Alright so usually I come here asking what I feel to be dumb no brainer questions. The more time I've put into my 06 s, the more I've learned OEM OEM OEM. When I bought the car about 18 months ago... It needed brakes and a clutch, and spark plugs &&&&&& everything. So I put "bandaid" fixes on it until I could upgrade or afford the right things.

Cheap clutch-being replaced next week with act HD + OEM disc and bearings.
Spark plugs went OEM NGK iridium.

As far as brakes... I put auto zone pads with stop tech blank rotors.
I'm upgrading to Goodrich stainless steel braided lines, also upgraded clutch line to sos. Stainless.

Along with this line upgrade. Should I grab a set of OEM brake pads to put on while I've got everything disassembled? Or is there another good daily-long lived strong biting pad I should try?

The rotors are still great, no lip no grooves, only about 20k miles on them from install date. ( 3 days after I bought the car)

Going to be using OEM dot 3 fluid as its accessible and adequate.

Sorry for rambling. Thoughts criticism and feedback welcomed.

 

Stock pads ore good ,try to find AP1 ( i don't know if they are making them anymore - or are a replacement from civic)
I would recommend good brake fluid (dot 4) like ATE super blue or gold

 

yes, get stock brake pads. ap1 makes less dust. ap2 is fine.

and get a good dot 4 fluid like ate...or a dot 5 like motul if you don't mind changing more frequently.

 

I've had good luck with Carbotech 1521 pads , they work really well in all respects - good initial bite, low dust, low fade, no noise, and they work fine in cold temps. This is a street rated pad, not meant for track use.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Akebono-ACT829.../dp/B000C1LLMI

http://www.amazon.com/Akebono-ACT537.../dp/B000C1LLCS

Put these on a street driven S, they work awesome, at least for a ceramic street pad.

 

Pads are where you should focus when buying brake parts. For street driving, you'll likely never have issues with even the cheapest rotors. Stoptech street performance, Hawk HPS, and Powerstop Z23 are all great street pads that are better and cheaper than stock. Try rockauto.com for the (centric) Stoptech and Powerstop pads.

Fluid doesn't need to be anything special unless you're tracking the car. A good DOT3 or synthetic off the shelf DOT4 like Valvoline available at parts stores works great.

Lines upgrade the brake feel a little bit. So they're a nice touch.

 

I would use new rotors to match new pads, if you do replace them. I've always really hated the autozone pads. The lack of brake bite is so awful.

Again..rock auto has great deals on centric rotors.

 

OEM replacement pads would certainly be fine for daily driving. If you're looking for something aftermarket with a bit more bite, I recommend the Stoptech Street Performance pads. We have the front pads available on our website for $49.62 and the rears available for $41.11.

Fronts:
http://store.excelerateperformance.c.../i-380661.aspx

Rears:
http://store.excelerateperformance.c.../i-380592.aspx

 

As for the lines, ss with a tiny bit of air in the lines are not nearly as good as the stock lines. Its not easy to bleed all the air out of new lines.

The stock lines are very good. Don't replace them unless you are very confident you can bleed them perfectly. It may not be worth the tiny improvement ss lines could provide.

 

I second that. If you want ss lines you should be ready to go through a few bottles of fluid during the bleeding process with some abs engagements in between. Once the air is out though the brakes do feel amazing. Even without all the air out, initial pressure may be slightly soft but mid-press and onward feels more solid.

If you are going to be doing some moderate driving than most street pads will do. Aggressive canyons and light track, I'd use Hawk HPS or HP+ and better. Project Mu CR are great pads for serious track use and have very good cold bite for a track pad so it is very streetable. They do need a good few heat cycles before their cold bite gets up to par. Before that you need to stay away from people.

As far as rotors go, many track guys just use any blanks they find for cheap. Auto zone ones are awesome thanks to the lifetime warranty. I personally run centric premiums but they lasted about the same as a buddy who ran the exact same setup (pads, wheels, tires) with auto zone rotors. If you don't have ducting you'll crack any rotor under heavy use.