Let’s just jump right into this Honda fam. The OEM brakes found on the 11th generation series of Honda Civic just aren’t that impressive. I mean they are fine for the commute and maybe some spirited canyon carving with nice long straights to cool down in between the corners but when it comes to on-track performance they just can’t hang.

This was the scenario with the 10th generation non-type R Civics so this is no surprise. We are not saying that they are bad per se but once the power bumps up and the driving speeds increase we need more stopping power.

For this design blog series we are going to check out the front brakes on the 2022+ Honda Civic Si. If you are rocking a Touring or EX then your brakes are actually even smaller than what’s in this blog. Don’t sweat it because our upgrade kit will work on all the trims for 2022+ Honda Civic.

Let’s start with the brake caliper. The OEM caliper is a pretty standard affair made from a one-piece cast design. It utilizes a single 55.5mm piston and has a full-floating caliper. That means the caliper can move side to side on the bracket to which it is attached. Brake fluid is fed in through a single rubber hose. This assembly comes in at a heavy 12.5lbs. Increasing piston count will improve working surface area to push the pad to the rotor. Playing with different sizes and counts of pistons is one of the many ways we can improve braking performance.

Next, let’s look at the brake rotor. The OEM brake rotor measures 312mm tall by 25mm thick which is a good size for this car. The rotor is cast iron and vented to aid in cooling. These bad boys tip the scales at 18.2 lbs. each. Almost always the rotor is the heaviest part of the braking system because it takes a lot of heat and abuse. You want a lot of thermal mass here so that you can pull heat away from the rotor/pad interface and keep things cool. We will be looking for a bigger rotor so that we can increase thermal mass.

We round out our examination of the Honda Civic brake system by checking out the brake pads. These are semi-metallic pads with good thickness for longevity and weigh 1.8lbs. This compound is not the best for racing or repeated hard stops but is pretty quiet for daily use and trouble-free. They work in very cold temperatures so they don’t require any sort of warm-up like more aggressive pad compounds. However, in return for longevity and cold performance they have a tendency to fade on the track. We’ll explore different pad compounds for a more performance oriented compromise between stopping power and low maintenance.

Add up all the above components along with caliper brackets and hardware and you get 32.5lbs for one side, 65lbs for the front brakes. This is not too bad all things considered. Let’s see if we can cut some weight. If we can keep a similar weight, but increase size in several areas that will be a win. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 as we explore the details of our big brake kit (BBK) and announce the release. 

REDEFINE the Aftermarket 

-Vincent