History for those who don't know.

I had Fastbrakes 11" brake kit a while back. I had the 4 piston calipers for a good year or so. Raced on them. They worked. After bleeding them off and on (which you should do after every track event)... they would eventually start leaking from the bleeder screw.
not cool.

these damn things were the bane of my existance. you would want to tighten them to prevent fluid from leaking, but, wouldn't want to OVERtighten them cause they would destory the base they screwed into. Cheap parts, if you ask me.

On top of it, they flex. A LOT. Billet Dynalites... ha!


Well, recently, I bought an integra that had the 12.19" brakes on them. It had the forged 4 piston wilwood calipers, basically the kit from Wilwood. I got them for basically free, as i sold a lot of the other parts off the integra. I said, hell, why not try them on the CRX...

First problem: GSRs had different brakes than CRXs... as well as different knuckles.

a call to Wilwood for a price check on the caliper mounting bracket and $80 later ($38/ea), I had the kit ready to bolt to my Knuckles.

a few years ago, i did a complete rebuild of my knuckles... replaced the balljoints, wheel bearings, hubs, and installed extended wheel studs. All that was required to get that done was a sledge hammer, a wide variety of LARGE sockets, and an anvil... I managed to install of that in my backyard, except one of the brake caliper bracket mounting tabs was BENT (son of a $!#!@), cause the caliper bracket to be TILTED slightly. not a problem with OEM calipers since they slide.

BIG problem with FIXED calipers. First task prior to installing the 12.19" brake kit... replace one knuckle

2hrs later, done!

Got the brake kit on:


I HATE the cross-drilled rotor... slots are nice though.

The first problem i encountered, since I didn't have REAL instructions (i eventually printed them from the wilwood site, thank you!), i spent 30mins trying to figure out how it bolted up. After finding some left over washers (integra kit uses thin washers between the caliper mounting bracket and the caliper... CRX kit uses thicker ones) to move the caliper more outboard... the calipers were installed on the mounting brackets.

The Integras also use a different sized brake line nut. simply enough... the wilwood kit comes with adapters. yoink and the brake lines fit.

Finally, the NEW bane of my existance... WHEELS. In the racing world... people don't use 16" wheels a lot...ESPECIALLY if it's ONLY 7" wide.

I had a set of 16x7 Enkei RS-E wheels laying around. test fitted them but the spokes hit the caliper when rotated. Add a wheel spacer and now it's fine. the wheel isn't the huge issue...

Tyres... decently priced r-compounds specifically...

the choices are (so it seems for a 16x7 wheel), from most normal to least normal:
205/45-16
215/45-16
215/50-16

Kumho makes the ecsta v700 in 205/45-16. Cost... $130ish/ea. Toyo makes the RA1's in 225/50-16...cost, eek $170ish. Falken makes a 215/45-16... nice, but, not exactly an R-compound.

So, i'm stuck wondering if i should go with the falken azenis sports for $450 shipped at 215/45-16...or Ecsta V700s. Hoosiers are out of the question.

 

Kam do you really even need brakes that big on a 2000lb car? Just a thought, usually I am the king of overkill, but I beleive you might have even surpassed me. Couldn't you just stick with 11" brakes? Anyway though I hope your little project turns out for the best.

 

damn man thanks for the heads up. But i have the question of, does it improve stoping much? and if so how much would you say?

 

If you get him a set of tires I bet he'll tell you all about it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRXBart &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Kam do you really even need brakes that big on a 2000lb car?</TD></TR></TABLE>
No. Another thread about it. I basically got bored and figured... what the hell. I'll probably change my mind in a few weeks anyways and go back to the stock 9.5" brakes.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Couldn't you just stick with 11" brakes? </TD></TR></TABLE>
even 11" brakes are overkill. If i got a set of 10.2 brakes for free, i'd use those over anything...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mr_valentino20032000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn man thanks for the heads up. But i have the question of, does it improve stoping much? and if so how much would you say?</TD></TR></TABLE>
nope. only if i get stickier tyres. they will help with brake fade, DRASTICALLY.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SETI20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you get him a set of tires I bet he'll tell you all about it </TD></TR></TABLE>
heheh, very true!

 

those r some big brakes, cheap parts u say but i bet u paid a pretty penny for em, seems like a good set up b4 they leaked

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fleas_EF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">those r some big brakes, cheap parts u say but i bet u paid a pretty penny for em, seems like a good set up b4 they leaked </TD></TR></TABLE>
$80 is cheap...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Driven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
No. Another thread about it. I basically got bored and figured... what the hell. I'll probably change my mind in a few weeks anyways and go back to the stock 9.5" brakes.


nope. only if i get stickier tyres. they will help with brake fade, DRASTICALLY.


heheh, very true!</TD></TR></TABLE>

i will give you my 10" brakes in exchange for this set-up
stan

 

I think you have the rotors on the wrong sides

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stk crx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think you have the rotors on the wrong sides</TD></TR></TABLE>
you know... i thought so to, by the way the vanes go, but, there are arrows on the rotor.

and it's pointing the "right" way... makes more sense to have it flipped though (since the air is being pulled out from the center-out.

and if you want to swap kits, i might be convinced

also... the Enkei RS-E in 16x7 need a whopping 1.15" worth of spacers. I'll get a picture of it when i get the car moving out of the back yard.

 

The rotors are correct, but you should get these instead...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMDA9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The rotors are correct, but you should get these instead...

</TD></TR></TABLE>
what? lightweight wheels with heavy tyres?

i don't plan on buying ANYTHING for this brake setup, except the brackets which will help facilitate the sale of them later on (if i decide to sell).

i'd much rather have the blanks though.

 

i got the falken alzennis 205 40 r16 and they are decent but burn out quick, my toe was off a couple of degrees (due to sir knuckles) and i killed a set in 1500 miles but they hold the road well

 

Sorry to go off topic but since everyone is talking about fastbrakes.com kits, this seems to be the right time to ask if anyone has any experience with the 10.2" Brake kits with the 4 piston cailipers? I might pick up a set since my crx's brakes are getting old and I want to upgrade it.

Does it use the same calipers as the 11 inch big brake kits?
Does anyone have pics of it installed on a crx?
Can anyone give me a good honest pro's and cons about that kit?

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stan D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i will give you my 10" brakes in exchange for this set-up
stan</TD></TR></TABLE>
you may be the owner of 12" brakes sooner than expected.

apparently, 12" brakes are overkill on a CRX.


fronts...


Looks comical... but, who cares if it works, right?


damn 16x7s... 16s are the smallest wheel i can find that fit over the 12" rotors/calipers.


Front bumper space between tyre and bumper.

these are 225/50-16 victoracer v700s.
I was originally opting for 205/45-16 Ecsta V700s...but tirerack was out of stock and wouldn't have them by 9/25/04 (the track portion of the ***** Challenge).

Based on this tyre calculator...

The 225/50-16 are nearly 2" taller than the 205/50-15s (diameter of 24.9", 23.1" respectively).

the 205/45 would have been 23.4" in diameter.

so, now, i'm looking at a different brake setup or going back to the oem 9.5" after the ***** Challenge.

 

GSR Brakes will be more then fine for a little crx or civic.

If you put a huge *** caliper it looks tight

 

man, if you think that 12 inch brakes are overkill on a CRX you must think that i'm really weird. i have 13 inch brakes on my little rex but i like it. except, i really hate being stuck with 17's. SOME YOU WIN SOME YOU LOSE i guess... this is my front brake with my old R.H. C5's. i got rid of them thank God in exchange for the konig heliums. if iever wash my CRX someday i'll post a pic of the big brakes w/ heliums; the way the rotors shine behind the dark wheels is sick! ok apparently i dont know how to post a pic. if i figure it out, i'll show you guys the 13 inchers.

 

looks nice except for the HUGE tires
i am just about finished with my stock upgrade brakes on my hatch (ex knuckles with everything else new).