Its coming time to get new brakes, so I've been thinking....I mean, my brakes are fine, but I wanna upgrade a little bit...

I was looking at RacingBrake slotted rotors and RacingBrake ET500 pads...

I have a few questions though...

-First off, is it REALLY worth it to get the SS brake lines?
-Secondly, I would order the above components for the front only...Would it be possible to move the front OEM calipers and rotors to the rear, since they are slightly larger?


I am not 100% guaranteed on this RB setup, but so far I am liking it. LMK what you guys think.

 

1. If you don't push your car, the ET500's are unnecessary.

2. SS brake lines don't help performance, they help brake pedal feel. So it's up to you.

3. Moving the front brake setup to the rear is more trouble then it's worth.

 

I agree- RB rocks! but 500s are for wannabe racers,,et300 for mom or wife drives the car too
look at StopTech rotors from mrheeltoe or excelerate, with ET300 pads

SS lines improve FEEL of pedal- when you are using in heavy repeated braking, the lines can swell under pressure
worth 100-125 bucks for my driving style~

no, you cant move the front brakes nor would you want to- the TL is tail happy already, adding more rear brake would encourage it to spin out under braking all the time

If anything- upgrade fronts to legend 2 piston calipers for 75 each side

 

Hmm, So I guess there are more options than I originally thought...I was looking at RB's site, and they said et500's for spirited driving styles, which is more like mine than a grocery getter...

 

It all depends on your driving style and how much you drive.

SS lines are for more consistent braking.

 

you can get EBC green stuff pads which are for spirited driving. Red stuff if you are a more serious driver and want better high heat performance.

 

I want something with better stopping power than what I have now, without dumping tons of money into it....What would you think about something like ebc Reds or ET500's in the front with slotted rotors and oem rotors in the rear with ebc greens/et300?

 

the wife and I were happy with et300s on RB slotted fronts-01-TL
and kragen blanks with et300 in the rear
honestly- most people dont need the slots, its to give pad outgassing at super high temps an escape route--good for racers-track days without a doubt! and looks cool

even fewer people know the slots stay nice and black because they have become FILLED with brake dust!! rendering them ineffective~
you need to clean them out now and them (non chlorinated brake cleaner spray/toothbrush)..as I learned from my motorcycle disc brakes~

the et500s for front offer a more aggressive bite and good progressive feel= as you apply more brake pedal pressure- it stops harder (based on ziner feedback to me on the subject)
300s in back are fine in my opinion

casual driver with occassional need for superhero braking to save the car from smashing into the 5 stopped cars on freeway suddenly appearing ahead~ 300s will do the job
500s will do it over and over

I take the car to yosemite-(teinSS-cusco bars, 235/40/18s) a life or death cornering on the side of a mountain and cliff dropoff..lots of 60mph to 25-35- 60 braking over and over and over, full throttle in 2nd gear- up to 3rd, hard brake, downshift, turn, full throttle brake turn
from sea level to 7000 feet --its a lotta fun

after 45 minutes of hardcore use the 300s were getting softer on response,,hot brake fluid adds to the feel
BUT that was after what would be race conditions --from not average street driver (I am competition licensed)

might be what marketing dept said about 300s = 30 percent track style driving,,but not what engineering had in mind for them~ 70 percent mom drives gentle and needs great brakes- and 30 percent it needs awesome brakes and will come thru for you in the `stops on a dime and leaves 8 cents change`,,while others leave only a nickel

 

a note on RB cost for the rotors- they will last thru 3-4 maybe more sets of brake pads.. without needing any resurfacing or having shake or wear issues
thats freakin amazing!
Most rotors need a shave after 1 set of pads- and new rotors after 2nd set

this is not to say stoptech and others are not excellent choices for those not looking at long term car ownership, or escaped mental patient style driving
many ziners with rb fronts went with stoptech slotted rears- as they carry the same direction side vent slots, and the curved inner cooling vanes which are really slick engineering in themselves at removing heat

 

i wouldn't mix different mix different types of pads and rotors on the front and rear, keep them the same all around. its more balanced and safer in my opinion

you can get a very good deal on EBC products at placeforbrakes . com

i think EBC dashed (black) rotors with greenstuff pads will do the trick for you and wont break the bank, and will deliver great stopping power. i choose a little more hard core EBC set up, which is only a few bucks more.

 

your opinion isn't accurate, unfortunately. i have RB slotted in the front paired with et500 pads and stoptech slotted in the rear with hawk HPS pads. no problems with safety or balance - as a matter of fact, my car will out-stop a 3g with the BBK. remember the rear is responsible for 25-30% of your car's braking performance (going forward) - many people leave the rears stock when upgrading the front. don't spend any more money than you have to, BUT make sure to get quality, proven parts.

 

to each his own, what ever satisfies you is whats is important with car mods. your set up is plenty powerful, and safe. i did not mean to make it out that mixing parts was wrong, its not.

personally, i would rather stick with parts that are fully engineered to operate together, and have the same heat up and cool down rates as well as coefficient of friction to provided better feed back. the rear will get proportionally less braking due to its smaller size.

 

not to mention the brake `bias` or proportioning valve which regulates pressure front and rear

then you get traction and abs systems involved

I prefer maker patched parts together in most cases- not all but most-
I know RB had to make its own pads because the rotors are double hard tough- and were eating hps and other commercially available pads
So they make a hard compound now of their own--in a few variations

 

too much rear brake makes the car spin out easy

 

agree 100%.

 

Not to mention if you could manage to get the front rotors on the rear you would lose the internal drum parking brake. I have rotora slotted rotors with stock Acura pads. The rotors wear the pads like a cheese grater but it has awesome initial bite and stopping power with almost no fade- unless I'm really hustling down a mountain. Strongly recommend steel lines as it greatly reduces the soft stock pedal feel.

 

So the SS lines make a stiffer feel in the pedal, correct?

 

That really wasnt inaccurate. There is a difference that can be had from mixing and matching pads. You really should have similar pads. Your exampleisnt a good one as yours are similar so you really cant compare saying that because the pads are different that there is no change in braking. There will however be a difference if you use something like a EBC Red pad and a 15 dollar set of pads from autozone. Maybe not for your average every day driver that has to hit the brake once, but someone pushing the car on say a auto x course or someone driving spirited in the country could/will see the difference.

 

yes

 

by not expanding under pressure of hard use--they feel stiffer

Have a buddy pump the brake pedal while you watch the rubber lines dance~