New Brakes

[Prince]

Now that the exhaust has been fitted, I want to have new brakes done...make sure the car is prepared for the new engine (B18C (Integra Type R)). I've got about £1000 to spend if I need it. Eventually I'll be tuning the new engine to around 300BHP so I need the brakes doing before hand. I will also want the calipers to look good as well as help stop the car! I was thinking Brembo as well.

What would you guys recommend? Is £1000 enough for what I need?

Thanks

[HDi fun]

Have you got space for oversize discs within the wheel cavities? If so then you can really go to town on this. My first thought would be to look and see if there's a bigger set on another Honda model that will fit without changing hubs etc. (Legend or NSX maybe).

You will probably need a different master cylinder too, possibly a bigger servo and some adjustment to the front/rear bias.

You won't see much change from your £1k.

Big brakes, when done done properly are absolutely stunning. Done badly and you're driving a deathtrap.

One of the most overbraked cars of all time is the current Micra, in my opinion. There's reports of these being hit from the back on the Autobahn by Porsches and Mercs due to their staggering stopping ability. It's all down to having much larger discs than one would expect in a car of that size.

Apply the same philosophy to your Civic and you'll have anchors that do a good impression of a solid stone wall.

[pgarner]

you might have a problem that all the hubs will need to be changed. If im right then the 1.6 civic will have 4 stud hubs. where as the larger cars have the 5 stud. If so this wont allow you to fit the brakes off the legend or ( if your really lucky ) NSX. you might find a set for the typr r accord as a good setup as the cars are around the same size.

Have you also not drums on the back of the civic ? if so these will need to be changed as well for better distribution.

all in all think £1000 might be a bit little as a set of brembos will cost you around the grand mark without the hub changes servo, cylinder etc.

as a guide 320mm should be sufficient so you might get away with 18"'s

[Prince]

I was thinking Integra brakes would be the way to go now. I've been in touch with Honda and they will supply them for me. I've got a place that can fit them as well.

I know brembos are expensive...but maybe too expensive to put on a daily driver. Yes the Civic had drums at the back and I agree that having them replaced would be a good idea.

I am getting some 18s for it as well.

[waynne]

Type R brakes should give more than adequate stopping power. Be careful with some of the "racing pads" these have to warm up so are pretty useless on a daily driver. Vented and grooved disks of the same size would be better than the standard setup so bear this in mind. You might get a cheap second hand set from a breakers yard and get these fitted and use the money to upgrade the calipers/pistons and pads.

[HDi fun]

This is an interesting thread. What do we think of road legal race pads.

[waynne]

I had some and they were terrible. Everytime I needed them they were cold and I had that - I REALLY REALLY NEED TO STOP NOW feeling. As soon as they warmed up they worked well and were pretty fade resistant so I would say unless you always drive on the brakes your better off avoiding race pads for the road. Get some race pads for a track day - its very easy to smoke standard pads in a competition environment.

[pgarner]

i have been put off them after hearing someone go on about being out braked by a wagon as the pads were too cold.

thinking about fast road pads though

[Prince]

I think race pads would be too much...its not like I'll be on the track every weekend! Although I do wanna take it for a bash sometime. Race pads wouldn't warm up in time for most of my journeys.

Is the conversion from drums to pads and discs difficult?

[HDi fun]

It's not as if Civic's are overweight either. They're well balanced cars

[waynne]

Is it me or do the brakes on Japanese cars seem much better than most other makes? (The 1.3GS Corolla we had came with phenomenal brakes - much better than those on my 220GTi which had 2 times the power and wax 300kg heavier!)