I have a 95 Civic DX hatch, and swapped rear discs and prop valve from an SI hatch, but still don't have the stopping power I'd like, I don't track it or anything but would like to do a brake upgrade and was wondering what the best OEM brake upgrade would be for street use.

 

wilwoods with a nice street compound! But seriously, the itr setup with any good pad should be more than enough.

 

I was looking at the ITR setup but was a bit unclear on how to get it to fit the DX, seems I need to mill the ITR caliper or use a spacer and upgrade my rotors right?

 

yeah i you need to shave down the caliper bracket so the rotor will be centered

its not too hard to do, just do it right and get it machined so it will be an even surface

 

to do the 11.1 itr setup on a dx (factory 9.4 rotor)

You do realize that the ITR setup requires the 92-95 Ex/94-01 Integra non R 10.2 knuckles right. Im sure you know what parts required

But....

If you have your heart set on the ITR setup on the Dx knuckle, you can use the same rotor as the ITR setup, but you need different calipers and brackets than the ITR/EX knuckle setup. You would use the Rsx-s or S2000 calipers and brackets. This being because your DX knuckles have caliper mounting points that are more towards the hub, hence the smaller 9.4 brakes. on the upside it weighs less. Theres a write up in here somewhere on it.

Also it would be better to put a better rear setup than the 9.4 rears for better feel but thats just me. (I have 11.8 rsx-s front and 10.2 ep3 out back on my 92 dx) Trust me i had the 9.4 rears and they didnt feel as confident once you up the fronts. Now it really hauls down. But thats my opinion

 

Thank for the info, I wasn't aware of that, I'm just looking for a good OEM brake upgrade, preferably something pretty straight forward, what would be involved in the RSX front/ EP back?

 

Well if its a daily driver with a swap thats not an all out swap i would just say put some 10.2 knuckles on there with some good pads (not from the parts store) and fresh fluid and you'll be good.

My front setup uses s2000 calipers and brackets with some of the mounting surface milled to clear, hawk pads, 11.8 rotors with the civic bolt pattern (from fastbrakes) braided lines. Rear are 2002-03 ep3 rear rotors (10.2), ep3 calipers and brackets, hawk pads and braided lines. Trailing arms are drums but converted to disc using the scarebird adapter kit (allows use of oem sized rotors) 1" master cylinder and booster from 95 Acura Integra. Best braking car ive driven (dad owns a 99 M3 that ive driven a few times before) you can feel the haul down with these, but also keep in mind that they fit only a few 15in wheels (none of them oem) but the ITRs fit under stock 15in's.

 

I don't understand complains about the stock braking capability of any Honda that is street driven.

Take the car out, get it up to speed (65 or so) and slam on the brakes. If you can lock up tires or activate the ABS (if equipped), then the brakes are not the weak point in the chain, and upgrading them will provide no benefit, at all. To stop in a shorter distance, the tires would need to be upgraded.

I have yet to see a stock Honda that couldn't trip its ABS with 100% stock brakes, even when fitted with sticky street tires. My 88 Civic sedan's braking was only limited by the craptastic tires I kept putting on it, but could lock them up at any time desired (no ABS).

Now, if you want to upgrade the braking feel, and know that it won't shorten braking distances, that's a different story altogether. That, I completely understand, as the brakes on my 91 Integra LS felt terrible compared to my 2000 GSR (w/ stainless lines, done only for feel and reduction of ABS "pedal thumping" when driving on track), but both cars do stop in about the same distance when fitted with equivalent tires.

 

Good luck OP and let us know what you come up with

 

Have you considered better pads?

 

I was either going to keep my current setup or upgrade my pads, but I don't know too much about brakes, so I thought I'd ask here. What are good brand/type pads for daily driving?

 

Hawk HPS, Carbotech Bobcats, Axxis are all good. Through experience the Hawks are good but generate some brake dust you can take off with a cloth and occasional squeal over time. Carbotechs generate light dusting that can come off when it rains (its that light) and they also squeal over time. Ive seen alot of people using the Axxis Ultimate but they havent posted their take. I use Hawk HPS personally and they work great.

Hows your tire condition and pressure? What type of tire (important)? Worn shocks? Car aligned properly? All of these will affect breaking, with the type of tire being first. Because no matter what you have, if you have all-season tires (or worse snow tires) you won't stop good at all, if that.

I personally chose a larger setup because of my swap and i know what i want in my brakes; initial bite, great feel, and consistency because i drive spirited (when needed) but i can because i know my brakes. I have all that now.

 

You can use the fastbrakes.com kit and retain the stock knuckle. Use their adapter brackets and hub rings along with a 1990 VW Corrado disc and top it off with DC calipers.

 

I have the Fastbrakes front setup on my 91 Civic si with DA discs in back with the Axxis Ultimate pads. They stop really well but make lots of dust,as in washed the car and drove the car about 50 mostly freeway miles and there was noticable dust on the front wheels, after another 100 or so miles of daily driving the wheels are filthy.

 

it's probably because people drive crazy on the back roads & wind up with fade when they come down from 100 & set up for a 25mph corner. all the guys i know personally on this site drive hard on the street. they just don't often type it since it's for some reason not PC here anymore

 

The best will be the oem itr setup. U can just buy both of the knuckles and put it on your civic. If you do that might as well get the rear itr setup also.

Since you already have the rear disc. Just swap your front knuckles with any 94+ integra. Then u will need to upgrade ur prop valve again to 4040 and master cylinder to 15/16.

 

It's not PC because no one wants to get hit by some ******* who thinks he's a pro driving on the Nurburgring, when he's driving on some back country road.

 

what kind of wheels do you have on your car with those brakes? I have simular brakes on my civic and want to have the smallest rims possible

 

i was just talking to another guy who posts here in ims about this. if you cruise over to corvetteforum people root you on for breaking 200 on the freeway. the supra people, same thing. it's just odd, out of all the car forums i'm on this is the only one people whine so much about this sort of things & scream about being safe. if you can't handle your car at 100 you will be in the bank, if you hit someone else along the way, you will be in prison. we all know this.

 

15x7 motegi traklites. Fits right under but you cant use thick stick on weights. But i went to Lexus and got some of their slim stick ons

 

Yeah, and you kill people. People on Corvette and Supra forums probably think they're amazing drivers because they thing their driving ability goes up with their wallet size. Nothing more annoying than hearing amateurs talking about how they "know how to handle their car," so it's totally okay to drive like **** on public roads.

 

will other wheels fit to? yes? wich ones?

 

Im not sure to be honest. But MAYBE the team dynamics pro race 1 and 2, some volks and the kosei k-1 will fit. The clearance on these alone is pretty tight with this setup (front only)

I actually will be selling this setup to go with one thats not so much better as it is more bling (yet will still get the job done). I wont be switching till around April when the weather gets better