in that series was 2 hours with the longest being as much as 6 and we even ran a 24 hour race without being required to change anything except pads one time and for 4 years never a brake related failure or incident, we changed the calipers just for the purposes of maintenance of course but never had one fail even close..

This is achieving speeds of 150mph at Daytona too and then slowing to approx. 50-60 MPH for both the turn 1 and the back stretch chicane though the back stretch was only about 130 MPH entry and slowing to about 80-90MPH very hard on brakes but we did have upgraded pads our pad of choice was Performance Friction... It's just cool to have on your Honda but you must not forget they also sell fake Brembo brake caliper covers here so maybe they were not all what they appear to be..

"Brembo" plastic covers for the stock Nissin calipers are very high fashion, chinese "brembo" copies are easily available but Brembo original are extremely expensive in LOS.

besides replacing calipers and pads is still a very minor upgrade, noticable improvent is to increase size of rotors and of course vented and slotted/drilled rotors

[chav]

Well a quick grind with a die grinder will take care of that and should have been done were the dealer competent and had taken proper notice. I noticed however that EBC pads don't seem to come with a standard groove in them either? What's up with that?...

I would not advise that anybody should try to modify there break pads in any way and I would be horrified if any dealer or garage did so to.

ALL EBC brake pads are slotted and chamfered. They also feature a thin layer of abrasive for conditioning the disks.

[WarpSpeed]

Horrified?? That's pretty dramatic eh? I wouldn't if they're professional enough to do so, in more then twenty years of racing we have modified our own pads whenever necessary on many occasions especially back in the day before most came grooved already and never had even one failure, it's really quite simple you just don't cut too deep leave about 1/16 of an inch minimum in thickness from the backing and all is well.

That's good to know about EBC I stand corrected(or sit in this case), I saw a website the other day for a dealer and theirs were not, I was certain it was EBC as that was what I was searching and EBC has that color coding. Oh well, good to see otherwise..

I forgot to mention yesterday that I was sitting in traffic and we were traveling at the formidable speed of about 2 car lengths every 15 minutes when a tricked out Honda Civic with lowered suspension, nice rims and Brembo brakes managed to roll into the back of me from a static dead stop.

I was really glad he upgraded those brakes otherwise he might not have hit me as he would have had less confidence in them were they OEM I guess and kept his dam_n foot on the peddle.

Just serves to illustrate that it comes down more to the driver and where his/her head is at more so then what brakes are on the car, the best brakes in the world don't make up for the quality of driver or brain fade of same..

Edited August 18, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[WarpSpeed]

besides replacing calipers and pads is still a very minor upgrade, noticable improvent is to increase size of rotors and of course vented and slotted/drilled rotors

I have to disagree just a tad here as in competition conditions there is a significant advantage in both wear and performance to be had from simply upgraded pad compounds as in many stock based series that's all thats allowable and without you are going to get worked over..But again this is extreme conditions so the advantages gained are more measurable in single exclusive modifications. The gain on the average street car will not be as great as it takes several of these mods in tandem to make any significant difference given how average the use is..

[culicine]

I changed my oem honda pads on my civic to bendix metal kings on the front. I noticed the brake feel was better (a little more firm); performance is ordinary when cold and work better when hot. The creak a little when you take ur foot on and off the pedal when at a stop. No problem just a little annoying. They seem to stop well at speed but I've never had to make an emergency stop at high speeds, so can't comment on stopping distance. The seem a little more harsh on the rotors as well, so the brake pad compound must be harder.

Anyway I see that runstop 4 piston calipers / large rotors are a cool 49K a pair. Whats the advantage of these calipers over just running the stock calipers and large rotors (about 7000 baht a pair)? Is the extra 42K for calipers really worth it? It seems most on this board would say no, as some said the rotors have a much larger effect on braking performance for regular everyday use.

[powderpuff]

You bring up a good point cul.

A lot of racing or high performance pads are absolute krap when cold.

Which is why those pads are better left to the race track.

I am running EBC HH pads on my motorcycle (Vigo killer).

[Lickey]

I agree with you PP & Cul, EBC andAP are the best after market pads available, choose the pad for the application and how you want to use your vehicle, and i suppose someday these super pick-up trucks will catch on to what motorbikes have as standard, stainless steel discs,drilled grooved and wavy,

Years ago when bikes had solid cast discs, we used to cut extra grooves in the pads, just a criss-cross with a hacksaw about 16in deep, it greatly improved wet weather braking, and in 30 odd years in the motor repair trade, i have never seen a pad loose its friction material, its always still bonded to the steel, no matter how worn..

And another little piece of info, many american stock car racers cut off up to 50% of the right side pads, it gives them the bias into the left hand corners,and it passes the scrutineers,

Whats a BREAK? tea break,coffee break,lunch break?

Edited August 25, 2010 by Lickey

[WarpSpeed]

I agree with you PP & Cul, EBC andAP are the best after market pads available, choose the pad for the application and how you want to use your vehicle, and i suppose someday these super pick-up trucks will catch on to what motorbikes have as standard, stainless steel discs,drilled grooved and wavy,

Years ago when bikes had solid cast discs, we used to cut extra grooves in the pads, just a criss-cross with a hacksaw about 16in deep, it greatly improved wet weather braking, and in 30 odd years in the motor repair trade, i have never seen a pad loose its friction material, its always still bonded to the steel, no matter how worn..

And another little piece of info, many american stock car racers cut off up to 50% of the right side pads, it gives them the bias into the left hand corners,and it passes the scrutineers,

Whats a BREAK? tea break,coffee break,lunch break?

You cut with a hacksaw? That's pretty horrifying to think you'd take such a chance, are you qualified to do so?

[Lickey]

Opps, i knew i shouldnt have mentioned it, but thats what we did, before drilled grooved stainless came along a lot of bike racers would do this also, well, at club level anyway, in a wet race it can give you a braking advantage into the corners,

I used to turn the hacksawblade round so it would be a controlable pull cut, does that qualify me?

[weet]

Anyone on Big Brake kit?

I'm looking at the options avail in bangkok?

anyone can point me to the place for it ?

I've checked runstop website and it seems there isnt any kit for mu7.

[transam]

Anyone on Big Brake kit?

I'm looking at the options avail in bangkok?

anyone can point me to the place for it ?

I've checked runstop website and it seems there isnt any kit for mu7.

There MUST be a kit for an MU7 upgrade out there, as brakes are crap from factory. .

[weet]

Thx transam .. I believe so too.

Anyone has done it all n can advise on options avail?

[powderpuff]

I saw plenty of dealers offering their products at the Bangkok International Motor Show. Sadly I did not take any brochure because I already have upgraded brakes.

Buy a specialist Thai magazine & you will see their ads. Then go along to their shop or have someone call them to find out.

Good luck in your search.

For me - step one in my brake upgrade was fitting larger rims to make room for larger rotors. Very very pleased with the results. I only did the fronts. The rears are the OEM drums.

[culicine]

I saw plenty of dealers offering their products at the Bangkok International Motor Show. Sadly I did not take any brochure because I already have upgraded brakes.

Buy a specialist Thai magazine & you will see their ads. Then go along to their shop or have someone call them to find out.

Good luck in your search.

For me - step one in my brake upgrade was fitting larger rims to make room for larger rotors. Very very pleased with the results. I only did the fronts. The rears are the OEM drums.

Which product did you fit and to which car?

[Hog Head]

I have built a street rod using a front end off a Toyota Corona and want to buy bigger discs and callipers.

Any specialist shop in Chiangmai that can do the work or sell me the parts?

[highonthai]

Nobody has addressed tire and wheel size, swap out your 16" wheels for a set of 22"s (or whatever larger size) and of course your going to have brake problems.

Overall wheel/tire diameter has a lot to do with it. The same goes with gearing, "I put on some big wheels and now I'm getting worse mileage and less power" Sure looks cool though.

Not to sure why many of these people are complaining about their brakes? Maybe Save some dosh and learn how to use them.

But, what do I know about it...

[transam]

Nobody has addressed tire and wheel size, swap out your 16" wheels for a set of 22"s (or whatever larger size) and of course your going to have brake problems.

Overall wheel/tire diameter has a lot to do with it. The same goes with gearing, "I put on some big wheels and now I'm getting worse mileage and less power" Sure looks cool though.

Not to sure why many of these people are complaining about their brakes? Maybe Save some dosh and learn how to use them.

But, what do I know about it...

Think some still drive like in farang land, foot to the floor and brake at the last minute, must admit it took me awhile to break the habit. Just checked my pads on the Vigo, 50k and still half the meat left.

[weet]

Hi anyone on big brake kit for their Ride?

Do share on this forum for newbies like me to glean from your experience.

What's the price range for a kit with 4pot caliper , mounting bracket and brake pads (excluding steel braided hose) in Bangkok?

40,000bt?

[weet]

one more thing , which would be good place to shop for 18" rims + tyres guys?

Good value and quality stuff... starting with Lenso rims maybe?

Im sure many has gone down that path , do share freely ok! thanks in advance!

[MoonRiverOasis]

one more thing , which would be good place to shop for 18" rims + tyres guys?

Good value and quality stuff... starting with Lenso rims maybe?

Im sure many has gone down that path , do share freely ok! thanks in advance!

Good range of wheels browseable online here: http://nvyangyont.com/admin/ProductSystem/PRODUCT/ListByWheelSize.asp?size=18 and here: http://www.lopburiyangyont.com/Page/wheel/wheel18.htm

[Hog Head]

who can do custom big brake installation work in Chiangmai?

This will not be a simple bolt on kit, but someone that can adapt either something from the likes of RunStop or an OEM part to an older Toyota spindle