Minor Brake Upgrading

[604_ep3]

During my recent DC race headers installation I decided to try a little brake upgrade. After reading some post of brake fade issue, especially with the close proximity of the brake hard lines to the header, it made sense the a little heat wrap couldn’t hurt. I am still waiting for stainless brake lines and some ATE Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid Dot 4 to complete my braking system upgrade but every little bit helps, especially when it comes to your brakes. I did not think that there would be that much difference in brake fade but hey I am willing to try anything if it makes sense, and this mod made sense to me. My current setup is a set of Powerstop Slotted Front rotors, factory rear rotors and Hawk HP Plus brake pads all around. Even with the slotted rotors the brake fade after a long hard drive was still noticeable.

The parts


I decided to try wrapping the hard lines along the fire wall in some DEI cool tape. This is an adhesive backed foil which can withstand up to 1500 degrees, way more than we should see in this area. I choose this product because it is very thin and would be easy to work with around hard lines, as opposed to the thicker tapes offered by DEI. With the adhesive backing on the tape it made it easy to install. The only hard part was having to work in shorter strips to stop the tape from curling. Even under normal circumstances it should not be too hard to do you just have to remove the lower cowl piece in front of the windshield and you can access the hard lines.

Before:


After:


It is by no means an immediately noticeable mod. But after 5-10 minutes of hard driving on my favorite mountain road, there was much less fade. I would say almost 15 minutes before the brake fade became a danger. It would not say it’s eliminated but it took more time to induce brake fade. Before doing this mod I could get the brakes to start fading within 5 minutes of driving on the same stretch of road. I did notice before during long periods of city driving, that a few repetitive hard applications of the brakes would induce fade but that issue seems to have been rectified. I was pleasantly surprised that such a simple mod could improve this problem. It by no means solves it but gives you more time before the brakes start to fade.

My next mod for improved braking it going to be stainless lines and a couple liters of Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid Dot 4 to complete my braking system.

[eugenekim.net]

beautifully done.

[White05X3]

I have read the posts concerning header induced fade and have a couple of questions...

1. Are people noticing this with the stock exhaust manifold?
2. Did the change to ATE SuperBlue make a difference for you?

Thanks!

[cappykd]

Nice job, nice write-up +1 rep.

I picked up almost the exact same parts to address the braking issues. I have 2 quarts of super blue, stainless lines for the 4 corners and clutch and some heat wrap.
I got all that stuff at the same time as my new zinc coated slotted drilled rotors all the way around and Axxis ultimate pads f/r. I ended up putting the rotor, and pads on first and I'm just waiting for a nice day to install the lines and do a bleed.
The pads made a huge difference. I expect the lines and heat wrap to help as well.

[reaper702]

definately doing something like this in the near future. slotted vented front disc rotors + hps pads + motul brake fluid + stainless steel lines + that cool tape maybe. +1 rep

[604_ep3]

Originally Posted by cappykd

Nice job, nice write-up +1 rep.

I picked up almost the exact same parts to address the braking issues. I have 2 quarts of super blue, stainless lines for the 4 corners and clutch and some heat wrap.
I got all that stuff at the same time as my new zinc coated slotted drilled rotors all the way around and Axxis ultimate pads f/r. I ended up putting the rotor, and pads on first and I'm just waiting for a nice day to install the lines and do a bleed.
The pads made a huge difference. I expect the lines and heat wrap to help as well.

You will definately enjoy the even better braking response with the lines and fluid. The heat wrap will help with the heat soak issues in the factory braking system. You will really like the super blue, all the advantages of dot 5 with no negatives.