klectic

Time to replace / upgrade my brakes, was looking for some input from other members.

Was initially going to upgrade with Powerslot rotors + Hawk HPS pads. But after doing some searching, it looks like other members here also are doing Rotora rotors + pads and I just stumbled on some discussion on RacingBrake rotors as well.

What are some of your guys' opinion on these set ups?

Thanks.

01tl4tl

racingbrake slotted front rotors with their matched pads are the rocknroll brakes

pads= et300 for mom/wife/spouse of either sex drives the car ~gently~ a lot
or et500 for the more aggressive type brakers~

see mrheeltoe threads on brakes and signature contains 10% off-`acurazinerocks`
here is some brake tech info http://heeltoeauto.com/httech/YaBB.pl?board=tech_brakes
advantage of rb is the extreme use they take without rotor wearout,,
go thru several sets of pads and never turn the rotors!!
thats a savings if you plan to keep the car a long time, track day it etc

also ck rotora and stoptech for lower cost but effective brakes
see excelerate for his deals

pads and rotors by same maker tend to work better
hawk pads are dust masters

klectic

Thanks, I'll check those out. Anyone else have any input?

01tl4tl

look in any of the dozens of brake threads with same question and response on every main brand

klectic

gotcha

sbuswell

I 2nd the RacingBrake Rotors and pads. They are awesome. Also Centric makes excellent slotted rotors and are very competitively priced. I also recommend changing your brakes hoses to stainless steel braided hoses which RacingBrake and Goodridge make. Both are excellent quality. Then you can move up to DOT 4 fluid instead of DOT 3 which will make a huge difference IMO and helps eliminate brake fade. Also get some 95 Legend LS Coupe dual piston calipers for the front axle. They are far better than the stock monblocks. You can snag those rebuilt for about $110 each. Spend about a $1000.00 and you'll transform the shitty OEM brakes into real performance brakes.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

We have a STOPTECH/Powerslot combo that we think is one of the most reasonably priced, best performing packages on the market.

http://store.excelerateperformance.c.../i-398965.aspx

All the rotors are made with a power alloy compound and with a black coating on the hubs and vanes. The pads are a low dust, low noise compound with good initial bite and long-term performance. The front rotors also have a curved vane construction for better cooling properties.

01tl4tl

you can use DOT4 spec fluid now--dont need the SS lines to use it
but must use dot4 if you go to SS lines--they make a big differance in pedal feel,
especially when fluid gets hot under severe or repeated use and the rubber lines swell under pressure

stoptech makes great stuff--give them a look for sure

totaledTL

Why do you think you must use dot 4 fluid in ss lines?

junteschan

A few years back I installed front slotted centric rotors on my 00 TL replacing the trashy oem ones due to constant warpage and steering wheel vibrations.
Took a trip to vegas one summer after and same thing...steering wheel vibrations due to front rotor warpage...went back to regular
blanks. Will take another trip to vegas in a few months and have purchased drilled only front rotors from ebay with a 1 yr warranty on warpage and cracks.Shipment is due before this weekend.
I will see how good this product is.
I will let you all know.

totaledTL

Legend calipers w/ EBC rotors & pads almost 3 yrs. ago- no problems since.

KobeAllDay

how much are legend calipers and where did u get em? from a totaled or part out legend? and why are they so good?

sbuswell

He means most swap to DOT 4 becuase the SS lines can handle more pressure than the stock rubber lines, but you don't "need" to switch if you don't want to. However, there are no draw backs to moving up to DOT 4.

01tl4tl

search for legend calipers and post by me for all you want to know
it has 2 smaller diameter pistons so they have more contact pressure spread across the pad size than 1 large piston which only hits the edges
And the outer part has a middle stabilizing finger that reduces pad flex from its center

buy them rebuilt from your favorite parts supplier,,were 75 each ~4 years ago

Ttld= I dont know WHY you MUST use dot4 with SS lines, only that I have read it several places.
Note dot4 can be used in dot3 spec applications without problem, its like upgrading to iridium plugs--allowed and good plan

its probably something to do with the increased temps and abuse they expect you to expose the fluid to with your new badazz brakes and lines

V_Langs_3.2TL

here's a dumb question.

do the TLs have drum brakes in the back?

I never really thought about it but there aren't real calipers in the back.

I guess we don't really need them right?

03tLsNBP

iTrader: (9)

what do you mean real calipers in the back? of course theyre real! haha. we have 4 wheel disc brakes

TheMegalodon

I have EBC 3GD sport rotors and Hawk HPS pads, fantastic stopping power all around. Low dust from the pads, but the rotors give a minor wooshing sound because of the slots and dimples. Nothing annoying at all and they look fantastic.

bonknhead

I'm running the same EBC 3GD Sport rotors. They're slotted and dimpled. I'm also running EBC redstuff pads and SS brake lines. This setup works great for me. They work extremely well in all conditions, but especially well in the wet, rainy Pacific Northwest.

01tl4tl

we have both drum AND disc in the rear!!!
just very small calipers, as you dont want much braking torque from there--makes the car want to swap ends --approx 70% of stopping is from the front brakes

the disc part in rears is the regular brake system
Look at the rotor and see how the center of it is really wide-compare to fronts
INSIDE that `hub` is a mini set of drum brakes
When you activate the park brake- it pulls on the park brake cables (that cable that hangs down in the rear sides of car) to expand the shoes-- to sit against their `drum` the center hub of the rotor and hold the car stopped

you even adjust the park brake same as any drum brake car- the `star wheel` at bottem of system...it does need clean and lube now and then
rarely gets done though

01tl4tl

slotted rotors are cool for racer type braking and looks
dimpled is great for wet conditions

KobeAllDay

Would these be our options?
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sh...ra/legend.html
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php
And whats the diff between loaded and unloaded calipers?
Sorry for all the questions but would this NSX work?
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=2054872

totaledTL

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the most important (only-?) difference betw. dot 3 & dot 4 is the boiling pt. (dot 4 is higher). So while it might be a good idea to use dot 4 if you think you will be braking such that you NEED that protection I don't think it's REQUIRED if using ss lines.

01tl4tl

you are going to replace the fluid with the lines--just go with the dot4 ok
Im pretty sure the directions with my lines called for it
whether its the teflon insides of the ss lines or the higher boiling point or other differances
all I can say is what Ive been told..

01tl4tl

unloaded, bare caliper no bracket no pads no hardware
partial loaded, bracket and hardware (bolts we want)
fully loaded--plus pads of their choice

I used raybestos frc10627 and frc10628--comes with bracket you throw back in the box but take the new bolts and slider plates- transfer to TL bracket
you can use those numbers to cross referance
Its the cheap way to get the new hardware

NSX are made of aluminum and cost 400 dollars, plus the line fitting is farther from hose-some work involved to install
stick with 95 legend LS-C (coupe)
use those because each model has different size pistons and that one is the closest together--what we want

01tl4tl

message sent to brake guru re: dot4

totaledTL

That's what I was getting at- if something in DOT 4 fluid was harmful to ss lines or material used inside- never saw any reference to that-

01tl4tl

josh says nothing harmful to the lines in d3,,must be an issue of safety based on expected harder use,, so better fluid good plan

note: NEVER use dot 5.0 it has silicates that we cant handle
ok to use 5.1 thats five point one- for racers

totaledTL

DOT 4, you mean- ?

sbuswell

DOT 5 and DOT 5.1 are different brakes fluid types. Thye also make DOT 4.1 fluid. Never looked into the .1's though. You don't have to use DOT 3 if you have SS hoses, you can use DOT 3 without an issue. If you want "better" braking performance you use DOT 4 as it has a much higher boiling point and when your fluid boils you get brake fade. DOT 4 is more than enough for our cars. I've gone very heavy on my brakes from high speeds (100mph +) on the highway and experience zero fade.

proimport

front brembo cross drill rotors w/ hawk pads and rear powerstop cross drill slotted rotors w/hawk pads

01tl4tl

if you are going to drop 300 to several hundred dollars on badazz rotors pads and calipers,, plus SS lines!!,,why would you use the lowest grade brake fluid = dot3?

kind of defeats the purpose

1 stop or heavy slowdown from 100 means nothing
meet me at the racetrack where you do 100-60 or 100 to 30 every 10-15 seconds and we will see who gets fluid boiling and brake fade

gold2003tl (90)

most of us dont track our cars (at least not with the auto tranny), but dot4 is still a good idea. i run dot4, along with ebc dimpled and slotted rotors, plus ebc red stuff pads all around. iv done a dozen, hard 70-20 with zero fade all within 20-30 secs of each other. im totally satisfied with ebc and their performance, top notch, they bight harder the hotter they get. never got around to installing ss brake lines, but i dont need anymore performance than what iv got. still wouldn't be a bad idea next time i do a brake fluid flush, throw on some ss lines.

between ebc, racing brake, rotora, hawk pads, bbk, no matter what you are running, they are million times better than stock brakes .

sbuswell

I use Amsoil DOT 4. 100-110 to 30 in a shbort distance definitely heats things up quickly. I've never tracked my car, but I've never experienced any brake fade with my setup.

01tl4tl

have someone pump the brake pedal while you observe the front rubber line
see the flex and swelling of the line
and thats with it cold!!!

place order for SS lines:

tomf

Centric or EBC slotted rotors ? I'm assuming EBC is a better metal compound ?

gold2003tl (90)

EBC makes excellent rotors, i highly recommend them. Also recommend sticking with EBC pads when using their rotors, preferably Red stuff pads. Follow bed in procedure exactly, very important. Iv never heard much about Centric, so i can not speak for them or compare EBC rotors to them. But i can tell you EBC makes great stuff.

01tl4tl

centric is considered to be `above oe quality` and a fine replacement for its price
Try to get matched maker pads and rotors when possible

ebc are worldwide leaders in brake and clutch parts..cars bikes,,racing..

dc5nomore

looking for a good upgrade as well.

junteschan

I've just installed cross drilled only front rotors around a few weeks ago and I should say stopping power is much improved with the least noise compared to the slotted ones I installed a few years back.
So far am happy with these rotors and will take a trip to vegas where I observed the original oem blanks and the slotted ones warped when I was homebound then. Lets see how the "drilled only" models will perform.

FlacoJ

I like my windows down so I complained of the insentient sound of secadas that reflected off of every surface I drove past, they sent me the usr rotors which fixed the annoying noise issue but after a year I think they are warped, due to steering wheel shake, eff ebc rotors