I was on a "private track" the other day to do one top speed run and full stop from 200KM/H, Oh my god!! I knew the CLS doesn't have to best brakes in the world but these things didn't even last 5 secs before they weren't doing anything. Scared the crap out of me!! In fact I'll go as far as saying these are probably the worst brakes I've tried in a "sport luxury car" My last 2 cars were from German Manufactures and these things would stop on a dime! Forget about cross-drilled or even slotted rotors. The only way to improve CLS braking is a big rotor kit! I can't understand for the life of me why Acura would make a car with impresssive numbers only to flaw it by giving it bloody civic brakes!
Sorry for the rant but I'm really dissappointed with the braking performance, gonna check out the brake kits just for safety sake!

 

I agree. Heck, even my mom's 97 toyota 4runner has 4piston brakes whereas our CL only has 1. But my rotora bbk fixes that

 

get a bbk fo sho

 

Yeah even with the slotted rotors, good ceramic pads, SS brake lines & good fluid, I've induced serious brake fade stopping from 125 to 60-65. Try that a few times back to back & the CL doesn't want to stop anymore. It is scary when your foot is to the floor on the brake pedal & the car doesn't slow down

 

True, brakes are one big time weakness on this car. Especially stopping from speed. The brake upgrades are just SO much that it's not even funny. I researched the BBK and wow approximately $2,800 F/R just for the parts. And that's if you install it yourself. For those that aren't mechanically inclined, it will easily break you.

 

I agree the brakes are terrible. Someone in engineering should have said hmmm 3500 lbs. and a 260 HP engine we need some serious brakes to stop this heavy fast thing. 1 piston on this car is a joke.

 

The only company to currently offer front and rear kits AFAIK is ROTORA. Most guys just do the front kit since that is where the majority of the braking is done and they feel this is sufficient. Most aftermarket BBK's have a 4 piston caliper w/ SS brake lines, pads, enlarged 13" rotor that is slotted or drilled or both, and then the option of a 1 or 2 piece rotor.

If you need a ROTORA BBK let me know.

 

I agree. I've test driven a few CL-S's and the brakes do not impress me one bit. Maybe upgraded pads and steel braided lines to stiffen the pedal and maybe even SuperBlu Fluid could help it a little?!?!

 

I think Acura really messed up with the brake department on the CLS. If you are going to build a car with these kind of hp numbers you'd better make sure the car will stop safely. tisk tisk on Acura! In fact my mates 05 TL has the exact same problem, my god man....fix the freakin brakes!! Hopefully someone at Acura's RD is reading this.

 

Indeed, I just experienced fade and the clunkclunkclunk the other day in the CLS. I had the same problem in my 5AT 04TL, drove the car a year or less and had the brakes redone once and remachined once or twice. Although this mostly occurs at higher speeds and more intense braking, this is when you need the brakes the most.

 

brakes AND Handling, are really bad in the CL, Horsepower (at least back in 2001), interior, bang for buck and comfort are the strong points. This car is def not for autocrossing, just for cruising in comfort with bursts of acceleration. Almost like a modern day Mark VIII grand touring vehicle.

 

yes! my mates 05 TL has already been back to the dealer for rotors and pads all the way round due to warping. I guess Acura is aware of the issue because they had no problem doing the repair under warranty. And to imagine the car is barely over a year old and has already had a full brake job...and my mate drives his TL like a grandma. Hopefully the new rotors will stay straight!
Do the 04+ TL 6MT's have a different front brake setup then 5AT? If so I wonder if they have issues too?

 

The 6MT TL have the Brembo which are slightly larger I believe, must be better quality than the AT. I Don't believe there are many major complaints on the 6MT brakes.

 

I gotta schedule to get my rotors replaced myself. Car vibrates like mad under moderate braking and I am pretty conservative when decelerating because I downshift to slow my car down to conserve brake pads.

 

Alright apparently the rotors being warped are considered "wear and tear" from what the Bridgewater Acura dealer told me. I got my car Certified and I bought the 100k Bumper to Bumper warranty on top of the Acura Certified Drivetrain warranty. Anyone chime in?

 

This was defineitly the first thing i noticed about this car. The first time i got past 100 and tried to slow down i realized it, these brakes suck. What do you guys think about upgrading to the NSX calipers? This could be a cheapers fix with some slotted rotors.

 

Yeah most dealers will not cover this. Even if there is a TSB on it. You'd need to have low miles like 15K for them to give you a break. And that's a big maybe. You can complain & see if that gets anywhere. The car used & old after all. It's not like it 6 months old & 5K miles on it.

 

That sucks. The brakes in the CL are horrible. I would definately look into a BBK. I saw a big difference just swapping the calipers on my CL to the NSX calipers and getting stainless steel brakelines and slotted Rotora rotors. By the way, those NSX calipers are now for sale.... :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

Yep, the CL is more of a Contempory Luxury Touring vehicle... wasn't really meant to be a racer...

 

Don't tell everyone that.

Not to mention that the weight of this car is always going to make it difficult to stop when it's "flying."

 

whats the sense in getting them replaced, the first few hard braking runs you do will instantly warp them again. Rotora BBK is good, but even then, those can potentially warp as well, give really aggressive braking is applied. But they are alot better than OEM.

 

this pretty much sums up the CL's brakes -

 

It aint like it's something new, the first thing I did when I bought my car was tell the dealer to change the rotors and pads. 6 months later they need to be replaced again

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

I've said it once, and I'll say it again....I've had the Rotora slotted on my car since September and they have been a hugh improvement over the stock ones. And I do a fair amount of driving.

Definately worth getting those if you don't care to keep replacing stock rotors.

 

I still have nightmares of trying to stop a 1956 Buick Special from 110mph. Now that car had bad brakes!

 

that Buick has the same deal as the CL where it is heavy as heck and momentum has got it going hard against bad brakes. except that the Special had/has more in the go department.

 

Dealer warrantied brake rotor and pad repalcements on my first 03 CLS. I think it was under 15k miles. No probs on my 2nd CLS, now at 30k miles.

 

ive got the TL which im sure weighs more than a CL. to slow from speed.. downshift..within reason of gears/speed and sway left to right to shorten stop as well... always works for me.

 

hmm, i'm not to convinced about the swaying part helping you slow down. When you sway your shifting the weight all to one corner which I'm sure puts alot of stress on that rotor. Stopping going dead staight puts the weight evenly across the front thus less stress i.e heat build up. I could be wrong though, but wouldn't that look silly?

 

silly... no.. they do it at professional races to limit speed without using the brakes and to keep other cars back. it doesnt shift weight too much as long as your car sits low. mine is lowered 2 inches in front and 1 1/2 in rear. dead straight means longer stopping distance.

 

Thats entirely different. They do that under cautions and at the beggining to heat up the tires and keep people from passing, but this is on a RACE TRACK. They do not use it to limit speed as they have speed limiters on the cars.

This would also be very dangerous to do on a road as you do not have a lot of room in a lane to do this and you run the risk of spinning out if your not careful. A tires grip is lessened when performing multiple tasks at once, so doing so will give you less braking grip.

 

not at 80 and under.

 

Not by much. Just about 40 to 50 lbs.

I agree with the downshifting part, and yes, swaying does work, but unless you drive in East Bumblefuck, swaying will get you either killed or pulled over.

 

since you guys are talking about brakes, yesterday my car starting making noise from the rear, everytime i brake it makes like a scratching noise and sometimes when i dont brake it still makes tha noise. plus when i reverse it sounds even louder. do i need new brakes?

 

looks like your rear pads need to be changed. It's most likely the wear bar on the pad touching the rotor, which means time for a brake job! Doing the brakes on our cars is really easy.

 

yea. check rotors too. but most likely its the pads because someone i know just got rotors and it still makes the noise.

 

btw, sweet CL RTizzo.

 

thanks, anyone know where i can get brake pads for cheap, cause im thinking about going to pepboys, and i cant order inline because i want to get it done tomorrow

 

Look into Wagner Pads...This is my second set and they are doing pretty good. Also if you do them yourself look for a gell that you can apply to the back of the pads so they dont squeek. It has like a red color and turns into a rubbery compound once it dries. Its pretty good and looks cool too I think...

Oh yea do them yourself...the hardest part is taking off the wheel and putting it back on