92 si and the brakes are starting to squeal so figure time to upgrade on the brakes. ever since i first got the car the brakes werent all that strong and i would like to improve the braking, so im curious what could i do that isnt major that will improve it and what product would you suggest. like could i just get away with high quality brake pads (and by which manufacturer) or do i have no choice and upgrade the rotors and everything around it. throw me some advice, thanks.

 

What is your budget?

 

500 to 1000 is where i like to be but if it needs to be higher just means i need to save more. just to let you all know i use this car as my daily car in warm to cool weather i dont race it but i am adding some upgrades here and there.

 

For that budget I would do a VTEC brake conversion with some good (Brembo) rotors, Hawk HPS (high performance street) pads, stainless steel lines, and a complete flush with some good DOT4 synthetic fluid.

$1000 gets you close to an aftermarket big brake kit, but that is risky business for unnecessary bling....

Also, don't forget about how big of a roll tires play in stopping as well

 

Good products, and I'd recommend something similar. We just installed EBC Blank Rotors and EBC Red Stuff on my wife's 2008 Civic Si Sedan and my Friend's 2000 Prelude VTEC. Stopping distance is reduced considerably. There's a little squeal, but they're ceramic pads and virtually no dust.

I'd do the VTEC brake upgrade, go with some EBC Slotted/Cross Drilled Rotors, and EBC Red Stuff. That's the route I'm going except with NSX/Legend Calipers and Legend Rotors up front.

~Peace

 

From my understanding, the cross drilled holes reduce heat (important in a heavy car to reduce brake fade), and slots evacuate exhaust gas (not that important if he goes with Ceramic, it's more for organic pads with lots of gas emission under load). So I'd at least go with cross drilled. They're almost the same price and look nicer imo.

If it was pointless, You wouldn't see them on high end exotics. I realize we're talking about a Honda here, but if he wants MAX braking for the buck, I'd go cross drilled IMO. They do however make a "hiss" or "whistle" that is noticeable as you accelerate up to speed, so if you're looking for quiet, probably not the best idea.

Comfort/Quiet - VTEC Prelude Upgrade, EBC Blanks and Green Stuff Pads
Performance/Loud - NSX Front Calipers, Legend Rotors, EBC Cross Drilled, Red Stuff Pads IMO

~Peace

 

I recommended green with blanks as a quiet/comfort setup. I recommended the cross drilled and red as performance/loud. I personally went with Red/Blanks on my wife's car 2008 Civic Si and we both love them. I recommended cross drilled rotors as those will help reduce temperature under extreme driving conditions and honestly won't make that much of a difference on a daily driver in cold stopping distance besides the whistling/hissing of the rotors if you don't mind it. I would have recommended SLOTTED rotors for green stuff (typically) as the slots are what remove the outgassing and what they're designed to do. I was trying to give an example of a "stock like" setup, and a "performance oriented" setup.

If regular driving would bleed off the heat of a solid rotor, then wouldn't one with less mass and ventilation bleed it better? In a daily driving situation it's not like his rotors would get hot enough to warp... I guess I just don't understand... It also sounds like you'd trade mass for surface area, but slotted and cross drilled rotors have less surface area? Are you advocating a larger diameter thinner rotor for track days? That is confusing as well...

Thats cool you circuit race your prelude and I respect the experience that you've had. However, I don't really see how spending 80 more on slotted rotors all around is that detrimental to his braking health to NOT upgrade to cross drilled while he's there... It just kinda makes sense IMO. But disagreeing is ok too.

Looks like you have some research to do OP... lol

~Peace

 

I did the legend upgrade on mine. Bigger front calipers than the vtec caliper upgrade.

2 pot pistons ftw! And I did em for like 300 bucks to, and they are great

 

One of the most noticeable upgrades are the pads. I have a non vtec prelude with some pbr xbg pads with everything else stock and out performs my vtec caliper, hawk hps, stainless brake lines and power slot rotors all around. IMO, hawk hps pads suck compared to the pbr stuff. They have incredible initial bite and I will never buy another set of hawk pads. Hawk Hp+ I hear are better but for the price, pbr is solid.

 

After driving on Hawk HPS' for a while, I just switched my fronts to EBC Yellowstuff and love them. They are fairly dusty (about the same as my HPS), but no noise and better stopping power than the HPS. They have nice modulation that is soft at the top of the pedal but will stop hard when you dig in.

As mentioned, just get some decent rotors and better brake fluid, plus whatever pad you decide. If you want the bling you can get stainless lines, but they're not going to do a lot for performance on the street.