If speed kills, do brakes give life? That's the million-dollar question. Turbo magazine has always been at the forefront of generating horsepower. On the flip side, many of us often overlook the importance of having a capable braking system in place to handle the extra power being generated by our performance-tuned dream machines. Prime examples are street-driven Hondas dropping 300-plus hp utilizing the factory braking system. You'd think a vehicle making two to three times more power than stock would have a braking system to match, but most people overlook this aspect of vehicle performance.
May we remind you that Hondas were originally designed as econoboxes, not sports cars. The factory braking system was designed with econobox speeds in mind, not triple-digit speeds. Ever try coming to a complete halt from 100 mph in a Civic? It's not the best stopping vehicle. Most Hondas are equipped with small-diameter rotors and single-piston calipers. The 1992-2001 Civics came equipped with 9.45-inch front rotors, only the 1992-'95 Civic Si came with larger 10.31-inch front rotors. Considering the age of some of these vehicles many probably have warped rotors and overworked rubber brake lines.
Founded in 1977 by Bill Wood, Wilwood Engineering has been engineering high-performance and race-application brake systems for nearly three decades. With the growing interest in the sport compact market Wilwood has developed an affordable 11-inch rotor kit specifically engineered for Hondas.
The key to any performance brake system is to not only increase the stopping power, but to also make it lightweight to reduce unsprung weight (free horsepower!). By utilizing forged-aluminum rotor hats and lightweight calipers, Wilwood brake systems are often lighter than factory components, even with the larger diameter rotors.
The stock Civic rotor and the Wilwood rotor weighed in exactly the same at 8.5 pounds, even though the Wilwood rotor was 1.5-inches larger in diameter. The most dramatic weight savings comes from replacing the factory single-piston caliper with the forged four-piston Dynalite Wilwood caliper. The stock caliper, with pads, weighed in at 9.0 pounds vs. the Wilwood caliper, which barely tipps the scales at 3.5 pounds. Of added benefit, the Wilwood caliper is a four-piston design that is better at distributing even brake pad pressure over the rotor surface and also distributes the pressure equally on both sides of the rotor. The overall weight savings for the entire front brake system with the Wilwood equipment was 11.0 pounds over the stock components.
When installing any brake system components, safety should always be your first priority. So unless you are skilled in the area of brake maintenance the job should be left to a professional. A high-performance brake system is useless if it is installed improperly.
Along with changing the front brakes, we drained and replaced the brake fluid with Wilwood Hi-Temp 570 Racing brake fluid. The low-viscosity brake fluid features a 570-degree dry boiling point to withstand the duty of severe racing application.