Rear Big Brake Kit==Help

[Brent]

Soooooo... no one has said they have to have these or their cars will fail or they will get better braking out of them(only as good as your tires), but I encounter so many people that have this misconception, I thought I'd have some disorganized thoughts here

RZ/Spirit R essentially do the exact same thing as the racing brake rears. They bring the pad out farther to create more torque. Pad size/brake pad contact patch is the same. As someone that has ran all configurations extensiviely on track, I will relay a of my thoughts:

1. If you aren't extensively tracking your car and have been for a long time(ie 20+ track days), you don't need larger brakes, period. You may want them because they look cool, but you don't need them. Certainly not for street use. If you want to stop faster... get better/stickier tires and a more aggressive brake pad. Stock brakes with aggressive pads will exceed the limit of almost any street tire.

2. Between the 93-95, RZ/Spirit R's, and Racing Brake, the additional stopping power is negligible at best. The where the RZ and RB help, is larger rotors. Eventually, you will crack rotors on the 93-95 set up if you are running 20-30 minute sessions on track AND not cooling down your brakes afterward(ie driving around the paddock). You will also have the same problem if you run cross drilled rotors and track your car, regardless of how big your brakes are. What is also given is that you are getting the most out of your brakes. Most guys starting out on track aren't anywhere near the limits of their brakes to do this. I just put my RZ/spirit R rears on my yellow FD(stoptech fronts) for an event this next weekend... there is no distinguishable stopping difference between the RZ/Spirit R's, the 93-95's, or the RB's other than the rotors won't crack like the 93-95's.

3. If you are experiencing "brake" fade where the pedal goes to the floor, you are actually experiencing fluid fade where your fluid is boiling at the caliper. There are alot of reasons for this. Most of the time, it's because you have never changed your brake fluid in the car since the factory in Japan put it in the car in 93

4. The other part of the equation is matching your caliper pistons with your master cylinders, or in the stock FD's case, the master cylinder. Generally stock is fine, but sometimes the pedal can be a little soft on certain FD's. The 929 master cylinder seems to be a good solution if, after you change your calipers, you encounter this issue.

Fritz Flynn, who has tracked FD's for more than 10 years now and I would argue has more seat time than any FD owner on track(and prob. pushes the car more than anyone I've ever encountered), currently runs the stock 93-95 rears on his current track car(been tracking it for about 4 years) with the brembo fronts.

In conclusion, if you want them to just have them on your car and your money is burning a hole in your pocket... I can respect that... but don't think you HAVE to have them.