so im prepping my CRX track car. ive decided i dont like the clearance issues with my current setup and im going to just replace them with something else.

Car: 1991 CRX Si
Use: Road Course HPDE (most likely competition in the future)

Current brake setup:

ITR front calipers with modified ITR bracket (23T), shaved ~3mm off mounting surface
integra 10.3" rotors
stock rear 9.5" disc setup

this setup worked OK, but i faded the pads pretty quick (HPS) last time i was on track. i was planning on running the same setup with new rotors and HP+ pads this time around. but i just dont want to deal with the clearance issues associated with this setup anymore. it requires grinding the pad backing plate because it rubs on the rotor hat. i dont want to do this every time i get new pads. plus the rotors slightly rub the calipers too.

now first thing is that i really dont think i need to go to a larger rotor setup, but there is almost no setups it seems that will put a 10" rotor on the stock knuckles (besides my current setup). i dont want to go EX knuckles because ive already invested good money into my current stock CRX knuckles (new bearings, ARP studs, and ball joints installed), same goes for DA knuckles but i wouldnt want that anyway due to the different size knuckle.

so i started looking into an 11" setup, but i cant find too much information on specifics. people are just looking to sell me a setup without telling me what parts are being used (god forbid i do it myself right?)

ive seen some mention of s2000 calipers/brackets with corrado rotors but not sure if anyone has tried that or not.

so then i started thinking, hey if im gonna spend 3-400 on getting a new OE parts setup, maybe i should just call up Brian at fastbrakes and see what i can do as far as getting a 4-pot setup. im gonna call him in the afternoon. ill ask if he can do the 4-pots on a 10" setup, but if i have to go 11" i can do that.

so i have 2 questions.

what 10" or 11" brake setup options do i have with using OE parts on my stock CRX knuckles (9.5" originally)? please be specific in what parts are needed, what cars the parts come from, and what modification, if any, is necessary?

would it be worth it to go with the 4-pot wilwood dynalite setup from fastbrakes? has anyone used it on track? how does it feel compared to an OE setup? anything to worry about with track use?

also unrelated, what pads would you guys recommend for the rear? HPS? stock OE stuff? something more aggressive?

thanks guys,

Ian

 

i personally run the exact same setup you do. not many people i know do, and yeah, the grinding, etc is a pain, but with real pads (hps arent real pads! you know that!), its a GREAT setup, especialyl if you are on the CHEAP.

i've been finding deals on pads, so i'm sticking with it for a while... but i'm planning on fabbing brackets for wilwood dynalite calipers. those calipers are amazing for the money, and pads are cheap and easy to find, and easy to change.

this decision basically (imo) depends on how much money you want to spend.

with my cobalt pads, i've never faded this setup though, and my car tracks with 260-285 whp. (1995 lbs EF hatch)

 

to do the 11" u need EX knuckles (for an ef chassis). bolt your modded brackets on, pop on a set of 11" prelude rotors on (redrilled to 4x100 from fastbrakes) and you are set. thats what i ran on my H2 car and it worked great.

 

Fastbrakes makes a bracket that allows you to use 11" rotors and ITR calipers on stock hubs. I agree with you about the 10.3's, I tried mocking it up and everything interfered. I ended up giving up and going back to stock stuff.

 

Lo-buck. Maybe you don't know, but you can do 11" on stock knuckles with s2000 calipers.

Maybe I will go the wilwood route though. I'll call em up in a bit.

 

Whatever you do, ditch the HPS pads. They are NOT track pads. I know a handful of people have somehow magically made them work, but that has not been my personal experience as a driver or passenger.

 

ordered the wilwood kit from fastbrakes. after talking to them over the phone, this is def the route im gonna take. ill step up to a 11" setup, but its ok. he also was able to do the order sans rotors since i will get my own rotors. saved me some money and greatly reduced shipping cost.

and yea, im ditching the HPS's. 2 track days and they were done lol. fastbrakes took my order with HP+ pads in place of the stock pads they come with.

 

i did not know that. thanks for the info

 

do s2k calipers use the same pads as ITRs?

 

yea i dont know the specifics of the setup, like what rotors exactly to use, or what if any machining of the calipers or brackets is necessary. but i know ive seen it before. i was actually trying to find some info on it, but i ended up doing the fastbrakes setup instead.

and i dont think the s2000 has the same pads as the ITR, but i could be wrong.

 

The s2000 pads are almost identical to the 373 pads used on the 90-91 CRX si. The only difference that the the "earlobes" are 1/4" wider.

I used to run s2000 brake pads on my CRX when I couldn't order Cobalt XR1's in my backing plate.

So if the ITR pads look nothing like the 373 pads on a CRX then no, the are not the same.

ITR:




S2000/CRX si (90-91) The top one is S2000, the bottom is CRX

 

I should also add:

Stay with your current setup. I actually race on stock brakes (9.5" rotor) and some of the track around here are really hard on brakes. If you have 10.3" rotors and the larger calipers then your ONLY problem is crappy pads.

Stop buying crappy pads and *poof* all your problems are solved.

Try a cobalt XR2. You'll love it for the track day just pop it out when you get ready to drive home. No need to bed XR2's, just pop them in at the track, run the dickens out of them and pop them out before driving home.

I can change my front pads on the race car in under 5 minutes from car on the ground to car back on the ground and lugs torqued. All you need is 1 wrench (14mm in my case) and a large channel lock pliers or a C-clamp to push the piston back a bit and BAM, done!


As for the rear pads. I use OEM. The rear of the car does very little of your braking and I have found that when I use ANY pad other than OEM I lock up the rears too much during trail braking.

 

you are right, the pads were bad, and better pads are the ticket, but i dont want to go crazy with really aggressive track pad since i dont have the luxury of a trailer. changin pads out is easy, but ill just stick with 1 set for now.

yea i already bought the wilwood setup sooo lol. the clearance issues just werent for me. the 11" setup may not be 100% needed but it shouldnt hurt, and def keep fade at bay a bit with a more massive rotor. also i dont know what engine setup you have, but i have a 215whp b18 motor, speeds may be faster and harder on the brakes. but i could be fine either way. smaller rotors with aggressive pads, or a larger setup with not so aggressive pads. time will tell. the wilwoods are on the way with HP+s so ill see how it feels. and adjust if i have to.

im really surprised the S2000 uses pads small like the crx. the ITR pads are HUGE.

 

i'm running cobalt xr2's also. amazing pads.

i cant kill them. ive never faded them. they are rediculous

 

I agree...unless you are running big horsepower at a track like Watkins Glen for example you can really get buy with a proper set of pads. Lime Rock is very kind to brakes - relatively - as an example.

 

Watkins Glen is also easy on the brakes. At least nothing like Road America, Trois-Rivières, or Gilles Villeneuve.

Pretty cool info on the CRX-S2000 pads.

 

Which fluid do you plan on running? Fluid and pads are the two most important parts of the brakes.

Also, does anyone know if Fastbrakes makes a two piece floating rotor in 10.3" or 11"?

 

well when i talked to brian at FB, he said he couldnt make anything in the 10" size, because there wouldnt be enough room to make a bracket.

what do you mean by floating rotor? they do have 2 piece 11" rotors

 

what wilwood "kit" did you get??

 

the fastbrakes 11" kit for the CRX. normally comes with :

both front wilwood dynalite calipers 4-pot
caliper mounting brackets
stock wilwood pads (i had them changed to HP+ pads)
SS braided brake lines for front
VW corrado rotors (i ordered without rotors to save on shipping, plus i wanted to source my own rotrs anyway)

not sure which dynalites it comes with, but ill take some pics and let you know when it arrives.

oh and as for fluid, ive been running the valvoline syn-power or whatever fluid for the past 2 years. not sure if ill switch it up or not.

 

IMO i don't think you are going to see an increase in life or performance...

I am not a fan of the dynalite.

I run the dynapro, and it is better; IE performance wise but pad life blows (because of how small they are).

 

NSX front calipers and RSX rear on an Integra. XR2 fronts and XR5 rears work great, though the rear is probably not so important as noted. The thicker rotors handle the heat well, Spec HD rotors from Fastbrakes.

 

eh, it may not be "better", but ill drop some weight. and easy pad replacement. not that it was difficult to begin with really lol.

what the difference in the dynapros? beefier?

 

...perhaps I spent way too much time trying to stay out of the way of much faster and meaner machines

 

So does this mean if there is a compound I want that is not available for 91CRX, or is cheaper for S2K, I can use S2K pads interchangably? Do they need modification?