Nov!ce

How many of you upgraded your stock rotors and pads? Which ones did you go with and why?

I'm thinking of upgrading to powerslot rotors and hawk pads. I know that I'm in need of rears, right now. So, I was thinking of upgrading while I'm at it. My car is currently at the Acura dealership getting the tranny replaced and they said they can replacy my brakes while it's there for $189 (if I remember correctly). They didn't mention rotors, so I would think that they are just replacing the pads. Is $189 too much?

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

Many members upgrade their rotors/pads, esp the fronts. There is a range of brands. ROTORA is a good replacement setup. Combined with a good set of pads and stainless steel brake lines you will significant improvement.

cl2

i just ordered ebc slotted and dimpled rotors (front & rear) along with some red stuff pads. i haven't installed them yet because the fronts are on back order. i'm chomping at the bit to see some braking improvements. my stinking stock rotors made me garage the cl.

SPoolinspOON

iTrader: (5)

I have that set-up. Front Powerslots cyro treated with Hawk HPS pads. The rears are Brembo Blanks with EBC greens. I like it. The fronts made a hell of a differance from the Stock pads and bent rotors.


Eddie

o1s

i have rotora slotted rotors and axis pads up front, stock blanks with axis pads on the back. i need to find a place to turn slotted rotors. 80k miles on them and they are finally starting to vibrate a little.

o1s

slotted rotoras with axxis pads. i need to get the fronts turned. it took 80k miles, but they are finally starting to vibrate.

Nov!ce

Thanks for all of the info. I take it most of the difference/significance can be achieved by changing out the fronts, the rear don't matter as much. Am I correct?

I'll probably just throw some Hawk pads on the stock blanks, since I'm not in need of rotors yet. And upgrade to slotted rotors and pads in the front later when necessary.

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

O'Reiley's will turn slotted/drilled rotors.

o1s

none of those around here.

tangsauce

I just changed my rotors and pads this week, went with brembo blanks and fedoro premier pads. Absolutely love this combo.

colemab

I just got EBC rotors and EBC Red Stuff pads on. They look good, are cheaper in price than the OEM ones from Acura, and they brake like a monster.

I highly recommend the EBC Combo for those looking for better than OEM setup but not quite the price of the rotras or a BBK. I think that I might have the exact same setup as CL2 above.

cl2

yeah, that's what i ordered. my fronts haven't come in yet. do you have the slotted and dimpled rotors or just the slotted? how's the noise level?

colemab

I only have the rears also as the fronts are on back order at the Oreilly's. Anyway, I have the gold (zinc plated) colored ones w/ dimples and slotted.

They were just put on today and I went out and put 50 or so miles on in slow stop and go driving in the city to break them in. The first few miles did have some squeak to them but like the 5th time or so I stopped it died down and wasn't that noticeable. That being said, I was in town and so this wasn't a good test of noise level.

When I get time (may be tonight), I will go into a sub division and try to hear the sound bouncing off the houses.

I can seriously say though I do notice the difference in stopping power vs the OEM setup.

We will see how these things hold up in terms of warping but from the research I've done online and talking to others in real life, these seem to be a good bank for the buck.

Are you having problems with noise on yours? The brake pads say on the box that you should put 500 miles on them before trying to return them under warranty. And they also say that "noises can occur during early pad life".

cl2

[QUOTE=colemab]I only have the rears also as the fronts are on back order at the Oreilly's. Anyway, I have the gold (zinc plated) colored ones w/ dimples and slotted.

They were just put on today and I went out and put 50 or so miles on in slow stop and go driving in the city to break them in. The first few miles did have some squeak to them but like the 5th time or so I stopped it died down and wasn't that noticeable. That being said, I was in town and so this wasn't a good test of noise level.

When I get time (may be tonight), I will go into a sub division and try to hear the sound bouncing off the houses.

I can seriously say though I do notice the difference in stopping power vs the OEM setup.

We will see how these things hold up in terms of warping but from the research I've done online and talking to others in real life, these seem to be a good bank for the buck.

Are you having problems with noise on yours? The brake pads say on the box that you should put 500 miles on them before trying to return them under warranty. And they also say that "noises can occur during early pad life".[/QUOTE=colemab]




i ordered mine from auto anything. i guess the fronts are in high demand(eta aroung the first of nov). i'm going to wait and install them all at the same time. i asked about the noise because of some of the reviews that i have read. i, like you, chose them for the 'bang for the buck' factor. plus i figured that an all ebc braking setup would work better than mismatching parts. thanks for the info.

o1s

performance pads will usually make some kind of noise anyways. kind of a tradeoff for being able to stop.

colemab

So I took the car to a couple different areas off the main streets to hear the brakes. I have to say that they are making a sound that is noticeable but it just sounds like the pads need to wear in more.

Yea, I thought about waiting to upgrade them all at once but I needed pads / rotors on the rear (lucky they were not on back order) and have a 4 hour drive coming up. So I ended up getting the rears put on and having good braking over poor breaking.

In any event, the Acura has decent sound proofing so if my breaks make noise it sounds like other peoples problem to me. And I am sure they would rather have me stopping and deal with the noise vs not and hitting them

I hope they do wear in and quiet down though.

russianDude

I might be cheap, but Brembo blanks and Akebono pads working out great for me, also good on price

colemab

yea I considered the Brembo Blanks but they were OEM replacements and the EBCs were more of an upgrade but yet not that much more expensive.

I am sure the brembo blanks are more than fine on this car but I didn't know how much the brembos would warp vs the oem vs the ebcs. So I decided to spend a few extra $ and see if the dimples / slots made a difference in the prevention of warping.

Plus they just look cooler than the plain ole rotors. lol!

GreenMonster

I'm thinking about going that route too... I've got slight warping now (@ 67K miles but it doesn't bother me that much), so I'm in no rush...

The brembo's and Akebono (or satified pros) looks like a cheap but decent setup. I guess anything is better than cheap "white box" rotors from Autozone/Pepboys/etc...

StypeCL

Rotora rotors with Akebono pads!

cl2

i concur and my whole setup cost me less than 5 ben franklins.

russianDude

Well, brembo blanks are equivalent to OEM rotors, they have exact specs and etc, but cost less. They will warp too, don't think as fast as OEM, but its difficult to say. I've had it for few years, and its starting to warp a bit, but like you said, its not that bad and not bothering me much. (I had much worse warping with OEMs in th past)
Speaking of Akebano, they are not the cheapest, they are decent pads, and cost the same as Honda OEM pads, but I think they are a bit softer, hence it will reduce warping.... Its a good stuff, check out their web site....

sinfulj32

i've had rotora slotted/ cross drilled, and brembo blanks before. the slots and dimples are overrated unless you have a bbk, there was no difference from oem to rotora rotors alone. not only that, but you cant resurface drilled/slotted rotors. all that bs is for looks. i'd rather roll on brembo blanks and have the more surface area on the rotors for braking.

as long as you have a good pad to work with. i've had hawk before and the dust is just annoying. my brother has ebc green stuff on all corners on his car right now and that shit brakes pretty hard. w/o ABS running, you can lock all four wheels up easy. despite ebc supposing to be a low dust emitting pad, they seem to have significant dust on my brothers car. i'm figuring out which pads i want next

tangsauce

^^^^^^^^^^
Exactly why I went with brembo blanks and Ferodo premiers pads as I said earlier.

colemab

over rated is not the same as totally useless. I agree that they are over rated and rotors alone won't do much - you have to have upgraded pads with the upgrade rotors. However Overrated and better is still better . . . .

BTW, it appears that the noise is due to runout on the rotor due to a chip on the rotor. Replacing under warranty . . . .

sinfulj32

overrated in my case is useless. like i said rotora had no difference from oem. if anything they were worse. and yes i did have upgraded pads. i had hawk/rotora and did not care for them.

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

I've had Rotora fronts w/ EBC greenstuff for a while, along with Legend calipers and SS lines and I've not been very satisfied with the setup. The Rotoras slightly warped about three months after I got them, and the EBC's feel soft. I do admit the setup is better than the OEM junk, but it's really nothing to be excited about. When the Rotoras do finally warp to the extreme my OEMs did, I may want to try the Racing Brake rotors...though, after it's all said and done, I should've just sucked it up and saved for the BBK instead of ultimately spending ~$1k on just replacement rotors/pads/calipers.

xclaudio24

i have the ebc drilled slotted for the fronts with the green stuff pads but they make alot of noice. anyone know why i called ebc and they told me it could be run out but i know that is not the problem.

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, my EBCs make quite a bit of noise too when I feather the brake pedal as I'm slowing down for a stop light/sign. But when I have to get on it really quick, they're completely silent.

sinfulj32

how is the dust on our guys' ebc pads. from my experience with ebc, theres significantly more than oem pads when it comes to dust

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

Sure there's more dust, but its nothing to get worked up about. Just wash your wheels every other week (or whenever they're looking dusty) and put a coat of cleaner wax on them every other time you wash them.

xclaudio24

yeah they have alot of dust

krisdlm

iTrader: (1)

i was thinking about getting some ss brake lines off some guy in bm, but would it help an oem setup?

tangsauce

My Don't even bother with SS brake lines. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. I'd be cautious buying used lines from someone. There's probably a reason why he's selling them.
Probably because they are cheap and the ends are just crimped on. This might cause them to burst if you ever are in a panic braking situation. Other reasons not to buy SS lines. Since the hose is behind the braiding, you can not visually inspect them for damage. The braiding itself traps dirt and debris.
Think of it this way Ferrari and other production sport cars manufacturers use rubber/plastic lines.

All this talk about air expansion is bull. . The fact that most if not all of today's modern vehicles you'll never need to bleed the brakes for the entire life of the vehicle should be reason enough. It is almost impossible to introduce air/water into the lines during normal operation. The only time air will be introduced into the lines is through mechanical repair (i.e Caliper replacement) or water by adding old left-over brake fluid that's been sitting around in your garage for years. In which case you will need to bleed the brake to remove it.


Hope that helps.

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

That's complete

Brake fluid, just like any other fluid in the car will need to be replaced at one point in time, and several times during the life of the vehicle. It will break down, especially after several "spirited runs" and the boiling point of the fluid is reached. When this happens, the boiling point of the brake fluid is comprimised and will need to be replaced.

And in the case of the SS lines: the Russell lines I bought from Excellerate are constrcuted with the SS braiding on the inside of a clear plastic tubing and are bolted on the ends, not just crimped. There's no chance of the lines busting at the ends or dirt getting between the SS braiding causing corosion or damage to the inner tubing.

tangsauce

I'm sorry do you track your car? common when was the last time your parents brakes failed during the life of their vehicle and I did say you would have to bleed the brakes during maintainance but not from everyday use.

Also I was referring to the SS brake lines in question, not ones that are sold from an authorized dealer on here. Just making sure the he checks them if he decided to buy them....please don't put words into my mouth.

krisdlm

iTrader: (1)

thanks, this info is very helpful and my brakes seem fine as it is, i guess the only step left would be a bbk which i dont think i'll be getting anytime soon

underst8

I just experienced how shitty our stock brakes truly are yesterday. Changed lanes to avoid a guy turning left and got about 1.5 car lengths behind a minivan in the process...then the light turned red and he braked pretty hard and early (weird), so i hit my brakes pretty damn hard and at that point in time my heart pretty much skipped a beat and I was wondering if I was going to need a new front end and pay for his rear. Luckily not, phew. The old benz I drove before would have stopped almost instantly, so I'm pretty upset at Acura for this crap.

Will just upgraded rotors and pads make a very large difference, or is the real problem our crappy calipers and will swapping them for a set of used Legend calipers make it a lot better than just the rotors/pads?

Thanks

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

What does tracking my car have to do with anything? Given the fact that more common than not a track car sees heavier braking loads than non-tracked cars. Is it not easily understandable that a street car can see several "spirited runs" though the "twisties" and not experience the same kinds of braking loads a track car does?

And as a matter of fact, my father has experienced a brake failure in his life, which was a very unfortunate experience for him. Though, I was merely stating the fact brake fluid is meant to be replaced regularly, just like any other fluid in a vehicle. Brake systems are not completely air tight, and yes air can be introduced into the lines over the course of a few years. Brake fluid attracts moisture, and there is moisture in the air, which ultimately contaminates the brake fluid and compromises the brake fluid's boiling point. Brake fluid also breaks down after a few years of normal use and is not a lifetime fluid that never needs replacing. I'd be willing to bet several of the Acurazine members' brake fluid is a light to dark brown color. It's supposed to be nearly colorless.

I also don't know where you got the idea he was looking to purchase some nock-off SS brake lines? Every SS brake line I've seen made for our vehicle's purpose has been of exceptional quality.

underst8

gaping 1, noob 0