What can I do to upgrade my brakes?

[ZoomZoomH]

If you want rear discs on a 3rd gen. Then get the rear discs from a 2nd gen or 1st gen.
To hell with overseas.

we need proof to show that this can be done.

[FONZY]

yeh have to agree with jessesays the brakes dont seem to have any probs on my car either!?!? are u having problems with ur brakes or just want some extra braking power?? are they fading because slotted rotors may reduce fading by reducing the heat of the pads but i would reccomend getting a decent set of pads before anything else, especially before fitting rear discs as the costs are high and the results are not so high. Under hard braking most of the cars weight is trandsfered to the front and the front brakes do most for the stopping, my protege also seems to not mind lifting its inner rear wheel in hard cornering and braking!

[ZoomZoomH]

OK, but do they all share the same proportioning valve?

thanks for bringing that up. did a little lookup in the FSM. answer is NO, the 1.8 and 1.6 DON'T share the same proportioning valve.

so I guess you are right, the brake distribution bias is different between the 2.

I still think replacing her LX front brakes with ES brakes would improve her braking.

However, I think, given the options available in terms of what to upgrade first, all Jo may really need are probably just better tires (Toyo Proxes T1-S comes to mind) and better brake pads (Hawk HPS) to make her car brake noticeably better.

oh yeah, bleed the brake lines while you're at it!

[ZoomZoomH]

then again, I suspect Jo's car's brakes will never endure track-condition stress, which most of the mods we're talking about will show up most in terms of braking improvement. On the street I'd figure the stock LX setup should be fine for doing what it's suppose to do. thus it begs the question, would any of these mods have prevented Jo from rearending someone??? Is it worth it for Jo to upgrade it if she's never gonna see any track time in this car?

[Unleashed]

yea, track quality brakes are completely useless on the street. like the other day, i was passing this guy from the right side and he started turning into a gas station infront of me from the left lane, and didnt see me, so i slammed on the brakes but unfortunately they didnt break well enough, and i jumped the curb and scratched my shiny rims.... yep, total waste of money to upgrade brakes!

[bruce95fmla]

then again, I suspect Jo's car's brakes will never endure track-condition stress, which most of the mods we're talking about will show up most in terms of braking improvement. On the street I'd figure the stock LX setup should be fine for doing what it's suppose to do. thus it begs the question, would any of these mods have prevented Jo from rearending someone??? Is it worth it for Jo to upgrade it if she's never gonna see any track time in this car?

yes it is worth it for Jo to upgrade her brakes.
There is a chance that she may have been able to stop sooner or slow down and evade the sudden stoped car in front of her, if she had better brakes.

I really don't care what anyone says. Good brakes are what works the most at stoping the car in the time of need, assuming that the driver presses the pedal.

I converted my rear drums to discs on my protege and noticed a increased amount of braking from the rear. People tend to think they don't make a difference but they do.

I have the stock size rotors and calipers on the front of the DX protege.
However I replaced the stock front rotors with EBC cross drilled and slotted rotors 3 years ago. They have never warped and work excellent with basic pads. ( I haven't run hawks or anything yet... only kvr carbon's (semi ok)).


I can't count how many times I have had to do the last minute holy crap stomp the pedal, sudden stop thing. I am definetly sure that if Motegi upgrades her braking system she will experience much better braking. (assuming her shocks are good also).

[Intruder]

Good brakes are what works the most at stoping the car in the time of need, assuming that the driver presses the pedal.

Then YOU get rear-ended, not the person in front of you...
My brakes are weak, and it's happened quite a few times before - me making emergency stops, and stopping just a couple of inches away from someone's bumper. If I stop faster, then chances are the person behind me might not stop as fast and BAM...

[bruce95fmla]

Then YOU get rear-ended, not the person in front of you...
My brakes are weak, and it's happened quite a few times before - me making emergency stops, and stopping just a couple of inches away from someone's bumper. If I stop faster, then chances are the person behind me might not stop as fast and BAM...

I would rather someone hit me in the back then for me to hit someone in the back, because my car did not have adequate brakes. Then on top of that MY insurance would go up, because I rear ended someone, because I didn't have adequate brakes and couldn't stop in time.

Q-So would I rather someone hit me in the back than I hit someone in the back.

A- Yes.

[Intruder]

Yes, I agree. I wasn't implying that better brakes are bad for you. I was making an observation.

[JesseSays]

.

I really don't care what anyone says. Good brakes are what works the most at stoping the car in the time of need, assuming that the driver presses the pedal.

And this is why nobody listens to you


Tires are more important.

[JesseSays]

Then YOU get rear-ended, not the person in front of you...
My brakes are weak, and it's happened quite a few times before - me making emergency stops, and stopping just a couple of inches away from someone's bumper. If I stop faster, then chances are the person behind me might not stop as fast and BAM...

ummm, then press the pedal with less force... YOU are still in control of how much you press them.

[JesseSays]

yea, track quality brakes are completely useless on the street. like the other day, i was passing this guy from the right side and he started turning into a gas station infront of me from the left lane, and didnt see me, so i slammed on the brakes but unfortunately they didnt break well enough, and i jumped the curb and scratched my shiny rims.... yep, total waste of money to upgrade brakes!

did you lock the tires?

[bruce95fmla]

And this is why nobody listens to you


Tires are more important.

we both already have good tires.

So if we had bad brakes and good tires, we could still stop.

I have been in that situation and that didn't work.

[charles]

Driving around in a WRX it stops worse than my Protege. wHAT!?!? Is those tiny rotors!?!??! I guess not. It's the tires and the pads. The pads on the WRX have been heated to hell and are no longer effective. Also, the system needs to be bled. But the big brakes look neat under those 16" wheels.

[95ProLeila]

Does anyone else realize that both sides of the argument here are right? It's tires and brakes. . . putting decent tires on and spending the ~$100 to get the SS lines would probably be the place to start wouldn't it?