Honda Civic: OEM Brake Modifications
The great part about owning a Civic is the innumerable amount of OEM upgrades. A lot of these parts are interchangeable within the Honda family.
This article applies to the Honda Civic DX (1992-2000).
The great part about owning a Civic is the number of interchangeable upgrades you can perform, while still keeping that great OEM Honda reliability. Because you can swap the brakes from other Honda models, this article will list the OEM brakes you can swap into your Civic DX. Listed below are the different brake upgrades you can choose from, whether you're looking for a moderately strong brake upgrade for regular street driving or for a huge brake upgrade for on-the-track driving. All of the OEM brakes will consist of only bolt-on brake upgrades, which are a great solution because replacement parts are easy to find at local auto parts stores. Aftermarket brake packages are considerably more expensive.
OEM Brake Upgrades
Because the 1992-2000 Honda Civic DX has the least powerful OEM brakes, this article will assume you want an OEM brake upgrade for this model. The list of OEM brakes below is ordered from weakest to strongest—weakest being relative to your current brake package, therefore, even the first option would be a nice upgrade. All of these brake upgrades are not considered a beginner's job, so they requires mechanical automotive skills; however, only basic tools are required to swap out the brakes.
Civic EX or Si (1996-2000)
DIY Cost – 400+
Professional Cost – 600+
Skill Level – Difficult; you will need mechanical skills.
Front: From a Civic EX or Si 1996-2000, take the complete knuckle with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads to swap them onto the Civic DX. This upgrade will increase your rotor and caliper size. Most of the time, piecing together parts from different sources is a necessary route to take. That said, the calipers can also be found on 2001-2003 Civic LX, and SE models.
Rear: Take the rear spindle with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads from the Civic EX or Si to swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the 1999-2000 Civic Si e-brake cables. This model also comes with rear disc brakes, so this would be a nice upgrade over the drum brake setup.
Acura Integra DA (1990-1993)
DIY Cost – $400+
Professional Cost – $600+
Skill Level – Difficult; you will need mechanical skills.
Front: Take the Civic EX or Si's knuckle with bearing and hub. Then, take the 17CL14VN (part number) bolt, the calipers, caliper mounting brackets, rotors, and pads from the Integra DA. You can then swap them onto the Civic DX. These specific calipers can also be found on all 1990-1993 Integra DA, 1988-1989 Accord LXi, and on the 1986-1990 Legend models.
Rear: Take the rear spindle with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads from the Integra DA to swap them onto the Civic DX. You can use the Integra's e-brake cables if the 1999-2000 Si cables are not available. They will be a bit long, so use an adjustment screw. This would also be a rear disc brake upgrade.
Acura Integra (1994-2001)
DIY Cost – $400+
Professional Cost – $600+
Skill Level – Difficult; you will need mechanical skills.
Front: Take the Civic EX or Si's knuckle with bearing and hub. Then, take the 17CL14VN (part number) bolt, the calipers, caliper mounting brackets, rotors, and pads from the Integra. These can be swapped onto the Civic DX. These specific calipers can be found on all Integra models except for Type R model.
Rear: Take the rear spindle with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads from the Integra to swap them onto the Civic DX. You can use the Integra's e-brake cables if the 1999-2000 Si cables are not available. They will be a bit long, so use an adjustment screw. This would also be a rear disc brake upgrade.
Honda Accord (1998-2002)
DIY Cost – $450+
Professional Cost – $650+
Skill Level – Difficult; you will need mechanical skills.
Front: Take the Civic EX or Si's knuckle with bearing and hub. Then take the bolts, calipers, caliper mounting brackets, rotors, and pads from the Accord. You can swap them onto the Civic DX. These specific calipers can be found on all Accord models except on the EX, V6 engine models.
Honda CRX Si (1988-1991)
DIY Cost – $400+
Professional Cost – $600+
Skill Level – Difficult; you will need mechanical skills.
Rear: Take the the rear spindle with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads from the CRX Si to swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the 1999-2000 Civic Si e-brake cables. This would also be a rear disc brake upgrade. These specific calipers can also be found on the 1994-1995 Si with ABS, and on the 1999-2000 Si. This is considered the weakest of the rear disc brake upgrades.
Pro Tip
Aside from these brake upgrades, you can also use aftermarket brake pads by installing stainless steel brake lines to get a higher quality brake fluid. These easy modifications might yield satisfactory results for you.
Related Discussions
- Brake Chart- Honda-Tech.com
