Hi guys,

Im looking to upgrade rotors to slotted / drilled for my rdx + high performance pads.

Do you guys know any good brand ?

Thanks
Dan

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2520

info in there, and thats about the only thing im aware of to date -

pads, some posters had great results with EBC

 

Im pretty sure Rotora has rotors for the RDX now, or they will soon. Get Hawk ceramic pads if they make them.

 

So has anyone tried upgrading the brakes? Brake-kits? Stock-sized padded rotors & ceramic pads? Just wondering how ceramic pads by Rotora treat fully-metal Rotora rotors... TIA

 

If you want better braking simply disable the ABS. Unless the roadbed surface is questionable you will almost always stop quicker and in a shorter distance than if ABS should activate.

Since my '01 AWD RX300 has VSC I've been trying to figure out a way to disable ABS unless the VSC system detects impending loss of directional control.

ABS was NOT adopted to help you stop quicker nor in a shorter distance, it WAS adopted to allow you to maintain directional during severe braking.

I don't think I would go for slotted or drilled rotors unless I had to drive in the rain more often than I do.

Have you seen the new "feature" wherein if the windshield wiper rain detector triggers then the brakes are automatically applied, lightly, to keep the brake pads dried out...??

 

Thanks for advice, but I'd like to stay ABSed I've had several cars without it and I'm not sure to have enough experience to stop almost 2 ton car w/out ABS.

What about the "feature"? Is it true or Your style as usual?

 

i ordered a set of front EBC Greenstuff for my RDX. Waiting til it comes in, and i'll keep you posted on how well it performs!

I am thinking to upgrade the entire brake system as well. but as far as i know, the rotora's only come in front.

another option i heard from a local friend of mine was that he read on honda tech somewhere that you're able to get the TL front calipers and RL rear calipers swapped into the RDX. I tried looking for information regarding this, but no luck. Maybe someone else can find it :o

 

There is one tuning shop in my city that makes big-brake kits to fit just any car. Their price is as high as $2500 per front set. I suppose that TL/RL swapping will not be a piece of cake, but might be worth it. What's TLtypeS caliper diameter?

Why did You choose EBC Green for the RDX and not the Rotora ceramics + rotors for the front ?

 

i had no idea where to find the rotora parts. I don't know anything about ceramic brakes, but i just thought they wouldn't be that great for canadian winters. am i wrong? I got a great deal on the EBC's though, only 60 bucks for the set. If you can enlighten me with something i might go pick those up too :p

 

There is a link in this thread to http://www.excelerateperformance.com that has some dealer offers from Rotora. Sent them a message but still havent' got a reply. I have no ideas how will ceramic pads will work with the SS slotted rotors. Will contact the Rotora dealer here in Kiev this week and advise ASAP.

PS: 60 bucks per the set of quality pads is the good deal in fact. Did You feel any difference? What about swapping the brake fluid to the fully synthetic one (ATE Superblue, Motul 600RBF, Ferodo DOT5.1)

 

Here is the report of a happy user, that has also purchased EBC YellowStuff 4000 SUV - https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1712

And here are the competitive offers from the BrakePerformance:

Rotors
Pads

 

Have just checked EBC's catalogue. They have only the pads for RDX:

I'd prefer to order both rotors & the pads from one vendor.

 

Just got a RDX for my family, but my primary car is a 06 STi.

I kind of wonder why people would change their rotors to something larger?

For braking distance, tires would be the key

When the rotor is changed, it may hurt the brake force distribution/balance, which hurt the braking distance.

I can see the larger rotors will improve fading problems.

 

"I can see the larger rotors will improve fading problems."

No, fading problems are almost always due to heat buildup in the pad material.

Thank about it, look at how much CSA, Cross Section Area, the heat from braking is distributed across in the case of the rotor vs the pad material. And then you have the issue of the fact that the pad backing CANNOT be designed to transfer heat to the piston, whereas the rotor is moving at a higher velocity in the airflow and in the case of the front often actually "pumping" air for cooling.

 

fading can also be caused by moisture build up / decrease of boiling point of brake fluid. If changing the pad doesn't help, I'd change out the Dot 3 fluid out for dot 4.

Dude please stop with your BS, disabling ABS? really? is that what you do in your lil Porsche? these are street cars not track cars telling someone to disable ABS is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Manufacturers and safety boards wouldn't be implementing ABS systems in their vehicle if it was counter productive.

 

Fading almost always has to do with the heat created in the rotor. My god how can this guy keep posting such drivel. Pads are made of a pretty heat inert material (ceramics and carbon - much like high end CC rotors). It's the rotors job to turn the friction into heat, then dissipate that heat. When it can't, the system heats up.

 

Bottom line...the rotor is acting as a heat sink, "wicking" heat away from the brake pad, once the overall heat buildup is so high that the rotor heat "sinking" cannot keep the pad from overheating the brakes will begin to fade.

Sould the driver persist beyond the point of brake fading then brake fluid boiling will be "next".

 

*** According to a research study done by IIHS, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, ABS's statistical advantage comes out slightly on the negative side. Apparently the "tilting" factor is the inordinant number of single vehicle run off the road accidents with ABS vs cars without.

IIHS made no conclusive statements as to why so many single vehicle run off the road accidents resulted with ABS and not otherwise.

 

Honestly, I am not experience enough to tell what the RDX is lacking when it come to braking.

The RDX is my wife's car which is only at 1K miles at this time. I just start driving it more aggressively on the side road which I use daily to go to work. To me, it is hardly a sport car, and I found it hard to drive it like a sport car.

It seems pretty responsive at straight line acceleration, but once I start making higher speed 90 degree left or right turns, the car just feel slow to response to any of my inputs. Therefore, for normal driving, I think the brake is adequate enough.

When the times come to emergency braking, I would say having ABS is far better, when you start losing traction. (especially at some slow speed turns, where someone try to brake in the middle of the turn....in the rain..!

For max braking with ABS or not, threshold braking is probably a better and more advance technique to use.

Have anyone try using some higher performance summer tires with their stock brake? I wonder how fast you need to go before you can activate your ABS on flat/dry surface?

To be honestly, my primary car being the STi with the stock RE070 tires + OEM Brakes. However, it has some good KW v3 Coilovers + few others suspension goodies. Then my secondary car is a 99 stock Miata. Since they both handle so well, those can be my reason why I think the RDX is simply a sporty SUV, but hardly something aggressive enough to be driven like a sport car.

By all means, I think the RDX is great, and it fits very well as a crossover. It fits our needs as a car to replace our lifted 2000 Grand Cherokee V8 gas eater.

Now, it would be nice if someone can share with us some of the proper driving techniques to drive the RDX aggressively. The last time I have a front wheel drive car is more than 9 years ago. Therefore, that can be the reason why I am not very good at driving the front bias RDX.

 

BTW, I was kind of off topic with my last post. So, to get back to the braking topic. I wonder recommend people to try look for the last issue Grassroots Motorsports June 2008. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/med...cover-6-08.jpg which takes about "Brake performance myths"
Then here on "Sport Compact Car" Oct 2007. http://www.primediabackissues.com/Me...egory_Code=SCC
There is a section on "Splitting hairs between stopping short and stopping safe"
What they did is with a Project RSX doing 80 to 0 mph in 10 repeated runs. They found the OEM brake balance was done very well. And here is the results.

http://www.pbase.com/freelancerfoto/cars__models

 

First, the RDX is not nearly as bad about poor handling dynamics associated with FWD or F/AWD as you might think, the SH-AWD system's capabilities go quite far beyond any other F/AWD in the marketplace today.

9 years is a really good number, be sure and keep it up.

 

Yes, I will try to drive it more often, and when I get enough seat time, I should be able to share more!

By all means, I really like the RDX what what it offers. I can tell it handle much better just by the stiffer suspension system.

Yet, I still find th brake on the RDX very good. That's why I wonder if the aftermarket brake kit really gonna help braking faster..., or if people are really experiencing fading.

Given the $$$$ that need to spend on some good brake system. I think I would use the $$$$ to get some durable but (Super light weight wheel) which will improve acceleration, handling, and braking. Then I'll get some light weight summer tires for grip. And both of those upgrade shouldn't affect our warranty.