I don't see the lines making a difference in terms of fade, they do help bigtime with pedal feel though. I put braided stainless in my 900, pedal is like a rock. What he MAY have been getting at is that standard brake fluid can boil relatively easily under heavy/frequent braking. You can replace with one of the boutique fluids (eg superblue) to prevent.

 

^^Agreed.

Breaded lines with help firm up the pedal feel. While it will help a little once things get real heated up, your main components to brake fade are your pads/rotors/fluid if it's reached it's boiling point.

 

If you've never done a brake fluid flush, it's time.

I did a full flush and switched to ATE Super Blue, added Vig/Aero front brakes with Hawk HPS pads along with 300mm Aero rear brakes and stainless lines throughout. The brakes are nice and firm and repeatedly react the same over the course of a long, spirited drive.

 

now to figure out why people talk to douchers

 

It will help some for sure; brake fluid gets extremely hot when brakes are used a lot thus causing old crappy rubber lines to expand. I immediately noticed a difference when switching to braided lines on my auto x car. But if you are not using super blue, put that in first or just man up, install ss lines, and change fluid. Hell, you are doing everything else to that car. 

 

Bogan, are you having any issues with brake fade or were you jsut trying to find any truth in his words?

turbo00 and marks9-3 summed it up nicely, i dont think he really ment true brake fade. just that you get a squishier peddle and have to push it further when those rubber lines heat up or ware out. make sure your heat sheild for your brakes is still there and not rusted and broke off. that will cause more ware on all the parts in that aere.

Also, brake fluid flush is something most people neglect. any soft peddle issues and i would start there, then repalce the rubber lines or upgrade to ss lines.

For brake fade issues, economy pads and rotors are usually to blame unless your auto-x or just pushing your car hard. good ceramic pads and big meaty rotors usually solve that problem.

 

My brakes are generally only good for one push, Then they turn to marshmallows.
I have all new fluid in the lines, but everything is completely stock.

He also said the braided Vectra lines fit our cars. Anybody done that?

Were is the best place to get new lines from.

I think it is about time I done something to my brakes. they are good for "normal" driving but I'm really starting to notice how bad they are when I drive like an arsehole

 

Lots of good info at this website.

Essex - Learning Center - How to Choose the Best Street and Track Brake Pads

I will also add my experience with my current setup. I have a SE with viggen front brake rotors, hawk HPS pads, and full stainless lines. I only change my fluid once a year with Valvoline dot 4. I don't do track days, just aggressive street driving.

Going to the hawk pads my initial bite felt less but as heat built up braking ability increased, and remained consistent. But the brakes didn't feel that much more impressive then when all stock, better but not great. The pads are low dust, have no noise, and decent if you don't push them to the limit of their heat range.

I have a off ramp on my daily commute thats down a hill to a stop light. If i take this ramp at over 100mph and try to brake as late as possible to make the light, scrubbing my speed down 30 mph, the brakes loose their bite. Resulting in pushing the pedal with more force, until you hit abs. Not the most confidence inspiring feeling. Now the pedal always feels firm, just no bite, from my understanding this is due to the brake pad gassing.

Ive run hawk hp pads on my rx7, which i really liked, but the hps seems to be to much of a street pad for me. I personally am going to try the ferodo ds2500 brake pads, upgrade to the aero rear brake calipers, and rotors.

 

Yea, different lines do nothing for fade, I would say 100% brake pedal feel especially if only one stop. If they are fading that quick then you have another issue. Faulty master cyl or faulty calipers.......

The braided lines simply improve feel due to less line flex, if its needed I dunno...... Especially for a street car. I added them 20 years ago to my old SPG and added them to my viggen a few years ago when I went with ap racing brakes on my viggen.

Not a clue on vectra lines.... It is the same chassis so its a possibility... The vectra never arrived here in the states

 

Thanks guys,

I'll get some braided lines on there asap, and see what happens.

 

Any tips on the caliper bleeding screws? Mine are a bit rusty and I'm concerned they would snap off if I tired to open them.....

 

Give them a spray with WD-40 or similar.

And give them a firm crack with a good spanner.

 

PB Blast is better... and apply it for a few days in a row if you're really concerned that they will snap.

I like a 6 pt socket to break free, then an open end while bleeding. Consider replacing the bleeders if they are in rough shape so that they break free again next time you do the job.

 

While on this topic, how much fluid does one need to flush all the lines/fill with a new type of fluid?

 

Get two bottles of fluid.

It will take like 1 and a 1/2.

 

Good flare wrenchs are something that you probably won't use much but are worth spending money on. It will save you from headaches while doing the job, craftsman pro a pretty good but don't bother with the regular craftsman flare wrenches. Make sure when you put it on the fitting that it is right size and doesn't wiggle.

 

Take your car to Pedders

 

Finally have everything here. GenSaab was out of stock of the normal stainless lines for a week or so.

 

So I was hitting the lines with PB blaster and the existing rear hardlines go behind the spring/shock to the caliper. The stainless lines seem much shorter, these going to go in front of that and just go right behind the rotor?

 

The two lines with the banjos are for the front calipers.
The two shorter stainless lines are from the body to the axle.
The blue coated lines are from the axle to the rear calipers.

The blue coated lines are actually designed for the 300mm rear Aero upgrade. Are you doing that as well?


MMMM Dogfish head...

 

Yup doing the 300mm rear upgrade, already have the 308mm fronts on.

I had all the lines worked out, just didn't seem like enough length for the new lines in the rear. I'll figure it out, it's not rocket science.

 

Excellent..... I can't wait to see how this turns out

Nice work Mark