HondaGuy347

One thing I really don't like about the car are the brakes; they're really just not confidence inspiring on the highway. Living out in the midwest, we get a lot of flat open roads, and I have plenty of opportunity to haul down from over 100mph super-legal speeds to 65mph and the brakes really don't inspire much confidence after 1-2 slow downs. I'm on TireRack Centric rotors, but OEM pads. Would a better pad make a difference? Higher-spec brake fluid? I don't think it's a heat thing, but would pads + fluid make sense to do?

Thoughts?

thoiboi

yes better pad will make a difference.

BROlando

Pads and fluid are the easiest, cheapest, and arguably most effective upgrades. I think stoptech sport/street performance are available for the 2G. Rockauto is where I've found the best pricing.

Depending on how old your rotors are, the best bet is to pair them with a set of blank rotors. Any blank rotor. They don't have to be made by NASA in an antarctic research facility.

You WILL need to initially bed them in properly or you WILL crash. And they do need occasional re-bedding to stay bitey.

I did a RL caliper upgrayedd on mine. It has its ups and downs. But the brakes are fade free and very powerful.

ceb

OK, so what's the best daily driver rotor/pad replacements that are quiet and give better stopping performance than stock. At 60k miles I think I'm coming close to needing replacements.Specific part numbers and sources would be nice.

I didn't find any Stoptechs on Rockauto

rawger

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Stop-K5...ct_top?ie=UTF8

This is what I bought recently. Getting them installed by this week hopefully.

Quick question, any ideas on good locations to bed the brakes?

ssjoeboe9

Rawger, don't do it in Orlando. If you want a vacation you could drive to Miami and then take Alligator Alley west, You can see miles and miles on the road. We have made it to the West coast in like 45min before haha.

Otherwise, probably polk, or brevard county where the orange groves are at. Maybe Davenport...

BROlando

Idk if I'd choose Stoptechs for a pure DD car. Unless you really need the stopping power. They border on a pad that can see actual track use.

They're under "stopping power" or "high performance" on rock auto...and they're labeled as Centric Stoptech. Centric is their parent company.

Right now, I can only find the rears. PN 30914510.

​​​​​​​Maybe they're not available for the front of a 2G. They are for a 1G.

I'm referring to Stoptech SPORT or street PERFORMANCE. Not the ones labeled "street".

Their downside is the dust. Its plentiful. Its harmless, however. And...again, you'll need to keep them bedded for them to perform.

Besides the dust and need to re-bed ocassionally, they're very "street pad". They don't chew through rotors or squeal or anything like that.

For a daily that's driven fairly normally, either the stock pads or something like Akebono Performance Ceramics would work relly well. Again...with blank rotors. Centric sells premium sets with E-coated tophats and lips for aesthetic protection.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

has anyone mentioned tires?
traction is what stops your car

TSX1012m6

Take a look at my post if you haven't seen it with the Akebono and centric rotors. The Akebono pads I got bedded in really slowly. Took about 500 miles before the pad fully touched the rotor. The pads do bite better than OEM, but they don't seem to be the best thing since sliced bread. From my research any of the hawk or other aggressive pads were not for me since it's a DD and you need to warm the pads up.

BROlando

Hawk HPS don't need to be warmed....and they're great street pads. A bit pricey...but very good overall. They also make a ceramic street pad. But...street ceramic pads kinda suck overall. Akebono makes a decent ceramic pad...but...like you said, meh.

HondaGuy347

I'm thinking I might go with the Hawk HPS.

TSX1012m6

I got so much mixed reviews for Hawk and EBC pads that I got so tired of weighing different reviews. I love EBC pads for my motorcycle, but I guess their car pads are not as good? Some say Hawk are amazing, other say they are rubbish. Same goes for EBC pads. I had the cash and wanted to get a premium DD pad, and I couldn't justify it with the vast amount of polar opposite reviews for performance pads.

BROlando

For stopping from triple digit speeds, and/or for repeated stops, the brakes are what you'll take note of.

BROlando

I haven't used EBC street pads. I've used their yellows, which they advertise as track pads. "Wrong; they should be in jail" - Donald Trump. I don't like EBC because of their misrepresentation of what their pads do.

For street use, a good pad would mean something with good bite, feel, and modulation...while having low dust and no noise. I feel fade takes a back seat...but fade resistance is important for those rare 80mph-0 panic stops on the highway.

Organics are basic. Its a grab bag. Some carbon pads suck. Others are fine. EBC greens are supposed to be great for the street. Early-ish fade, though. And kinda dusty. A lot of OEMs use organic pads.

Ceramics are widely used because of their longevity, low dust, and quietness. But...they feel like stepping on a brick to stop the car. They leave a lot to be desired in terms of feel and bite. And they tend to fade quite a bit. Tons of OEMs use ceramics.

Metallics are great for the bite/feel portion. But their modulation is a bit on/offish for street use. Usually good fade resistance as well. Lots of dust. And the dust rusts. And they're noisy. So...

Semi metallics are the in-between pads. Hawk HPS is a ferro-carbon compound. They're just agressive enough to provide good bite, feel, and fade resistance. Low noise. You do have significant dust that you really should wash off sooner rather than later.

Aramid pads are also great. Stoptech SP and EBC yellow are aramid compound. The yellows are junk for the track. Stoptechs actually do work. Both can be used on the street, with drawbacks including the need for re-bedding...and abbreviated life span.

BROlando

My list of important criteria for a street pad in order is:
-Big initial bite
-Pedal solidness (feel)
-Fade
-Noise
-Dust
-Longevity (distant last place)

People have different tastes. Depending on how you rearrange those, and other, criteria would point toward which pad is right for you.

I chose to upgrade to RL calipers in order to meet my criteria with commonly available pads. I am able to use Wagner ceramics up front, and powerstop ceramics in the back. My car still stops. The pads are cheap. The overpowered caliper forces the pads to bite. They're quiet. As a bonus, I get low dust. Idk how long they'll last. As long as its more than 10K miles, I don't care.

I usually hate ceramic pads. But...the combo of everything on my TSX really satisfies me.

YMMV.

TSX1012m6

What caliper upgrade options exist? I just did a brake job but I'd like to replace the calipers one day because the look aged. I have not touched the rears yet so this may be a good time. Any worthwhile upgrade to the rears available at a realistic cost?

HondaGuy347

If you guys saw how chewed up my rims are from my wife curbing them, etc, you'd know I am not worried about a little dust. In fact, that might be a feature instead of a flaw, hide the scuff marks!

BROlando

Advics RL front calipers are the least expensive and most simple solutions.

Otherwise, I think Spoon, TL-S brembo, maybe stoptech, Wilwood, etc.

There is a fastbrakes kit for the rear. They use longer caliper mounts and Honda pilot rotors with stock rear calipers.

ceb

Slicks are good, right? Especially in the rain.

ceb

That's probably how I would rank them too, except that I'd rank longevity higher than dust.

After a Stoptech kit on my S6 that worked really on one stretch of my commute, they were noisy and didn't do much until warmed up.

At this point I'm just looking at a rotor and pad swap.Your recommendation of " For a daily that's driven fairly normally, either the stock pads or something like Akebono Performance Ceramics would work relly well. Again...with blank rotors. Centric sells premium sets with E-coated tophats and lips for aesthetic protection. " sounds reasonable - are both available at Rockauto?

t3hhcaptain

I've had these on mine for a year and a half now. They work great, greatly improved over stock. Still mostly rust free. The centers are starting to get some rust stains. Still just as bitey, and I'd say about half the pad remains.

BROlando

Yep! Rockauto should definitely have those parts.

HondaGuy347

This close to RaceWars? They'll have to overnight them from Japan.

ceb

I see the Centric rotors but not the Akebono pads. The Centric pads any good?

I assume all the rotors on Rockauto are each, not a set and the pads are a set, correct? So two front rotors need to be orders, two rears, and 1 of each pad.

VR1

I have stoptech drilled rotors and centric pads. Prob have like 8k miles on them and I've never had any problems, even with beating them through autocross.

BROlando

Goodass joke about the current socio-economic climate?

Rotors are sold as singles unless it says pair (they sell drilled/slotted as a pair sometimes). Pads are sold as axle sets. Front = a box of four pads for both front wheels.

A complete order would be entered thusly:
-2 front rotors.
-2 rear rotors.
-1 front pad part number.
-1 rear pad part number.

Akebono pads are on there. ASP787 and ACT787 at the least for fronts. I see rears there too.

Look under performance/stopping power...and once again under fleet/towing (lol).

FWIW, I think Acura uses Akebono as a manufacturer for factory 2G pads.

Pro tip: retailmenot(dot) com always has 5% off discount codes for rockauto

ceb

Cool. Just what I thought.Thanks

And yes, retailmenot is a great place to go before you buy anything online. I probably would have forgotten...

03TLS4me

I used Akebono street performance pads with Centric premium grade rotors all around. Be sure to check & relube all the slider pins, I found one of the right rear caliper pins were frozen.
Brakes now feel much better that stock.

BROlando

^Yes, that is important for pedal feel. To add to that; remember that each caliper's sliders go in specific spots. Usually, the slightly smaller one with more machining features goes on the leading edge of the pad.

Also, use a good silicone brake caliper lube. Bearing grease doesn't work as well. Antisieze is an awful idea for lubricting almost any sliding surface. So don't use it.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Fast and the Furious!
No one likes the Tuna here

BROlando

Lol. I know.

But in 2016, keywords like Racewars and overnighting parts from foreign countries align conveniently with my brilliant joke.

It was brilliant, no doubt. Perhaps ahead of its time.

LMK.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Shirley, you're not serious

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

We have quite a few brake options ranging from mild to wild. I usually recommend Stoptech as they have an array of pad compounds and their rotors of are very good quality. Braided stainless steel sheathed lines are usually a nice upgrade in feel also.

You can browse here:
Brakes - Excelerate's Honda & Acura Store - Japanese Performance Specialist

If you have any questions or would like any recommendations please feel free to PM or email me at sales@excelerateperformance.com

Regards,
Justin