One place you can often find the 27WON team is at the race track doing some R&D on our products to ensure we deliver you guys the best performance parts for your 10th generation Honda Civic.

Having had both our in-house FK7 (Hatchback Sport) and FC1 (SI) on track numerous times, we have discovered a handful of weak points on the chassis. One pain point, in particular, you will notice on your Civic is the front brakes.

The biggest hurdle that we ran into with the FK7 that was not as bad on the SI was the OEM brake system and its inability to handle track duty on a competition compound tire. We spent much of the FK7 track day getting in 4-6 really good laps before we had to ease up dramatically due to the OEM pads gassing so fast. We ended the track day with brake pads that wore down to the backing plate and with a car that did not inspire confidence in the braking zones.

With that set of conclusions drawn we wanted to dig in to the two systems and compare them. We were looking to see what the differences were between the systems and if we could easily install the SI brake set-up under our Sport Hatchback Model.

The differences between the two cars are quite dramatic.

HBS

• 23mm thick

• 280mm width

• 48mm tall

• 55mm pad engagement surface

• 5.960 Kg

SI

• 25mm thick

• 310mm width

• 48mm tall

• 60mm pad engagement surface

• 7.750 Kg

Unfortunately it’s not a simple task to swap parts between the cars. The brackets and knuckles where different between the models. After the cost to get everything you would need to get it done we thought there could be a better way.

Now knowing that the SI swap for the FK7 is not something that would yield amazing results, we are left in a bind. How do we upgrade? An aftermarket pad and rotor upgrade for anything but the Type R’s is fairly non-existent so far. Is there a way we can improve on OEM brakes? Is there a way to REDEFINE a brake kit for the civic enthusiast?

We think there might. So hold on tight and check back for more about the Civic braking system in a few weeks.

Till next time

-Vincent