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 Wilwood rotor feature...
The Wilwood rotor feature a slotted and cross-drilled design and come standard with forged aluminum hats.
The four-piston forged Dynalite...
The four-piston forged Dynalite calipers are extremely light, tipping the scales at a scant 3.5 lbs.
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.
To fully reap the benefits of Wilwood's brake fluid, we needed to flush the entire system of the old brake fluid. Once all the old fluid was removed the brake reservoir was filled to the rim with the new fluid and the system was bled completely. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's procedure for bleeding the brake system. Once the system was completely bled the rotors were cleaned with brake cleaner to prevent contamination of the brake pads from any greasy fingerprints.
It's easy to tell the new...
It's easy to tell the new Wilwood front brake kit is rather impressive compared to the stock system.
The stock Civic CX/DX rotors...
The stock Civic CX/DX rotors are pretty pathetic measuring in at 9.5-inches.
With the Wilwood brake system installed we took the Civic out for a spin to bed in the brakes. After installing new rotors and pads it is important to properly break in the new pads and rotors. Different brake manufacturers will have different break-in procedures so be sure to read the instructions carefully. Once the break in was performed we put the Wilwood system to the test. We found the Civic required less pedal effort to bring the vehicle to a halt as opposed to the stock system. Als, during 60-0 brake testing we could easily lock up the brakes if we weren't careful, while before the stock brakes would just fade.