I'm currently in the process of swapping to GSR front disc brakes and EP3 rear disc brakes on my 97 Civic DX coupe. I need to purchase new pads and rotors and brake lines for this setup. The pads and rotors that I got with the swap are pretty rusted and I'm not quite sure how good they really are (warped possible). Also, I need to buy brake lines to make the rears work anyways, so I figure I might as well pick up a set of stainless lines.

In the past I've had excellent luck with Hawk HPS pads. I've also installed a set of the Hawk Performance Ceramics on a friend's 97 GSR and he enjoyed them as well. I'm thinking for this car I would prefer to use the Performance Ceramics, considering it has Gold/polished lip wheels and would prefer that they weren't dirty as hell all the time. Also, the ceramics are only a couple dollars more for a set compared to the HPS pads. I'm also thinking that with the GSR fronts and EP3 rears that I won't need a near as aggressive pad since this car only sees spirited street driving and no track use. I have a 2002 Passat W8 and would have loved to try out the ceramics on them, but they didn't make a set for it and since it had machined finish/gunmetal wheels it could hide brake dust much much better. At this point I'm thinking I'll just go with the Hawk Performance Ceramics unless anyone here thinks the HPS's would be a better choice.

Now, as far as rotors go I've used many different sets. I know Brembo blanks are extremely popular for our cars as they are cheap and very well made. My only problem with them is they don't have the coatings like some other rotors do. The set I just bought for my W8 had e-coated hats and veins in black, which is extremely nice. I would prefer that whatever set of rotors I bought for the Civic had either a zinc coating or e-coating as it gets driven in the winter. I know for sure that I want blanks as slotted eat pads and cross-drilled crack and since this is a street car they would go to waste anyways. What can you guys suggest as far as a zinc/e-coated blank rotor?

And lastly - stainless lines. I've got the Russell stainless clutch line on the car now, so I'm thinking of just using the Russell brake lines as well. It seems like either Russell or Goodridge are the way to go.

 

Alright, so I've done some more researching on this.

I'm pretty much set on using the Hawk Performance Ceramics at this point. The car doesn't get driven that aggressively, so lower dust and longer pad life are more of my concern. I'm sure they should work just fine, especially considering the car will be getting upgraded to 10.3" GSR fronts and 10.2" EP3 rears.

As far as rotors I've done a little digging too. It seems like a lot of people say the cryo-treated rotors are worth the money. Also, I've been able to find ones that come with the black e-coating on the veins and hats too. Biggest reason I want the e-coated factory ones is because they are able to completely coat the veins and hats on the rotors. If you've ever tried to paint/powdercoat a rotor it's nearly impossible to get the veins completely covered. I'm thinking of going with the Cryo-Stops which appear to basically be blank version of Power Slots.

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brake...7&autoModClar=

And as far as lines I'll be using the Russell's for sure. They're cheaper than the Techna-Fit and Goodridge and as far as quality goes they can't be beat.

 

I'd go with HAWK hps', autozone lifetime rotors.. they're gonna eventually wear down and warp if you like washing your car after you've been driving all day, and goodridge lines are DOT approved. I think russell are too. You can't go wrong with either brand

 

Problem is that I want rotors with the e-coatings so that they don't rust in the winter. This car is driven in salt, so I'd prefer something that won't build up rust in the veins.

I'll for sure be going with the Russell lines, just need to find the cheapest place for them.

As far as rotors go the Cryo-Stops are looking good still as they are cheap, e-coated, and cryo-coated. I can't find that in any other rotor for that cheap.

 

Alright, I've been doing some digging here.

Now, when I ordered brakes for my Passat I purchased them through R1Concepts.com. This was the best place to get the rotors that I wanted as I couldn't find another company that made e-coated rotors for the W8. I ended up with Hawk HPS pads and R1 Concepts premium rotors and I'm very happy with them. I had no problem finding the Hawk Performance Ceramic pads for a GSR front and a EP3 rear, but I'm unable to find a good selection of rotors for the EP3 rear. I want e-coated, and the only company I've found that's got a decent price is Centric. Cryo-Stop, which is who I was going to go with originally does not make a rear rotor for the EP3, but they do for a GSR. So basically as far as a cheap e-coated rotor goes, the best I can find would be Centrics, which run about 30 dollars a piece. The Hawk Performance Ceramics are about 66 dollars a set front and rear.

At this time I decided to check and see what R1 Concepts had to offer. Their e-coated premium brake rotors are 79 dollars a pair for the front GSR and 78 dollars a pair for the rear EP3, which is pretty good, only slightly more than the cheap Centrics. Also, R1 Concepts has their own line of ceramic brake pads too, and they're incredibly cheap, 29 dollars for the GSR fronts and 18 dollars for the EP3 rears. They also carry G2 caliper paint which I will be picking up to go with everything. Pricing the pads and rotors through them compared to using Centric rotors and Hawk Performance Ceramics will save me about 100 dollars to get the stuff through R1 Concepts, so I am thinking of going that way. Also, just from experience, R1 Concepts customer service is amazing, and if you call in they generally can give you a better deal on the parts and they always have free shipping over 50 dollars IIRC.

 

Alright, even more researching.

I was able to figure out that R1 Concepts rotors are actually Centric rotors. Their brake pads are Posi-Quiet brake pads that are listed on their website. Using this I searched the part numbers for even better deals. I was able to find the e-coated Centric blanks and Posi-Quiet ceramic pads on RockAuto.com for 183 shipped. The same setup was 205.29 shipped on R1Concepts.com.

From what I've seen the Centric rotors are super popular and seem to be pretty good as I am currently running them on my Passat. I have yet to find another set of rotors that is e-coated blanks for that cheap. Also, the Posi-Quiet ceramics have some amazing reviews too. Many people say that their stopping power is excellent with almost no fade and no dust and that they are in fact extremely quiet. I think so far that Centric has won me over with their brake parts. The Hawk Performance Ceramics would be nice, but the Posi-Quiet ceramics are about 1/3rd the price, which is huge. Most likely that's the setup I'll end up going with.