I apologize in advance if the pics are excessive. I just felt that I should be thorough. Before you is a write up on all the unsprung weight I could get my hands on. Including a little info about brake swaps/upgrades. I think/hope some of you guys will appreciate this information.

First and foremost, I feel that my work would all be in vain if I didn't have an accurate scale. So, here I tested for accuracy by placing 10lb weights on the scale.

Testing for accuracy


Added 10 more pounds.

And 10 more.

Seems pretty accurate to me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calipers

1999 CX Calipers.


6lbs.

CTR Calipers.


Just under 10lbs.

91-96 NSX Calipers.


10lbs.

ITR/CTR Rear Calipers.


Just under 6lbs.

And all 3 side by side.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rotors

1999 Civic CX Ricer slotted and drilled rotor. / 240mm in diameter / 23mm thick


Just under 8lbs.

CTR/ITR Rotor / 282mm in diameter / 23mm thick


12lbs.

Acura RL Rotor / 300mm in diameter / 28mm thick


18lbs.

CTR/ITR Rear Rotor


6lbs.

3 Fronts side by side



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wheel & Tire
This is my current setup.
16x7 Racing Hart CP-035s with 205/40/16 Hankook Ventus.


27.5lbs Should weigh more with Azenis.

14" steelies and generic tires I found laying around.


30.5lbs


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arms, Knuckles, etc.
4 Lug Civic knuckle


15lbs.

5 Lug CTR/ITR knuckle


16lbs. I was surprised to see any difference here.

1999 CX Rear Trailing Arm (drum)


32lbs. (HEAVY!)

CTR/ITR Rear Trailing Arm


40lbs. (8 pound heavier)

20 OEM studs and Muteki open ended lug nuts


2lbs.

NSX Brake pads same as CTR/ITR/RL (lots of meat left)


2lbs.

1999 Civic LCA


12lbs.

CTR/SI Front LCA


10lbs. These look bulkier and stronger than stock arms yet they're lighter.

1999 Civic Rear LCA


3.5lbs

And to sum it all up.


Thanks, hope that wasn't too exhausting. It was for me.
Enjoy!


Modified by Kouki-EK9 at 6:09 PM 6/7/2006

 

I forgot to add this. If you plan to upgrade to 28mm rotors you'll have to change your bracket and use washers for clearance issues. I was unsure about whether or not it was really necessary to get the bracket bolts from an NSX or RL. Fortunately, my calipers came with the bolts. Here is the difference.

 

Very useful information, Bookmarked

 

Ah...I see you recieved your Calipers?! Good info. Let me know the spacing required to run the RL rotors as I am also interested in this...

 

Yeah, I just got the calipers two days ago. I was hoping I could test fit the brakes today but I'm still waiting on some wheel studs which are also coming from Canada.

As far as the caliper bracket fitting around the width of the rotor I think I'll probably only need a washer or two. The thing that has me a little worried is whether the caliper bracket will clear the diameter of the rotor (since the RL rotor is 2mm larger than the NSX rotor). I know it's only 2mm but clearance is pretty tight between the bracket and rotor.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

very cool i was going to do this but with the stock sus, gsr and my 5 lug but i was too lazy

nice info

 

Hey....I've got 12 of those cheapass $5 Wal mart scales....they work good for cornerweighting the car

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hayabusa160 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">very cool i was going to do this but with the stock sus, gsr and my 5 lug but i was too lazy

nice info </TD></TR></TABLE>

My car's been on jackstands for weeks, and this stuff was just laying around so I thought, "why not?" You were also posting in the 4lug vs 5lug thread right? That's part of the reason why I did this.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LBHgti &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey....I've got 12 of those cheapass $5 Wal mart scales....they work good for cornerweighting the car </TD></TR></TABLE>

I got this one from Target for $6. I don't think it could handle the weight of one corner of my car though, lol.

 

BTW, I just test fitted my brakes and the NSX calipers do not fit over the 300mm rotors. So I'll have to either buy Acura RL caliper brackets, which are hard to find since the dealer won't sell them without the caliper. Or...uh...is it possible to machine down the diameter of a rotor? lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kouki-EK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

My car's been on jackstands for weeks, and this stuff was just laying around so I thought, "why not?" You were also posting in the 4lug vs 5lug thread right? That's part of the reason why I did this.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea i posted on that thread my theory that most of the weight from 5 lug was from the actual brakes was true you proved it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hayabusa160 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yea i posted on that thread my theory that most of the weight from 5 lug was from the actual brakes was true you proved it </TD></TR></TABLE>

This also proved my theories. It seems that people usually exaggerate the difference in weight between 4 and 5 lug, and it's usually just speculation. I'm glad I could finally lay the rumors to rest.

 

Scratch all that about 97+ NSX caliper. Seems I got ripped off, I was told I was buying 2000 NSX calipers, and I paid for 2000 NSX calipers. But I got a 91-96 caliper.

 

Here's a picture of an actual 97+ caliper. The caliper bracket spaces the caliper out further so you can actually see some space in the front between the bracket and caliper.


On 91-96 calipers the bracket is the same as ITRs except for the width. So there is no space in the front between the caliper and bracket.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kouki-EK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I got this one from Target for $6. I don't think it could handle the weight of one corner of my car though, lol.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's why he has 12. You distribute the weight over 3 scales pre corner and add up the weights of all 3 scales. I'd like to see pics of how he rigged up the scales though.

I'd also like to see more reat trailing arms weighed too. I've been wondering what the diff in weight is between the drum/disc/ITR rear setups.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nonsense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd also like to see more reat trailing arms weighed too. I've been wondering what the diff in weight is between the drum/disc/ITR rear setups. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I really would have liked to weigh my rear trailing arm but it's kind of a pain to take it off and put it back on. Anyways, it's not on my list of things to do now that I have to deal with this bs about my brakes.

 

I'm kind of suprised at the tire/wheel weight

Good job

 

Surprised because it's high? Or surprised because it's low?

 

Alright, my wheel studs came in.



From left to right: extended stud (duh), oem front, and oem rear

And just for run.
Big rotor.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kouki-EK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Surprised because it's high? Or surprised because it's low?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Low

 

Just thought I'd add some more info to this thread.
I finally got my hands on some Acura RL caliper brackets but I had to buy the whole calipers. FYI, the following cars have 300mm brakes, so any of their caliper brackets will work for this setup.
1999-2004 RL
1999-2004 TL
2004 TSX

This does require a washer to get the rotor to not hit the bracket.

That's where the washers go.

I was surprised, with just one washer I got the perfect fit.


And for comparison. It's hard to really see the difference because the lighting is different in both pictures but you get the idea.
ITR

RL


I hope this information has been useful to those who stumbled upon it.

 

Two random comments, one of which it's too late to do anything about:
First, the extended wheelstuds probably should've been ARP instead of SRR. It most likely would've been cheaper, and I'm almost positive you could've trusted them more. SRR stuff just doesn't sit well with me, for the experience I've had with their stuff.

Second, make sure those washers you're using are high-grade stuff. If they're just generic cheapo washers, there's a possibility they'll compress under the braking pressure, then you have a wiggly bracket and caliper and all sorts of problems.

Other than that, thanks for taking the time to provide HT with good technical info! We need more of that in a big way.

 

Thanks. I was also unsure of the SRR studs but meh, I guess I'll find out how good they are, lol. And I'll check the washers. Heavy braking while the car is standing still should do the same damage as if it was moving, right?

And if my camera starts working I'll update this thread again since I have my CTR/ITR rear trailing arms, CTR front LCAs, and stock rear LCAs off the car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kouki-EK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Heavy braking while the car is standing still should do the same damage as if it was moving, right?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That I'm not sure of. There might be ill-effects caused by heat absorption as well, which you wouldn't be able to see from standing-still braking stuff. Washers are like $0.15 at Lowes or something, it'd be a good idea to get the highest grade stuff available just to be safe, IMO.

 

Yeah, I got some cheap ones at OSH, I'm just not sure if they're high grade or not. I'll have to go back and check.

 

Is the 97 NSX brakes fit under 15" wheels? As far as I know it won't


Modified by Andrie Hartanto at 3:12 PM 6/2/2006