doing my research right now and looking for input. this is for a 97 civic lx sedan. i drive back and forth to work and plan to do acouple autoX events this year. id like to upgrade my fronts with EX units and maybe do a homemade bbk using type r calipers and mini cooper rotors, but should i upgrade the rear to disc or just leave them drums?

other than afew weekends in a year, my civic is just a family hauler and a-to-b car.

 

If you plan on doing any kind of racing I would upgrade. Drums tend to retain heat which is not good in racing apps. Rotors will dissipate the heat much more efficiently. I just upgraded to integra brakes up front and it made a big difference

 

You will hardly notice a rear disk conversion unless you're a seasoned HPDE racer.

If I had a dollar for ever PAX winning Civic with rear drums I'd be rich.

 

yea i dont plan to do any real track or circuit type racing, at least not this year. my back end question is if i did the EX front spindles and upgraded to ITR calipers and mini cooper rotors, will i keep my master cylinder or have to change to an Si?

 

You don't technically "have to" but you will want to.

A 15/16" or 1" would be fine.

A 97-01 Integra with ABS is identical to the "coveted 1" ITR MC" and about $150 cheaper on ebay, lol. Just look at the picture and make sure the lines match up.

The non-abs will have a 15/16" and the ABS or ITR will have a 1" MC

I'm using a 1" MC with my S2000 Calipers and it's perfect. The S2000 caliper is a much better design (IMO) than the ITR caliper, so if you can get with BrakeExpert or someone and get a kit from them I think you'll be a lot happier. The pad shape is just much better than the ITR pad.

 

so grabbing a 15/16" or 1" would be the best option. i know when i researched upgrading all brakes to 99-00 Si, it said to use an Si MC. so assuming i just go with bigger fronts, it will still be wise to upgrade to a Si MC if im understanding you correctly

 

Si MC wouldn't be a bad choice. Isn't it a 7/8th?

a 15/16" or 1" won't hurt you. You'll just have a firm pedal.

 

yea i just combed brakeexperts thread and you're right. id need an integra MC instead of a Si.

ill start gathering parts soon to upgrade the fronts and mc. but with the changes im making and the new mc, if i decide to get rear discs...it looks like it will be a bolt on affair and that ill have the mc i need already

 

I have abs and my brake booster is a 15/16. And it has abs. It's a 2000 civic ex sedan. You could find these at the yard most the time.

 

Could you expand on this a bit?

 

BrakeExpert can explain it better, but more simply the S2000 caliper is VERY similar to the ITR caliper, just a slightly different pad shape. The shape is "more efficient" at grabbing an amount of the rotor surface with better modulation and is less prone to fade. The shape of the pad is more square than the ITR pad, so the heat is better distributed across the entire pad surface.