bdowell

I'd say this has been posted before, but I can't search and would like to know. If this is possible, how much will it cost and where can I find the parts besides my local dealer? Thanks

rets

No answers yet. Acura dealers won't do this for you now. Ask your local car shops.

bdowell

That's strange, you'd think it would be fairly easy to do?? I can't believe this hasn't been asked before. I finally just got 600 miles on the TL and I've been enjoying some "Spirited" driving and this bad boy needs some room to slow down from around say 125-130

caball88

if upgrading the brakes why not upgrade to even larger stoppers?

bdowell

True, but are there options out yet for the TL?

vtechbrain

It can be done but the dealer wont do it for you since it wouldn't be covered by warranty. Unfortunately its a little more involved than just switching brake parts. The proportioning valve has to be changed and the ABS recalibrated. It looks simple but it ain't. BTW the braking characterisctics under normal conditions would be essentially the same. Differences are under very spirited driving and mainly concern less fade under those conditions. Upgrading to even bigger binders entails switching wheels to fit them. Moore is not always necessarily better!

bdowell

Thanks for the knowledge vtechbrain! That's what I was looking for.

ulangca

Cerritos Acura here in So. California will install Brembo upgrades. Last time I talked to their service guy that they already have the specs for the 04 TL.

clafournaise

By the way, what exactly is brake fade? Is it simply dimishing brake performance or are there other factors involved?

My 5AT starts to shudder under moderate braking after some "spirited" driving and stopping. Is this brake fade? It comes suprisingly quickly.

Chris

bdowell

Same here exactly! That's why I'm asking this.

adam209

ummm...that kinda sounds like warped rotors. someone correct me if i'm wrong.

clafournaise

I don't get the shudder under normal circumstances. But after say, slowing from 90 to 65 a couple times, I get the shudder.

Fade, or warped? Any ideas?

adam209

does the steering wheel shake at all?

bdowell

Mine does very little compared to the actual shuttering and I followed break in rules to the T for the first 600.

clafournaise

No shaking in the wheel, just a shuddering feel in the car.

vtechbrain

The shudder you feel is warping it becomes more noticeable when the rotors are hot.. I warped the rotors on my TLS, the fix is to resurface them. Brake fade is the loss of stopping power as brakes heat up, brakes are a machine that converts kinetic energy into heat by the process of friction. In order for the brake to continue to function it must dissipate heat as fast as possible. There are a couple of ways to do this, more surface area, more air flow or materials with higher heat resistance (ceramics). These issues only concern racers. Joes like us will not be braking from over 100mph in a repeated fashin, therefore all that heat capacity is reaaly not essential. Of interest, the faster you go the need for heat dissipation is exponential rather than additive since momentum is increaased by the square of the velocity, therefore if you go twice as fast you need 4 times the heat resistance or dissipation capacity. Physics 101 is great isn't it!

rkilian

vtchbrain:
I think you also forgot to address the gas generation on the surface of the pads and crystalization of the pads due to heat generation.
Another common cause of brake fade is gas generation on the surface of the brake pads. This gas is generated by vaporization of the brake pads and trapped air. This generates a cushion of air that prevents the pads from making full contact with the rotor. The drilled rotors allow these gases to escape and therefore provide better brakes (they reduce the surface area of the rotor and cause thermal stress in the brakes though). The crystalization I believe is addressed by the slotted rotors as they carve out the pad with every revolution (ala deli slicer) although this results in lower pad life.
I agree with Vtechbrain that even for spirited driving the addition of racing rotors and pads is not required; in fact they may even detract from comfort. Typically, these brakes are noisier and dustier than conventional brakes. They are intended to stop a vehicle repeatedly from 100+ MPH without loss in performance. I doubt that these brakes help you in braking distance (assuming this is not your 200th stop from 90 MPH in 2 minutes).

Just my 2c

clafournaise

Oops, I should have mentioned that I live in Southern California off the I-15 autobahn. :-)

Lately some spirited stop-and-go driving has caused my shuddering to manifest itsself. I guess I should talk to the dealer about this based on what you guys said.

Thanks