Single piston upgrades
06-07-06, 07:24 PM
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Single piston upgrades
Everyone here knows that the Single piston brakes suck, but I was wondering if anyone has had success with singles if they upgraded the rotors, pads. and brake lines?
Last edited by andru; 06-07-06 at 07:44 PM.
06-07-06, 08:24 PM
#3
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I'd disagree that the single piston brakes "suck". On the 5 lug cars the rotors are the same size in the front, and differ in the rear only by not being vented (and small diameter change?). The rear brakes don't do that much work anyway, so it's not a big deal unless you've got lots of power and are making repeated stops from high velocity in rapid succesion. I do admit that on paper the 4 pot ones are better, but it's not that big of a difference in the real world.
I've got the single piston brakes on my car and I've taken it to a high performance driving school twice with 2 drivers each time (on track 2 of 4 sessions, 2 day schools each) and I've never had any issues with them. All I did was put in Hawk HP+ pads (they aren't even full race pads) and gave the fluid a complete flush and replaced it with Ford DOT 3 fluid, which is a good as it's cheap, readily available, and has a 550 F boiling point (they reformulated it to 500 F recently, but I can still find the 550 F stuff in stores). Bedding in the pads properly is important to get the full performance from the pads. "Upgraded" rotors are a waste of money, stock rotors are fine, and drilled rotors and even slotted rotors to a certain extent will crack and be garbage much sooner than plain rotors when used hard. If the cracks go unnoticed the rotors can disintegrate and cause much damage and a crash.
I recently had my clutch line spring a slow leak, so I'll be replacing the brake lines to be on the safe side (same aged hoses).
To get good braking you need good tires, plain and simple. Other than that you should have rotors in good condition (no cracks or damage, not worn too thin), good pads (they make a world of difference), good fluid (helps prevents brake fade), and good lines. Big brake kits are wasted on most people and often will make a car stop worse than before (longer distances).
Hope that helps.
I've got the single piston brakes on my car and I've taken it to a high performance driving school twice with 2 drivers each time (on track 2 of 4 sessions, 2 day schools each) and I've never had any issues with them. All I did was put in Hawk HP+ pads (they aren't even full race pads) and gave the fluid a complete flush and replaced it with Ford DOT 3 fluid, which is a good as it's cheap, readily available, and has a 550 F boiling point (they reformulated it to 500 F recently, but I can still find the 550 F stuff in stores). Bedding in the pads properly is important to get the full performance from the pads. "Upgraded" rotors are a waste of money, stock rotors are fine, and drilled rotors and even slotted rotors to a certain extent will crack and be garbage much sooner than plain rotors when used hard. If the cracks go unnoticed the rotors can disintegrate and cause much damage and a crash.
I recently had my clutch line spring a slow leak, so I'll be replacing the brake lines to be on the safe side (same aged hoses).
To get good braking you need good tires, plain and simple. Other than that you should have rotors in good condition (no cracks or damage, not worn too thin), good pads (they make a world of difference), good fluid (helps prevents brake fade), and good lines. Big brake kits are wasted on most people and often will make a car stop worse than before (longer distances).
Hope that helps.
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