JeremyL

Stillen has a brake upgrade kit for the civics and integra that has a 2 piston caliper and 13" rotors for only $899 shipped...does anyone have any experiemce with Stillen products? how would a kit like this affect my braking? would my 60-0 times be shortened or would i just get better fade resistance

RacerBowie

To answer your question, you MIGHT get better fade resistance.

You don't want to hear any of this part, but:

you don't need it. it is not legal for most race classes. it is bling. get better pads instead.

JeremyL

so youre saying its not worth the money for the big brakes? i can get a set of axxis ultimates for $90 shipped all 4 and a set of brebmo drilled's for $200...think this would be a better all arond option? id also be using Valvoline SynPower DOT5 and ss braided brake lines

SJR

if you REALLY wanna know the cheap way to good brakes:
- better pads (Axxis Ultimates are fine for the street)
- plain old OEM replacement rotors by Brembo (Coletti Motorsports gets those cheap, less than $100 shipped) if your stock rotors are shot/warped/worn.
- ATE Super Blue or Type200 at about $10 a liter. It's cheap, works quite well, and is not too hygroscopic (it won't get saturated with moisture too fast) so it allows you to only flush your brake fluid like once a year, if you don't track the car.
- good tires. that's what actually stops the car, not the brakes.

the aforementioned setup should be all you need for street, and the occasional track day. If you want to be more serious about road racing/time trialing, I would suggest R-compound tires, air ducts to the brakes, and a dedicated track pad.

Edit: cross-drilling does not help your braking and often introduces weaknesses in the rotor. Slots may help scrub the pads, but you will wear the slots down anyway... Plain jane is the way to go, IMO.

RacerBowie

I too recommend you stay away from drilled rotors. Stock rotors are fine for almost every car made for street and mild to moderate track use.

I have the ultimates as my street pads....very satisfying. (thanks Matt)

for track use you will eventually want more pad...that is where the debates start.

.RJ

^^^

What Sebastien said. Spend the extra money on a track weekend.

Oh yeah almost forgot - better tires will help you stop better too.

John

As a relatively new Nissan owner, from what I've learned of Stillen, most of their products are lackluster. While this is a generalization, I have found the majority of their products (for my car at least) to lack quality r&d, and I have no plans on ever purchasing any of their parts.

.RJ

where the fark else are you gonna get some bl1nG for your bomb bizzle drifting machine john?

Evan55

Stillen's nickname is Stealin

JeremyL

well i dont think that drilled rotors will hurt my braking and the holes were well chamfered so they look like it was a quality job and my gf's brakes are excellent right now, so i think ill stick with the same setup on my car and i can still get the super light slipstreams

.RJ

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JeremyL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well i dont think that drilled rotors will hurt my braking and the holes were well chamfered so they look like it was a quality job and my gf's brakes are excellent right now, so i think ill stick with the same setup on my car and i can still get the super light slipstreams</TD></TR></TABLE>

They wont hurt your braking performance but they will stress crack and wear out faster.

Stillen rotors are just regular cast rotors that are then drilled. absolutely zero peformance benefit.

SJR

hey now, don't forget about all that unsprung rotating mass that you are saving!

RineRacing

*WOOOSH*

The sound of good advice passing by.

MaddMatt

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Stillen's nickname is Stealin</TD></TR></TABLE>

$tealin

Good God man, a Civic does not need 13" rotors to stop. But what do I know....

JeremyL

well i know an integra doesnt NEED 13" rotors to stop but is there really such a thing as overkill when it comes to brakes

.RJ

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JeremyL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there really such a thing as overkill when it comes to brakes</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes and this is one of them. But hey, its your money.

JeremyL

yeah id probably be better off just saving the cash for a motor swap

but i do need brakes real soon cuz my car feels like its gonna shake to pieces when i even touch the brakes lightly from anything over 60

.RJ

then you need new rotors

Track rat

I warped and cracked a set of drilled fronts ON THE STREET back in 1995 before I knew better! Drilled looks cool, solid does the job! Listen to RJ!.

Go to Autozone and buy rotors = $50
Get some kick *** front brake pads (ultimates, Carbotech Panthers, Cobalts)= $90 - 130
Flush/bleed with some decent Dot 4 fluid = $25
At this point you've spent less than $200
Add some braided brake lines = $120

You now have a car that will pin your eyeballs to the windshield with very little fade.





Modified by Track rat at 2:53 PM 4/11/2003


Modified by Track rat at 2:54 PM 4/11/2003

SJR

if you want to know why it's overkill to use 13" rotors on a civic/integra:
- you need bigger wheels to fit the 13" rotor and caliper.
- that 13" rotor is heavier than the stock one
- more unsprung weight is bad
- big wheels are heavier
- big tires are heavier
- this translate into more rotational inertia = less power to the ground
- oh yeah, big tires and wheels cost more.
- the bigger pads will likely be more expensive as well

So, you have a slower, more expensive car that doesn't handle as well - that will most likely be ineligible in most racing classes, should you ever desire to actually get on a track. All that so that you can have brakes that will likely never fade - because you will never use them to their full potential (especially if you don't use a R-compound tire, on a race track). Something you can achieve as we have described for you - for less than $200.

As .RJ said - dude, it's your money and your car. But you asked our opinion - and now you have it.

JeremyL

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Track rat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I warped and cracked a set of drilled fronts ON THE STREET back in 1995 before I knew better! Drilled looks cool, solid does the job! Listen to RJ!.

Go to Autozone and buy rotors = $50
Get some kick *** front brake pads (ultimates, Carbotech Panthers, Cobalts)= $90 - 130
Flush/bleed with some decent Dot 4 fluid = $25
At this point you've spent less than $200
Add some braided brake lines = $120

You now have a car that will pin your eyeballs to the windshield with very little fade.





Modified by Track rat at 2:53 PM 4/11/2003


Modified by Track rat at 2:54 PM 4/11/2003</TD></TR></TABLE>

this is exactly what i plan on doing, thanks for putting the brake situation into perspective...i probably will never get R compound tires but ill always run Azenis which are dman good on straight line braking

*adding $899+s/h to my C5 swap fund*

Track rat

Jeremy, All of this advice was not free. Please send 1/2 of the money we saved you to:

Track Rat Motorsports Fund
P.O. Box WFO
Turnfast, NC 8,700

.RJ

pffft bwahahaha!

slowSER

I haven't received a $teallen catalog in several years, but I'd bet about anything $teallen sells can be bought cheaper at another place. Oh and my vote is for just upgrading the pads. Big brakes are bling unless you gots some serious horsepower (turbo). And everything you always wanted to know about cross-drilled rotors has been explained on altimas.net.

FWIW, $teallen catalog from around 1995:



Yup, bolt on 41 horsies to an SE-R with just by changing the ECU, throttle body, exhaust and air filter! (In actuality, all that stuff might get you 10 HP.)

Pat
'91 Sentra SE-R, $teallen free

JeremyL

actually their price for a 13" package was very good it was however only a 2 piston caliper not a 4 piston like the AEM package which was $1200 and the stillen 2 piston was $900