Green stuff installed
Ok, I spent all day working on my brakes, and friend's brakes. First of all...any of you who have NOT done brakes on a C4, but have on other cars...it WILL take more than 15 minutes per wheel. I knew it was going to be a little more complicated than a regular car, but wasn't expecting such a hassle. Still, ripping apart cars entertains me...so no big deal.
First of all, here is what I did. I changed the factory pads out, well what was left of them anyways, the screecher on the right rear was even chipped from contacting so much. I replaced the stock pads with EBC Green Stuff street/competition pads. They were my third choice as I have stated earlier...Kem Carbon being my first choice, followed by a close second (price would have made the difference) Raybestos Brute Stop. Couldn't find/get info on either easily and didn't have time to do an indepth search...the screeching was driving me nuts (this is my daily driver...and only car). I ordered the pads from TireRack.com and they showed up a day later! Talk about service! Thats another topic however. Back to the brakes.
The front rotors were still in really good shape, just a little bit of a lip on the outer edge of the rotors, with the complicated removal process of the front rotors, I used a file and smoothed out the lip. Just rested the file on the caliper and held the file against the rotor while a buddy turned it. A minute later and it was done. The rear rotors however were in rough shape...those went to the shop and were turned proffesionally. Looks like this is the first time the back brakes have been off the car since new. Since I didn't know what kind of brake fluid the previous owner had used (probably just DOT 3) and I wanted to prevent the brake fluid from boiling...i.e. I wanted the fluid to match the new brakes performance capabilities, I flushed the entire brake system out and serviced it with DOT 5 fluid...good for 500 degrees. I don't anticipate getting the brakes that hot more than maybe once or twice a day...
so that should do it. Just kidding, I can't afford to go through pads that quick! It will ensure that on the occasion I do "play" I won't boil my brakes. The pads are good for 600 degrees before fade, so I should be able to stop with certainty. Installation of everything was straight forward. Now for a little performance review. Manufacture suggests 300 miles of easy braking to wear in the new pads. I'm looking at closer to 500 since I didn't turn the front rotors. However, initial brake performance is a noticable improvement over stock...and QUIET!!! WOW!!! I've never heard a C4 with such quiet brakes during applicaiton. Very impressed. The weight of my foot on the brakes is enough to easily bring the car to a stop where normal, planned braking is concerned. I can't wait to actually put them through their paces and start bouncing eye balls off the windshield! I did have a fairly rapid and more than normal application tonight while avoiding some merging traffic and it quickly and smoothly brought the car down from 70 to under 45 instantly...and that was hardly any peddle at all! I put about 70 miles on them tonight, both on the highway and around town and when I got home I checked the wheels out...not a spec of dust! Very impressive. That about sums up the initial review...after I get some more miles on them and driving time with them installed, I'll post again. Probably after I've gotten 500 miles on it so I can drop anchor and see if the body leaves the chassis!:crazy
One more thing...eventually I'll be installing steel brake lines as well. I want my stopping performance to be better than my acceleration and speed capablities before I start adding more ponies. Once those are installed (not ordered yet) I'll follow up here with another review.
