rear brake upgrade?

[Nasa]

did a search but came up with no results. i have the spoon bbk on the way and wanted to upgrade the rear also. didnt know if anyone makes a kit or if any brake kit from another car will bolt up thats bigger

[ITEM9]

There isn't anything for the rear, except for pads and rotors. I think the reason there isn't any rear calipers available for the CR-Z is because of how the parking brake is integrated into the caliper.

With that said, I don't think it's really necessary to go beyond pads and rotors for the rear. While the Spoon calipers will certainly help stop the car a little faster, we can't forget that bigger brakes are also about increased cooling capacity, perhaps even more so. The front brakes will have heat issues long before rears will, if they ever do at all. This is why fronts are vented and rears usually aren't. Also, I wouldn't worry too much about throwing off your brake bias, or anything like that, especially with ABS, since the Spoon Calipers were designed with all these factors in mind.

If it's about looks, you can try to paint match them, but the Spoon Calipers are anodized aluminum while the stock brakes are plated steel. I don't think you can really get paint to match anodizing all that well and steel doesn't anodize, so getting a match might not be easy. Or you could just go a totally different color...

[tempo]

I wouldn't worry too much about the rear brakes. The brake system is biased to the front, and the Spoon calipers should be valved to take that into consideration. If anything, a slightly sportier pad and rotor will be fine.

Also, a bigger rear rotor won't change the clamping characteristics in relation to the front, it will just have a higher thermal capacity.

I'm running slotted zinc coated rotors in the rear from BP. I'd recommend them if you are looking for a stock sized upgrade.

[$iriu$black]

Not to veer away from the topic, but do you need to upgrade brake lines and all other brake components for the Spoon calipers? Or do they run with the stock ones? I know you have to upgrade the rotors but thats all I know.

I posted another similar topic about BBKs, and since nobody has ever tried running the Brembo's, I think I might just go with the spoon ones. Besides, Nissin makes the OEM calipers so there mustn't be any issues with them at all with the Z...

[roddy]

i would recommend doing brake lines. upgrading those has a lot to do with increased stopping power.

[ITEM9]

I didn't upgrade my brake lines. I've heard of failures with braided lines when road grit gets between braids and wears away at them. Stainless lines with PTFE sheath should help alleviate this, but I haven't for sure verified that something is available for the CR-Z. A rubber line should still be the most reliable and that's the main reason I didn't upgrade.

Also it has less to do with stopping power and more to do with improved brake "feel." It should make the brakes feel more crisp and less spongy.

[cyeung]

I was a bit disappointed to not find any big brake kits for the rear. After all, if you get a big brake kit for the front, why not go ahead and do it for the rear as well? It turns out that there IS a reason:

• When you lose traction on your front tires, you lose directional control. For cars without ABS, it is something the driver can detect and correct. Even if it were not corrected, since the car's center of gravity is behind the front axle, there is a self-correcting moment which brings the vehicle in line.
• When you lose traction on your rear tires, you lose directional stability. That is, any small perturbation (steering, gust of wind, a bump) produces a yaw moment (I guess that means fishtailing).

Having taken three classes related to control theory now, losing stability is bad mojo. After learning that, I guess having slightly underpowered rear brakes is not that bad after all.

[$iriu$black]

So when getting the Spoon calipers what else should I get with it? I know rotors are a must. Brake pads too.

[ITEM9]

Originally Posted by $iriu$black

So when getting the Spoon calipers what else should I get with it? I know rotors are a must. Brake pads too.

You'll need rotors that fit an RSX-S and pads that fit an S2000, front as well as the rear, since the CR-Z acually uses the same rear pads as an S2000. You'll probably need a spacer depending on your wheels.

[Eagle_f90]

Originally Posted by cyeung

I was a bit disappointed to not find any big brake kits for the rear. After all, if you get a big brake kit for the front, why not go ahead and do it for the rear as well? It turns out that there IS a reason:

• When you lose traction on your front tires, you lose directional control. For cars without ABS, it is something the driver can detect and correct. Even if it were not corrected, since the car's center of gravity is behind the front axle, there is a self-correcting moment which brings the vehicle in line.
• When you lose traction on your rear tires, you lose directional stability. That is, any small perturbation (steering, gust of wind, a bump) produces a yaw moment (I guess that means fishtailing).

Having taken three classes related to control theory now, losing stability is bad mojo. After learning that, I guess having slightly underpowered rear brakes is not that bad after all.

If you look at BBK for FWD cars the rears are always balanced. The only point to geting a rear set for us would be looks. After this winter I will be working with a local honda pro shop to find a monoblock rear caliper.