I took my Si to the track this weekend and loved it. The car performed really well and I had a lot of fun. I was even able to pass an Sti (I have video proof).

The only problem is that I really cooked my brakes. The pads are really low (if not totally gone), and the rotors have heat spots all over them. Whenever I use the brakes, they make a grinding sound. I was told that this is probably just because of the heat spots on the rotors, but it really doesn't sound good. I will probably replace the rotors and pads in the front depending on what kind of shape they are in. What I need to know is what pads and rotors would be best to replace them with? Should I just go OEM, or upgrade a little bit. I am not looking for slotted or cross drilled rotors, so I think that OEM rotors should work just fine. Let me know what you guys think.

Btw.....in case you were wondering, 2 days at the track = 14mpg. Not too terrible considering I didn't go below 5k rpms while on track.

 

The brakes on this car really disappoint me I'd upgrade everything possible related to brakes. They truly are POS on this car

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by elohel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The brakes on this car really disappoint me I'd upgrade everything possible related to brakes. They truly are POS on this car</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2. OEM brakes are really only good for everyday and even spirited driving. If you plan on tracking in the future, i'd say upgrade to full brake kits (you choose). But quick replacement, I believe hawk pads and just resurface your rotors and you're set.

 

upgrade your brake fluid and pads. the brake lines are near the header and the heat makes them fade.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by K5^ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

x2. OEM brakes are really only good for everyday and even spirited driving. If you plan on tracking in the future, i'd say upgrade to full brake kits (you choose). But quick replacement, I believe hawk pads and just resurface your rotors and you're set. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Interesting comment, I wonder if your experience has been with OEM or your fav. Dot 4 fluid? I did 4 sessions (30 min ea) on Motul RBF600 and I was really impressed with the stock setup. Of course there is room for improvement, but for a stock setup with only the proper fluid for the track I was really impressed with them throughout the day. This was at Thunderhill, which is a really rotor friendly track but nonetheless I walked away impressed and never felt like my brakes were 100% gone at any point of the day.

-Todd

 

I do the PDX at Road Atlanta every chance I get. The first trip out the brakes faded pretty baddly so I replaced the lines with Goodman Stainless Steel, changed to DOT4 fluid and went back. They worked well the second trip but still were not what I thought they should be. I have now bought the Hawk HPS pads and a set of slotted rotors; we are running again this weekend but I don't know if I'll have time to change them. IMHO, the OEM pads work well for street but won't hold up to hard stops from triple digit speeds. Go to upgraded pads <U>and</U> rotors.

 

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

... I wonder if your experience has been with OEM or your fav. Dot 4 fluid?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

OEM, But it makes sense to at least upgrade to pads and rotors b/c of the accumulation of heat and gases under braking which lead add to fading after laps of punishment. Just my .02.


Modified by K5^ at 7:47 PM 7/14/2008

 

I ran Hawk HP+ at Buttonwillow Raceway, a pretty technical track with lots of turns and they held up really well. I could feel a little bit of pad transfer by the end of the session on the cooldown so I will be getting something more aggressive in the future. It was also 110 degrees out. But they do really well on the street too.

 

I think the oem brakes are good unless you are doing some sort of track event. about 45 seconds into a local scca event I noticed horrible brake fade and a grinding noise, after the run the brakes were smoking and had to call it a day. I have had willwood setups and brembo blanks in the past on different cars and would deff recommend them if you roadrace.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far. I finally had a chance to take a look at the pads yesterday. I figured out that I was hearing the grinding noise because there was absolutely no pad left on the driver's side front wheel (didn't even look at the passenger side). The grinding was metal on metal not heat spots.

Right now, the plan is to have the rotors turned and install Hawk HPS pads. I will also go ahead and change out the brake fluid for some high temp stuff. Any recommendations on fluid?

Unfortunately, I am stuck waiting 2-3 days on the pads, and I can't have the rotors turned until Friday so I am without my car until then. I'll post an update when everything is complete.

 

For fluid...either motul rbf 600 (i believe) or ATE super blue

 

This was good reading. I'll be at Mid-Ohio for a track event at the end of September and am looking at doing brakes now. I was going to put just lines and dot4 and try to put off the pads. What are the thoughts from those with experience with the car?

I was also looking at the Russell Speedbleeders. Does anyone have experience with these?

 

what you want to do is get SS brake lines, dot 4 fluid, and some pads. thats it. its the pads that make the most difference, not the rotors.

 

Heres your solution.



If your going to track the car much, you might want to make the investment. I was afraid I was going to regret spending the money, I don't. These brakes are awesome.

 

Is anybody else in for said "video proof" of this pass-up of the STi??

Granted the brakes are the topic of the thread.....but this statement caught my eye.

I'll wait OP.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ChargedSI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Heres your solution.



If your going to track the car much, you might want to make the investment. I was afraid I was going to regret spending the money, I don't. These brakes are awesome. </TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

 

or he could have more track time and learn to use his brakes better. SS lines probably wont do the trick either since it was probably pad fade and no brake fluid boiling.

 

SS lines wont improve brake performance, just brake feel.

Brembo or Stoptech OEM replacement rotors, Hawk pads and the motul fluid will be golden.

If your rotors are resurfaceable be sure you have them machined on the vehicle with a brake lathe. If you take them into a place to be machined your rotors will off and you will have uneven brake wear.

 

R the mugen rotors n pads any good, their not that much.

All honda brakes suck ive burned rotors on every honda iv ever owned.97 cl, 02 rsx, 04 accord, 05 pilot, 08 Si. At least on the cl,accord.pilot they r not performance models so rotor were covered under warranty

 

I would buy a second set of rotors and then a set of Cobalt Friction GT-Sport or grippier pads. The Hawk HPS pads really aren't that great for track usage. Use them for the street as a replacement for the OEM pads and swap to a dedicated track pad and rotor when you do track days.

The HPS pads last forever, aren't hard on the rotors, and dust only slightly worse than the OEM pads. The GT-Sports are 10x better than the HPS's for track duty, but they put off a lot of metal in the dust and don't have wear indicators. You have to wash the rims after using the GT-Sports or the dust will semi-permanently adsorb to the rims and produce a rusty coating.

 

The speedbleeders are nice, but I've had them for 6 years now and a couple of them like to leak at the threads when I'm trying to bleed the line, and a little bit of air can get back in from the threads.

I would recommend replacing them every few years, or try using a one-man brake bleeder tool. I haven't tried them yet, but they're available from OTC. See part number: OTC 4809, 4pc One-Man Brake Bleeder Hose Set.

 

hawk hp+ and hps will not hold up on a track. have a set of track pads and daily driven pads and upgrade your fluid and you'll be set.

you won't even need a big brake kit.

the recipe goes like this:
track pads (hawk blue, porterfield r4) + brake fluid (ATE super blue or motul) + rotors (plain *** blanks)
= track worthy setup