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| The Wilwood rear rotor is a full 1″ larger than stock which will provide greater braking force. |
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| After going back and forth three times we finally got the rotor orientation right in the caliper. |
Finally, the parking brake cable was routed from the calipers into the cabin attaching to the parking brake. We removed the center console and secured the cables to the factory mounting points. The parking brake is self-adjusting so we gave it a few dozen cranks until the car felt securely planted with the brake on.
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| Surprisingly the center console on the Civic SI comes out pretty easily or at least it does when you've recently installed a short shifter in your car (more on that next time). |
Considering the large margin of safety associated with properly installing a braking system the SI big brake kit from Wilwood really didn't require a lot of fiddling for installation. That's confidence inspiring considering those brakes have to haul your ego down. The BP-10 pads supplied in the kit provide great stopping power, don't squeak and are better than the stock pads as far as not leaving brake dust on your wheels. Wilwood classifies the pads as a medium friction with smooth engagement, low abrasion on iron rotors and low to medium wear rate and suitable for street use.
There's a lot available as far as aggressive pads and rotors that will work for the stock SI calipers. Fun for us is having a braking system that's so overbuilt that even the non-aggressive street pads are enough to bring the car to a halt at a track day. Add to that not having to switch pads and rotors around on the stock system and Kojima's famous words “Do you want to go fast or suck?” echo in my mind. There's no denying the cosmetic enhancement the big brakes made to the car in addition to credibility which is always welcome in the Honda world. Until next time, happy motoring!
