Honda Civic Gen 8/9/10/11 Big Brake Kit
Shortly after we got our 10th gen Civic we realized there was a distinct lack of brake kit options. We set out to put together a brake kit that uses the a range of high quality components which also gives the customer control over their consumable costs and we feel we hit the bullseye with what we put together.
To start, the kit utilizes EBC Apollo 4 piston brake calipers. These calipers are high quality units made in the UK and are offered in two versions, Street and Track. The Street version is better than any OEM brake setup without question and bring a host of upgrades to the table like:
- Hard anodized aluminum pistons to reduce heat transfer to the brake fluid.
- Hard anodized aluminum caliper bodies help to stiffen the body of the caliper and reduce flex under hard use as well as be more corrosion resistant.
- 4 color options (black, red, blue, yellow) that is applied as a high temperature lacquer which won't degrade under high temperatures like powdercoated finishes do on other calipers.
- Stainless steel bleed screws and crossover tubes which won't corrode from time and wear like plated steel parts do.
- Dust boots, while common on many OEM fixed calipers, are not often found in aftermarket braking calipers and help to keep the fluid seals from leaking in very dusty or corrosive environments as well as protect the pistons from corrosion.
- Changing pads only requires the removal of one bolt and they pull out of the top, no messing around with finicky pins like factory style fixed calipers use.
- Tons of pad compound options which gives the customer a wide selection to choose from to give them their desired brake feedback and performance.
The Track version caliper is very similar to the Street version with some small differences. It is only available in a grey hard anodized finish. This finish is impervious to heat, brake fluid and brake clean. It also does not use dust boots since they are not able to withstand prolonged heavy brake heat without degrading. Lastly, the piston material is stainless steel instead of hard anodized aluminum to reduce heat transfer to the brake fluid.
The amazing features don't stop at the caliper though. The rotors used are from a Nissan 350Z and we did this for the following reasons:
- It has both 1 and 2 piece aftermarket options which are both easy to source and respectively not expensive.
- It has a 12mm larger diameter (324mm vs 312mm for Si) and more importantly it is 5mm thicker (30mm vs 25mm). This results in a rotor that has ~25% greater thermal capacity than the stock Si rotor. For customers who want to use their car for track use, this is paramount in keeping brakes from failing or wearing excessively fast.
- The dimensions of this rotor allow for it to be used in conjunction with the factory brake dust shield which protects the rubber boots on the ball joint and tie rod end from brake heat that can cause them to harden and crack.
- The combination of this rotor diameter and the EBC caliper mean there is less than a 2% brake bias change from the factory Si caliper setup. This is very often overlooked by others and is almost never correct with calipers retrofitted from other vehicles (sometimes it's as far off as 20%!), and because it is changed so little, the factory ABS system will still function exactly as it should with minimal changes to brake pedal travel.
But wait, there's more! Our brake caliper mounting brackets are made from billet 7075 aluminum and they're anodized black for corrosion protection and a nice stealth look. Upgraded braided stainless steel brake lines are available but the factory brake lines are compatible with the EBC calipers too. Everything in these kits is made in the USA and UK!
We skipped no corners when we devised our brake kit and after you install it on your Civic you won't have to think twice about your brakes when carving up the corners!
This brake kit is compatible with 8th and 9th gen Civic Si as well, with the exception that 8th or 9th gen brake lines must be used respectively.
Wheel clearance template can be found HERE
OUR BRAKE KIT DOES NOT INCLUDE PADS. With how many different pad compounds there are we don't want customers to pay for something they may not use. Please see the links below for pads for our brake kit:
- EBC Redstuff
- EBC Yellowstuff
- EBC Bluestuff
- EBC RP-1
- EBC RP-X
- EBC SR-11
- EBC SR-21
- Hawk Peformance Ceramic
- Hawk HPS
- Hawk HPS 5.0
- Hawk HP+
- Hawk DTC-60
- Hawk DTC-70
- Contact us for other options
Compatible braided brake lines can be found below:
Titanium pad shims can be found below:
Customer Reviews
Have a pretty terrible pad dragging/squeaking noise while driving and finally got so frustrated I needed to get to the bottom of it! This time reading EBC manuals and not just Wunderladen's instructions. I am really taking measurements leaving nothing to chance. Oh, I tried anti-squeak shims and didn't solve the problem. These pads are dragging just enough to squeak and not allow sufficient cooling. Glazed my rotors twice... TWICE!
I measured the calipers to see if they are aligned and centered correctly. Measured around 1.35mm inboard top and bottom and 2.5mm outboard from hardware to rotor. This means calipers are off center (toward the outboard) by 0.6mm. EBC manual says MINIMUM 1.5mm on either side of the rotor is required so 1.35mm is not enough clearance for proper operation per EBC. Wunderladen's caliper bracket is off center by 0.6mm and needs to be shimmed so the pistons can release properly from both sides of the rotor. I HOPE I've identified THE issue and not just A issue; I don't have M14 shims on hand to test and confirm at the time I am writing this... I will have to report back when I get those. If it doesn't fix my problem though then I think these calipers are... Not saying it.
One of my bleed valves is a leaker... I tried cleaning it twice and it still leaks while driving (and torqued to 17Nm), I think there is a burr or something preventing it from seating properly from the manufacturer. I highly recommend you remove the valves and inspect the threads prior to installation because it is difficult to do when the caliper is installed and brake fluid present. Also, on this particular caliper both bleed valves were way over torqued from the manufacturer which sucks because now one valve is stubbornly leaking.
I used to have answers and now just questions...
Why doesn't the kit come with shims for the bracket?
Why is the bracket not machined with the correct offset?
Am I the guinea pig for the 11th gen civic?
I just wanted to provide a little follow up since I am not able to edit my previous review.
Having installed the big brake kit with 15mm spacers (Pictured) I just wanted to mention the clearance from the caliper to the stock rim is approx. 2mm. A 2-3mm clearance is largely considered to be the MINIMUM safe clearance for most driving conditions. That being said, it is still a little close for comfort in my humble opinion.
I would rather recommend 18mm spacers over the 15mm when running stock rims on the 11th Gen Civic. The reason being 18mm spacer provide a generous wheel clearance of 5mm which allows plenty of room for rim flex and heat expansion in extreme cornering. It may not need that much room, but I simply feel better about it...
Oh yes, one more important detail I omitted! The installation of 15mm or 18mm hub-centric spacers require trimming of the OEM wheel studs so get out your grinders...
Also want to mention, the slightly heavier steering feel and added suspension pre-load from said spacers/increased track width is negligible in my opinion from the driver's seat.
I am only giving 4.5 stars because I am not able to install this kit and run the stock wheels due to additional offset required for the wheel to clear the new and much larger calipers. I had to purchase separately a set of 15mm hub centric wheel spacers in order to fit the stock wheels back on the vehicle. If this fitment info was stated clearly in the product ad I would rate these 5 stars. I felt very slightly mislead but I should have known better.
Just a suggestion: It would be nice if Wunderladen would offer a light weight rotor option for one stop shoppin'!
Pros: Massive braking performance. Very nice looking and high quality 4-pot calipers and the brackets are nicely machined and all are fairly light weight. The EBC calipers are lighter than the stock calipers and 4-pot vs single pot. This kit is a great value, using 350Z rotors means some much lighter weight floating rotors can be had for an overall reduction in unsprung weight.
Cons: You may have guessed the EBC steel rotors are a bit heavier than I'd prefer, I haven't weighed everything to provide a specific weight comparison vs stock, but from handling the components during installation I am fairly certain this kit with EBC steel blank or slotted rotors does not provide an unsprung weight reduction over the stock rotors & calipers (to be fair, it doesn't claim to). The EBC steel rotors are much heavier than the stock rotors due to their larger size and thickness (and sharing the same material). Adding to the additional unsprung weight, a set of 15mm+ hub-centric wheel spacers was required in order for the stock rims to clear the larger calipers. Adding to unsprung weight means you sacrifice some acceleration which is noticeable if you are really in tune with your car.
It is a massive improvement over the stock brakes and even with the heavier rotors, I would recommend this kit if you were aggressively out driving your stock brakes on the track or in the canyons.
Looks great and works great. I noticed a definite increase in braking performance and a decrease in brake fade after multiple hard stops over the stock set-up. Money well spent.
I did 2 sessions of 18min today and wow this kits is a gems. The stopping power pair with the SR-11 are like x4 vs oem on my 10th gen si. I didn't feel any fade and the big rotor 350z ebc bsd did the job to handle the heat of the pad. I feel after my sessions the SR-11 squeal a bit less and I was able to stop with 0 noise on a low pedal pressure. On litle bit of pressure they can squeal a bit like dtc30 or 60 but I can live with it. This kit improved my lap time for sure !
This kit is perfect if you need to upgrade ur time lap. You can brake at last minute and improve ur time. They are perfect for my track that require alot of braking power and constancy.
An happy customer !
