josliver

Hello,
I have a Honda del Sol from 1997, B16A2 motor 1.6l 160Hp.
I would like to know what I should do, in your opinion, as the best improvement for brakes.
I have 195/50 tyres with OZ Superleggera 15 inch rims and I would like to keep 15 inch because is the size I prefer, have tried 16 and 17 inch but those are not adequate for my use.
Your help will be highly appreciatted.
Kind regards .... JOliveira

CandyRedRC46

I would get one of these kits. I just installed the cheapest one on my integra and it is fantastic.
Wheel clearance may be an issue though. You may need spacers. I have 16x7 Rota GT3 wheels and I barely have a mm or two in between my caliper and wheel spokes.
I would suggest buying the kit and maybe a few sets of wheel spacers (Easily returnable) before hand, just in case.
I have heard the the LS mesh wheels do not clear, but GSR blades do. So you'll just have to give it a try...

https://propartsusa.com/collections/...ke-upgrade-kit

Freedo_Civegra

CandyRedRC46

Fits behind some stock 15's**
That setup wont clear LS meshes, which would require spacers.
GSR blades are said to clear though...

Feriohhh

Ugh, you don't need a big brake kit and more often than not it will make your braking worse with more unsprung weight and rotational mass with a spongy pedal to boot. If you've already got a Del Sol VTEC, you've got plenty to work with. Your best bet is new rotors, sport pads like Hawk HPS, a good fluid flush with high-quality fluid and cleaning and lubing your calipers. Trust me. Once this all bedded in, it'll stop on a dime and be great for spirited driving, autocross or light track duty.

josliver

Hi CandyRedRC46 & Freedo_Civegra,

Thank you for your replies, I am trying to collect all the information that I can find and make a final decision, before make the move.
Each person has a different suggestion to make and it gets very confusing, after so many people trying different approaches along the years, (for sure some people tried more than one option), I expected that some consensus would already exist but, looks like no option can receive "move votes" than any other.

Freedo_Civegra, on your reply you say .... "gives you 11" front brakes..." but you suggest 260mm Mini rotors, that are smaller than my del Sol uses as standard (262mm), did I understand it wrong ?

Some people suggest the use of:
MG 282mm rotors 25mm Thickness 4X100
Calipers & carriers MG ZS 180
Pads DS 2500

Do you know how this option compares with the suggested ones?

Thank you !

josliver

Hi, I agree with you, at least as a starting point, in fact that was my route till today.
Problem is that, I tried several rotors (5) following different suggestions, Brembo and EBC were the ones I liked most. But no big differences.
I also tried different sets of pads, (total of 6), Ferodo DS 2500 and EBC Green Stuff were the ones I preferred. But not enough improvement.
Fluid was also replaced and calipers were removed, cleaned, painted and lubed.
Tubes were also replaced with "metal mesh covered ones".

After that and still considering that braking power is not enough I decided I needed to try slightly bigger rotors but keeping my actual light OZ Superleggera rims in 15 inch. Those I want to keep because they have the best handling feeling I ever tried on my car and I really want to keep rotational mass low, as you suggest I should
As you say on your msg, are you shure I should have enough braking power without "going bigger" ?
I never tried the Hawk HPS pads you suggest, do you think I will feel a real difference if I do ? Are those pads good for daily driving ? Good performance from cold condition? My main concern is with "first bite", initial braking efficiency.
Which rotors with you suggest as best mix with the Hawks pads?
Is there any other thing you suggest I should check, replace or consider, that can be the root cause for my problem ?

Feriohhh

It's good you're out there trying things, so at this point, I think it's important to list what your issues are exactly. What are you experiencing that you'd like to fix? What is the car used for where you feel you need better brakes? Another question is what tires are you running? 195s is a bit skinny if you're hoping for Porsche-esque stopping power.

My experience with these mix-and-match big brake kits is slightly more endurance on track but with inconsistent pedal feel even with new bigger booster and MC. I've also lost trust in mixing and matching parts not intended for a certain car. It just never quite feels sorted. This is just me and not reflective of other people's opinion. I currently the run Hawk HPS front and rear on ATE oblong slotted rotors. I live in an area where in winter temps drop to 30s/40s regularly and don't have much issue, but they do require a little bit of heat to really bite, but when they do it's sharp yet progressive. Ultimately we all have different levels of tolerance and experience so start with the above questions and we can go from there.

Freedo_Civegra

Freedo_Civegra

josliver

The del Sol is my second car, it was made in 1997 and I bought it in 2000 with around 45 000 Km in excellent condition.
Now it has around 110 000 Km and I always kept it in best possible shape, looks and mechanical parts.
I drive it mainly during weekends and only when weather is good, no rain is when I prefer to drive it.
Front tyres are Toyo R888 and Bridgestone S-03 on rear. 195/50 R15.
I am sure that, so far tyres where never my limiting item in terms of braking efficiency.
Problem I feel is that, nowadays all recent cars are much more efficient than my del Sol, if I am following other recent car that brakes hard for sometime, I always have a difficult time to be able to keep some distance between the cars.
My daily driving car is a VW Golf, 3 years old, I am sure that the braking capacity is much better than the one on Honda.
Not hoping to achieve Porche stopping power, as I am not hoping to achieve Porche propulsion power, but a more balance Honda moving and stopping power would be nice but with losing the dynamic I already have.
I don´t need excellent performance on track, that is why competition pads are not for me if they compromise daily performance, and my experiences say they do, or at least it happened with what I tried.

CandyRedRC46

My experience with the mini/itr upgrade was very different. My petal is very firm and braking performance is phenomenal. There is so much more power/ feel and it is extremely easy to modulate at the limit. I did add SS front lines at the same time though, which probably helped. I went with basic low noise/dust pads and not performance pads, so rotor life should be better, with less dust/noise, while still being very powerful (due to the added size of the brake components).

josliver

Hi,
The way you describe your experience really makes wish to try a similar change and for that I need your help !
Could you please send me the correct identification / part number or the best way for me to choose the correct parts, rotors, calipers, pads, etc. in case I decide to try your approach of mini / itr upgrade ?
Too many parts available with similar identification.
You bought used parts or new parts? In case of new, original or second source?
Did you install this upgrade in a del Sol already with 262mm front disks, and did it directly ?
You changed rotors / calipers / pads and SS brake lines, did you also change anything else, like master cylinder or other part?
Thanks !

CandyRedRC46

Okay
I bought the brake upgrade as a full kit from pro parts USA (the link I provided earlier and now).
That is why I bought from Pro Parts USA.
In the PPUSA kit, the pads are new from Centric for a TSX, the rotors are new from Centric for a 2005 mini cooper and the Calipers are re-manufactured OEM ITR/Prelude/Odyssey/Accord V6/etc....
Installed in a 2000 auto Integra GS coupe. Direct fit after trimming the dust shield to fit the larger calipers. Also the screws that hold the rotor to the hub (when the caliper is off) are no longer used and not really necessary.
Still using the stock master cylinder etc...
No problem, just try and read the entire thread next time, before asking already answered questions.

josliver

Ok,

Understood, sorry but I did not realize the correct composition of the kit you sent on your first msg and did not correlate directly with the Mini / ITR upgrade you referred on later msg.
Now it is clear.
Now I have 3 doubts but, I believe you can not help me on those:
- The rotors, I can remove the 262mm I have now and put the 280mm directly without any problem but will I be able to install this kind if calipers on my 1997 del Sol without any adaptor or mechanical rework?
- Will these calipers fit inside my 15 inch OZ Superleggera Wheels ?
- Do I need to upgrade the master cylinder or other part on brake circuit?

CandyRedRC46

DIY: The No BS Bolt on Big brakes for RS/GS/LS/GSR - Team Integra Forums - Team Integra

https://honda-tech.com/forums/suspen...pdate-3244097/

Read Read Read. I think you are good to with the kit I linked you to, but you should still do some research.
As far as your specific wheel clearance, read through the threads I linked you to, maybe someone has already tried.
It will probably clear, but if not some small wheel spacers will probably do the trick.
All I can tell you off the top of my head is supposedly LS mesh do not clear, but gsr blades do clear and the 16x7 Rota gt3's that I have now clear.

scottcraft

I'm going to have to do this to my em1. Do you think it would be worth it to put bigger rotors and calipers on the rear?

CandyRedRC46

For some reason Pro Parts USA lists the rear kit at almost twice as much. I am not really sure why, as as far as I know, the rear kit is simply just EP3 Pads/Rotors/Calipers.
Being as the rear brakes are more expensive but do less of the actual braking, I am going to say it isn't worth doing the rear, but I will probably do it anyways just because lol.

josliver

Following your good suggestion, I read read and read but I could not find the answer for the most important question that is ..... can I use this approach Mini / ITR on my Honda del Sol EG2 (standard is 266mm)

CandyRedRC46

I am going to say yes.