I have searched this forum exhaustively looking for anyone else who has done this, but I have had no luck. I am currently in the process of adapting TL 4 piston Brembo calipers on the back of my 97 Civic Ex. I am using the TL Type S 12.2" rotors, an adjustable prop valve and a hydraulic parking brake since front calipers don't have parking brake provisions. All in all I am about $600 into this and I believe I have everything I need. All I have left to do is to build the adapter bracket.

Has anyone done something similar? I would like to see pics or hear stories of others experiences with custom BBK's for the rear of EG, DC, EK.



Car Specs;

97 Civic Ex
2008 TSX K24a2 Custom Turbo and EG manual rack subframe using ekk2 mounts
4Piston ported oil pump
Custom 3 inch exhaust
EP3 radiator
External engine oil cooler with thermostat
2002 Civic EP3 5 speed transmission
Stage 5 Sprung clutch
Knockoff Ktuned shifter with aircraft grade shifter cables
GSR Integra cruise control module
Kpro V4 - BBG, E85, Traction Control
99 Crv front knuckles with FFC Acura RL Caliper mounts and 350z 324mm rotors, akebono front pads- front hubs machined to 68.1mm to fit the 350z rotors
94 Integra rear trailing arms with 97 Prelude wheel bearings for 5 lug
Modified 2008 TL-S Front brake calipers and rotors for the rear with adjustable prop valve and hydraulic parking brake

 

Why would you want brakes that big on the rear of the car?

 

Yeah that's silly when the rear accounts for 10% of the stopping power.

 

I would agree if this was a street car, but this is a time attack build. It's not about the stopping power, it's about the heat mitigation that the bigger brake will provide. My previous build which was a 2002 civic si would cook the pads during a day of hot-lapping. I believe the rear braking power accounts for more than 10% of the effective braking. The tires are 245/40-17 Advan a052. These are quite a bit bigger than the 205/50-15 that I ran last year so I expect a proportional amount of heat to be generated.

 

It depends.

Those brakes are seriously cartoonishly oversized for any rear application. You’re not going to be able to dial out the pressure enough to make them usable. Something small and light and twin piston will do you much better. You definitely do not need giant vented rotors either. Look at proper touring car builds, they typically use a fairly stock sized rotor (FK7 Civic TCR uses a stock CR-V rotor, if I remember correctly) with a race caliper and the rear brakes last half a damn season of endurance racing.

 

I was initially going to go with the full type R rear setup but those are the same size as I had on my EP3 Track car. I did look at the willwood 11" rear kit but figured the extra 2/3 of an inch would still get punished pretty good. I wanted to compromise around 11.5 and 11.8 but for the price I couldn't justify it. The TL Type S setup is fairly cheap for what it is but I am a little concerned about not being able to get enough heat into them and getting inconsistent performance from them. But we live and learn. Once the car has a full cage and all of the safety stuff Ill try it out on the track on a test and tune day and see what it feels like and if there are any advantages to this setup.

With the original brake setup 10.3 in the front and 9.5 in the rear there was about 8.2% size difference. With the new setup 12.8 in the front and 12.2 in the rear there is about 9.5% difference in size. Most big brake kits are prohibitively expensive. The RL kit I got for pretty cheap, $450 with pads, rotors, calipers and adapters. The rear on the other hand has limited options compared to the front and I wanted to keep the front to rear surface areas close to the same. I don't have the numbers now but I do know the piston areas differ wildly from the factory percentages (stock was like 23% of the front and the new setup is around 96% of the front) but I figured I could limit it with an adjustable prop valve. There are a lot of factors that go in to making a good BBK. But when you're on a budget it usually comes down to price.

I appreciate the feedback!

Also, it's fine to criticize me/my setup but please make it constructive.