Stainless Steel Brake Hose Upgrade worth it?

james · Post by **james** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:12 pm

My S2 has always had what I would refer to (compared to other cars I have owned) "spongy brakes" They are not bad enough to think there is any air in the system but when I press quite hard its not what I would describe as "rock solid."

My Fiat 127 Sport and even my old modified Mini had unservoed disc brakes and the pedals one those were absolutely solid as a brick.

Would an upgrade to braded hoses improve things much together with a replacement to DOT5 fluid? The car has only 14k miles on it and came from MMC with a current warranty if that helps. Ive never driven any other Elise so I cant compare them.

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:14 pm

Made a difference with mine, but so does a fluid change. Change the fluid and see what happens. Should be pretty much rock solid.

Post by **Shug** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:18 pm

Echo what Rich says. To add, brake compounds (and how they are bedded in) can also make a massive difference in feel and pedal solidity.

mac · Post by **mac** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:04 pm

BUT NOT DOT5

Super Dot4 is the way to go - but get a decent brand as the wet boiling point varies from make to make.

Mac

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:10 pm

Oh yeah, what he said, DOT 5 is for crapy old citroens. 5.1 is OK but i'll be using this stuff next:

http://www.performancesubaru.co.uk/prod ... d=86&cat=1

cos you can see when al the old stuff is out.

roadboy · Post by **roadboy** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:14 am

Braided lines do make a difference but you can get a rock hard pedal without them if you change the fluid and bleed them properly. It takes a lot of work to bleed the elise system properly and many have air in them.

As said above, don't use Dot5 fluid as this is silicon and is not compatible with the seals in the elise system. Super Dot4 is the way to go. Any decent Dot4 fluid will do if you change it regularly enough (ie. anually or bi-anually at the most)

HTH

Dan@JPS

tenkfeet · Post by **tenkfeet** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:34 am

I say this on every brake post but get an Eezy bleed. Makes life very easy and there is less chance of you knackering your master cylinder .

robin · Post by **robin** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:40 am

tenkfeet wrote:I say this on every brake post but get an Eezy bleed. Makes life very easy and there is less chance of you knackering your master cylinder .

How do you knacker your master cylinder bleeding the brakes? I am sure it's possible, but ...

Robin

mac · Post by **mac** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:55 am

By pushing the piston past the point that it normally sweeps, which could in time be rougher that the swept portion of the bore. When you bleeding brakes manually it's all too easy to slam you foot against the boards and and irrgularities in the bore could tear the seals.

Mac

james · Post by **james** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:52 pm

Thanks for the advise. Will think about changing the hoses and the fluid together then.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:16 pm

Only really noticeable on track when you're pounding the brakes.

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:28 pm

Gareth wrote:Only really noticeable on track when you're pounding the brakes.

Fluid isn't, but you're right about hoses....

james · Post by **james** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:45 pm

"It takes a lot of work to bleed the elise system properly and many have air in them. "

I've bled brakes before using EZ bleed so whats so difficult with the Elise? Surely there isnt any special tools needed?

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:58 pm

james wrote:"It takes a lot of work to bleed the elise system properly and many have air in them. "

I've bled brakes before using EZ bleed so whats so difficult with the Elise? Surely there isnt any special tools needed?

It's the front calipers. If you don't take them off and invert for a couple of bleeds, air can be trapped in the link pipe on them. Yes, this is even with an EZbleed.

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:25 pm

Still not too bad, but alot more involved and long winded. Also scare the bejesus out of spanner-phobes like Ed....