Vince's Stuff: Short evening at ICAR last week

Now that I am caught up on my post-trip updates, I can start writing about the period since I got back. Last week, I decided to head to ICAR with the RSX for evening lapping. I checked my brake pad thickness on the front passenger side and there was not much pad material left. I still calculated that I had enough for a few sessions at ICAR. Oscar is still on holiday so he joined me.

Oscar chilling behind the RSX

The brake pedal didn't feel great at the beginning of the session. I was running in the green group, so I was basically just being passed by GT3's and V8's. I was able to follow a 944 for a lap or so, but even it was faster than the RSX. I was having fun, but the braking was getting worse and worse and by the end of the session, the pedal was really soft. My best lap time was actually not terrible, a 1:19.1, only 3/10 of a second slower than my best in June. The brake pedal was basically on the floor as I pulled into the paddock.

I decided we should pack up and head home. I took it very easy because I did not want to have to test the brakes for real on the road. At home, I immediately ordered some inexpensive "performance" front pads. I had already ordered and received some new front discs from Carl. I figured I might as well change the rear pads too, so I ordered some Bosch street pads and the tool to retract the piston on the rear calipers. I realized that never in my life had I changed rear pads on any of my track cars! Crazy, I know, but they don't wear that fast and often it was friends or professionals that worked on my Hondas. Anyway, I put the car up on jack stands to attack this job last Thursday. I saw that there was brake fluid dripping from the front passenger side caliper, and tried to get it off. The caliper would not pivot off the bracket, because the backing plate for one of the pads had fused to the piston... oops! This was entirely my fault. I had to remove the whole bracket to get the piston out. There was no way I would be able to reuse this caliper, but luckily for me, Carl had a replacement in stock and I went to buy it. In my defense, the driver side pads were still not worn down to the metal!

Brake job for the RSX

The rear pads were also completely finished, a couple of them down to the backing plate... good thing I had ordered some. I was able to use my new tool to retract the pistons in the rear, but it was still very tight to get the caliper back on. My cheap performance front pads did not arrive yet, so I installed some Bosch street pads in front as well. It was also very tight in front, and I even had to remove the shims on the pads to be able to fit the caliper back on. I bled the new caliper and everything seems OK now after a test drive. . With all the new parts installed, braking should be pretty good, even on track with street pads... I hope. We will see tomorrow evening!