I've been driving around a totally stock 98 DX for about 2 weeks now, and in comparison to the corolla the brakes are no good. Especially under hard use. I can't lock up the tires at all. I was wondering if just getting good pads for the front discs would be worthwhile. (as opposed to a full blown brake hardware upgrade - which will come, but later on)

 

flush brake system and bleed brakes, then replace front pads with something other then the cheap stuff. you can go carbon metallic, but you have to heat them up before they will work to their full potential... i have a set of performance friction pads in my vx with tiny front brakes and it stops faster on the track then my ex coupe with standard lifetime pads... the ex is hevier but has bigger brakes....

 

I run EBC green stuff pads and Powerslot rotors on my EJ (EX model) and the bite is rather significant over stock..

 

i dont ever bleed the brake fluid. when i take the calipers off i leave everything attached. its soo much easier that way.

 

If you can't lock up stock brakes, you probably have air in the system. When you bleed the system, try using DOT4 instead of DOT3. If you have rear drum brakes adjust the shoes outward so you can just fit the drums back on. I find the rear brakes aren't really self adjusting after all (so have others). Don't waste your money on performance stuff if you really don't need to. Good luck.