Brembo brake query?!

[keithrann]

Hello, my name is Keith and i'm a very active member on the Accord Type R forum and was recommended to pop on here to ask a question regarding the brakes fitted to your DC5's.

Before anyone starts giving stupid comments i am a keen Honda fan and pride myself in owning a legendary car. I treat all Type R's with respect, especially the DC5 which i'd have loved if i could have afforded at the time as buying a house!

I am considering fitting Brembo's to the front of my ATR as it is time to do a full brake overhaul. I will be looking at refurbished rear calipers from Brake-Int, new discs/pads all round, braided hoses throughout, new oil and of course a nice set of refurbished/resprayed brembo 4 pots for the front.

Could anyone give me some advice as to what model of Brembo I should be purchasing. I have been led to believe that the ones fitted to many Evos, the DC5, Fiat Coupe Turbo, Leon Cupra R etc. are all the same model. Is this correct?

Also, I would like to think a refurbishment company must be out there who would take a set of used calipers and strip, respray, lacquer and refurbish with new seals etc. Is this possible and if so from where? Otherwise, can a refurbishment seal kit be bought from Honda/Motor Factors?

I am not sure whether new brackets would need to be manufactured? Also, what size discs do you run and would they fit the hub from the ATR?

Thanks for everyones help in advance!

 

[BadBadtz]

Hi mate,

I don't think you will get any stupid comments on here as we are all keen Honda enthusiasts.

I have 3 friends with ATR's and been on track many times with them. Personally I am very impressed with the standard brake setup. You will probably be better to just buy uprated discs and pads.

Will you be doing a lot of track work?

 

[keithrann]

Hi mate,

I don't think you will get any stupid comments on here as we are all keen Honda enthusiasts.

I have 3 friends with ATR's and been on track many times with them. Personally I am very impressed with the standard brake setup. You will probably be better to just buy uprated discs and pads.

Will you be doing a lot of track work?

Don't really plan to do major amounts of track work but I would like them also for the exclusivity and looks more than anything else. I know it would be a big job for so little gain but its what i fancy doing.

Do you have any idea to how easy/hard it may be to carry out?

Also, did you mean you have drove the Atr on track or been sat in one?

 

[BadBadtz]

I've driven one and been in/following one on track.

It won't be a cheap conversion as you'll probably need some carriers fabricated. Have you looked at companies that already do big break conversions for the ATR?

Its not a difficult conversion if you can find the right bits

 

[Raffe]

I would test drive a DC5 with them fitted before you spend an awful lot of money, IMO they are very poor for a 4 pot caliper

A standard DC2 or S2k has far better brakes :wink:

 

[keithrann]

I've driven one and been in/following one on track.

It won't be a cheap conversion as you'll probably need some carriers fabricated. Have you looked at companies that already do big break conversions for the ATR?

Its not a difficult conversion if you can find the right bits

Cool, thanks for the advice. Will do a search around for carriers from tuning companies and the like!

What mm discs do the DC5 have up front?

 

[keithrann]

I would test drive a DC5 with them fitted before you spend an awful lot of money, IMO they are very poor for a 4 pot caliper

A standard DC2 or S2k has far better brakes :wink:

Oh, is that right?!

I used to own a Seat Leon Cupra R with them fitted and was very impressed with them over my ATR. That said my ATR calipers, discs and pads have definitely seen better days!

Just got a tuning company in Sheffield calling Brembo to see whether they can get the carriers direct for me!

 

[BadBadtz]

I would test drive a DC5 with them fitted before you spend an awful lot of money, IMO they are very poor for a 4 pot caliper

A standard DC2 or S2k has far better brakes :wink:

Oh, is that right?!

I used to own a Seat Leon Cupra R with them fitted and was very impressed with them over my ATR. That said my ATR calipers, discs and pads have definitely seen better days!

Just got a tuning company in Sheffield calling Brembo to see whether they can get the carriers direct for me!

I would disagree. It all depends on how you are rating a brake setup. People seem to want a brake which puts you through the window on tapping a pedal but brake performance should be measured over constant braking and see how long before you get fade. Brake cooling is a big factor in this

 

[keithrann]

Do you rate the Integra Brembo's then Nick?

I know its abit consmetic but I think that a set of powder coated silver Brembos would look ace behind my new refurbished alloys and thats one of the reasons i'm doing the conversion. It can also be sold on afterwards if i decide to swap back to standard when selling etc!

 

[BadBadtz]

Do you rate the Integra Brembo's then Nick?

I know its abit consmetic but I think that a set of powder coated silver Brembos would look ace behind my new refurbished alloys and thats one of the reasons i'm doing the conversion. It can also be sold on afterwards if i decide to swap back to standard when selling etc!

On track I don't think I ever felt any fade...but it all depends on driving style.

They don't feel like they respond well on UK roads because the car is setup for smooth roads and the ABS kicks in a lot. Changing pads and & lines help with initial bite.

 

[woolz]

the dc5 brakes arent great considering they are brembos. as already said s2000 brakes are much better.

 

[Raffe]

I would test drive a DC5 with them fitted before you spend an awful lot of money, IMO they are very poor for a 4 pot caliper

A standard DC2 or S2k has far better brakes :wink:

Oh, is that right?!

I used to own a Seat Leon Cupra R with them fitted and was very impressed with them over my ATR. That said my ATR calipers, discs and pads have definitely seen better days!

Just got a tuning company in Sheffield calling Brembo to see whether they can get the carriers direct for me!

I have also driven a Leon R with them fitted and they were very impressive, on the DC5 IMO they are far from it and quite a few people on here have commented on their poor ability too.

As I say please drive a DC5 with them fitted before you commit an awful lot of money which could probably be spent better with your oem calipers and some decent pads and discs :wink:

 

[keithrann]

I would test drive a DC5 with them fitted before you spend an awful lot of money, IMO they are very poor for a 4 pot caliper

A standard DC2 or S2k has far better brakes :wink:

Oh, is that right?!

I used to own a Seat Leon Cupra R with them fitted and was very impressed with them over my ATR. That said my ATR calipers, discs and pads have definitely seen better days!

Just got a tuning company in Sheffield calling Brembo to see whether they can get the carriers direct for me!

I have also driven a Leon R with them fitted and they were very impressive, on the DC5 IMO they are far from it and quite a few people on here have commented on their poor ability too.

As I say please drive a DC5 with them fitted before you commit an awful lot of money which could probably be spent better with your oem calipers and some decent pads and discs :wink:

Why would they be better on the Leon and not the ITR. Surely the same caliper/disc setup?

I may well take your advice for testing them first though!

 

[Raffe]

No idea tbh mate :?

Apparantly the same caliper isnt a lot of cop on the Evo either :?

Was the only area I felt the Dc5 went backwards from the Dc2 sadly

At the end of the day this is only my opinion, and there are others that will rave about them hence why you really need to drive a DC5 with them fitted to make your own opinion of them 8)

 

[kingston]

I thought TGM used OEM calipers on their racing tegs or am i mistaken :?:

 

[neil_integra]

I have had brake fade with the standard set up on the road. But i put that down to the standard pads.
The brembos are good but you could by a better setup with your money.

 

[C&S Evo7]

Firstly the calipers on a dc5,leon and evo are all deffinatly different, they arn't interchangeable
the evo and dc5 calipers mount directly to the hub but i beleive the leon is a radial mount which means it mounts to a block which in turn mounts to the hub.

this would be the caliper type to choose as only the mounting block would need fabricating to suit the atr hub.

discs would need to be 2 piece with a rotor and bell, this allows the bell to be made whatever size is needed to suit the caliper, wheel style etc.

TGM have done several brembo conversions to include an S2000 and Ctr (ep3) 01252811972. They would be able to carry out a conversion like this for you.

James the race cars (Toms, Richards and Joes) use a Brembo touring car setup, Saras uses a Stoptech setup, mine and Chris's use the modded std setup.
Personally i am more than happy with my brakes and don't have any issues with fade, It is a popular misconception that the calipers are "Crap", it is usually poor maintenance, wrong pad or disc choice or not bedding in properly etc. The same goes for the Evo caliper, in recent tests the std evo caliper actually outperformed the AP 6 pot setup when coupled with a good disc and pad combo.

I feel qualified to comment on the other cars as my wife has an evo with std brakes (also 6pot alcons for a while) and an s2000.
they all feel different but real world stopping distances would be similar, the big difference is when they get hot,

Neil if you have had fade on the road you should get the fluid changed, this will help more than a different pad, i could get fade with std pads after 3 or 4 laps usually but once i had stopped boiling the fluid everything was fine.

brembo seal kits are available from TGM they are not too pricy either.