Are caliper "upgrades" worth it? Wilwood makes a static 4-piston caliper to replace factory 1-piston sliding caliper, for my Honda Fit.


Here you go. Cheap and effective. Think you'll need at least 17" wheels.


Calipers are inexpensive too. Have fun!
 
I had a 2012 Honda Fit- I worked out of town for a year. 60 mile commute to and from work 7 days a week. Lots of country road driving, stop lights and stop signs on that commute.

Heres what you need to do- replace both front brake hoses. Install front and rear either Raybestos EHT or Wagner Thermoquiet pads front and rear.. and either of those names on the front rotors. This will significantly increase your stopping power but will create more heat.. so just learn to keep your following distance in this car. This lessens your front rotor warpage by about half especially in wet weather.

All the money that you save on gas goes towards those front brakes that often warp. I had one of my hoses fail internally and cost me a new set of rotors and pads..its just cheap insurance.

The brakes are undersized for anything more than basic city traffic neighborhood driving.

As for the Brembo idea- im not sure that the factory master cylinder could handle it... its tiny and the brake fluid system is small.. so i assume alot of heat would go thru it.

After working all day 7 days a week and the long commutes, i had to keep a spare set of pads and rotors at home. I think i warped 3 sets of rotors in a year.
 
Tires stop the car, not the brakes. Unless you are running R Comps, this won’t really improve anything.
Going to have to disagree with you there. Your statement is only true in a full-power stop. And only for the first one.

I could cook the stock brakes on a Fit in 10 minutes, with stock tires, at the speed limit, on some twisty NC backroads.
 
If you're interested in putting on bigger brakes, Integra type-r calipers with mini cooper rotors are a great buy - You get 11" rotors and plenty of type-r's do track days with no issues on stock brakes - Type R calipers are very common and cheap as well.
 
Better pads and tires will pay dividends on that Fit. A Fit’s a city car, it’s light and practical.

I’d see if calipers off another Honda model can fit.
 
Was there ever a time during your daily drives when you didn't have enough stopping power???
 
These are the kits they make for the 2012 Honda Fit: https://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/B...ke=Honda&model=Fit&option=Base&axle=Front+Kit

In particular, I'm looking at this one: https://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/B...-R&year=2012&make=Honda&model=Fit&option=Base

It's just the 4-piston forged STATIC caliper and brake pad. It can be found at some vendors for about 400 dollars. That's about 2.5X to 3X the cost of stock replacement (sliding 1-piston, cast metal, not forged) caliper + pad kits found at RockAuto, so it's borderline worth it IF AND IF it offers superior performance.

What do you think?

Wilwood makes a "big brake kit" for my car, but those won't clear my wheels and are frankly more than I'd like to spend..

On the other hand, for superior performance, I might just replace the OEM ceramic pads with semi-metallics for only 30 dollars and call it a day. I hear that semi-metallic offer greatly superior stopping power but eats rotors. I honestly don't care, the rotors can be replaced every 2 years for 60 bucks.

Thoughts?
If you need braking performance, swap in a set of hawk HPS.....or for light track duty, HP Plus, and do a conversion to disc's in the rear if you have stock drums.

Keep in mind clamping for will be limited by master cylinder output as well.

A friend of mind and I ran his well prepped track only BMW, with stock rotors, calipers, with motel fluid and dedicated track pads.

Sliding rotors are fine, keep the pins lubed.....pads and fluid make a big difference in pedal feel and cold / Hot performance
 
Thanks.

Based on everyone's input, the Wilwoods are mostly for looks only and are a waste of money.
 
Thanks.

Based on everyone's input, the Wilwoods are mostly for looks only and are a waste of money.
I wouldn't say that at all, especially based on the opinion of members here that don't see any reason to upgrade your brakes in the first place.

The only dig I have against the Wilwoods is they don't let you fit larger rotors.
 
I have 8 piston calipers on the front of my car. Stops pretty quick. 👁👁
 

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