My Brake Issues Explained! | EKR Garage Vlog

On this garage Vlog episode, I talk about my brake system and explain why I Tap the brake pedal so much before brakes zones. I also discover a few issues which caused a soft pedal and fix them!
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Buy the parts you see here and more at Hybridracing.com
⬇️ GLTC Supertouring Civic Sedan Specs ⬇️
▫️JDM K24A on e85. 235 whp (full power) / 205 whp (GTLC detune). PRB oil pump, Unit2Fab Elite oil pan, 50 degree vtc.
▫️Swap accessories, fueling, short shifter, and more by Hybridracing.
▫️ Haltech Elite 1500 ECU, tuning by Rick Nelson. Rywire Motorsports grade plug & play engine harness for Haltech.
▫️RSX-S transmission with close ratio gears, 5.4 FD and OsGiken LSD. Custom raised engine mounts by Hasport.
▫️Fluids supplied by Motul, 300v Gear300, RBF660. Cooling by Chase Bays.
▫️Custom spec'd Fortune Auto Dreadnought tripple adjustable coilovers with Eibach ERS. Custom control arms designed in colab with Hybridracing, machined by Pat at Old Boys.
▫️12" Stoptech Big Brake kit provided by Fastbrakes, Hawk ER1 pads. OEM ITR rear brake setup. Tilton 850 pedal box.
▫️18x10.5 +27 TSW Kenmora with 265/35/18 Kumho v730 front / 18x8.5 +38 with 225/40/18 Kumho v730 rear.
▫️Aero by Racebred Components

[@RidgeRunner333]

I think the best thing about watching such a competitive Honda civic, is knowing it’s home garage built and maintained.

[@EricKutilRacing]

Absolutely man! One man garage! I have plenty of support though, that's for sure!

[@deanw9705]

What you're experiencing is called pad knock-off. Doing a safety tap of the brake pedal is an essential habit to get into at the track. That you do it instinctively, shows excellent racecraft :)

[@chadl.981]

These Vlogs are extremely informative. Makes me want to go check the torque on my aluminum caliper adapter brackets before my next HPDE.

[@EricKutilRacing]

Glad to help haha

[@TURBOTRISTO]

Love the vlogs mate, very very inspiring, I am petitioning for gltc here in Australia I really wish we had this series! People might wanna see vids on the daily integra aswell in the off season

[@EricKutilRacing]

That would be awesome, gltc international!

[@TURBOTRISTO]

@@EricKutilRacing yes please, in Australia we love motor racing and these types of festival events

[@driftr6068]

Appreciate the insight and all the hard work, Eric! Can't wait to see you tackle Mid Ohio. Always thought the braking thing was an old brake pumping/loading tick 😅 The wheel well and rear facing cams are 🤌 Let's get it!

[@EricKutilRacing]

Coming soon!

[@SamOperchuck]

the shot of the bolt head clearing the inner diameter of the rotor made me smile haha

[@ayoustin6077]

If you still have issues with soft brakes, consider moving to floating rotors. Good stuff man

[@EricKutilRacing]

Yeah. That's another solution for sure. I've ran them on my previous brake setup

[@bhumiriady]

I have to admit, this is definitely one fascinating garage vlog! It's quite technical, but still easy to understand.^^

[@EricKutilRacing]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah. I definitely want to do more of these. Discuss issues and work my way through them while recording the process!

[@bhumiriady]

@@EricKutilRacing Cheers, fella! Also, I'm definitely looking forward to more installments of EKR Garage Vlog.^^

[@DomkeBoy]

@@EricKutilRacing you should, you’re really good at it! I haven’t been on IG for a while, so I’m glad to see you making all these awesome videos on YT.

[@josephmatuszak3855]

I almost always tap the brakes just a touch before the actual zone to "set" the pads after going thru corners. I definitely notice the pads walk away from the rotors after corners or long straights or bumps.

[@rayray7521]

The foot work is amazing

[@Wreckerboy]

Every Spec Miata driver in the world knows why you do that!

[@sherlockhommez]

best 4dr eg in the world for the time deh

[@Urayoan787]

Man I can’t wait to start on my cd5 accord next week will start the stripping it. Because civic and cd5 accord are the old school jtcc’s.

[@EricKutilRacing]

Love those Accords!

[@jamilgsr3410]

You know why you sharing this type of stuff is so great? I have the same issue where my caliper isn’t centered and I didn’t even know to check it until seeing this. Thanks a ton ❤ keep it up 👍🏽

[@EricKutilRacing]

Glad to share man!

[@1benyko]

They taught us to tap the brake pedal a couple of times on straights just to make sure your brakes are there and working before actually needing to brake for the corner. I seriously thought that's all you were doing and was thinking "huh, glad the practice is somewhat still relevant" Lol

[@18edits42]

Eric you do a excellent job explaining how and why you do what you do! It shows that you have a vast knowledge and are articulate enough to be able to explain it using simple language. Having been involved in a semi professional level motorsports in Australia I know that the Better the preparation the better the race results. You are very talented both behind the wheel and swinging the spanners. I love this type of content just as much as you racing trials and tribulations. Congratulations on you results and with you talent and commitment you deserve many more!

[@EricKutilRacing]

I appreciate that buddy! Thank you! Yeah I've been doing this a while but still learning everyday

[@cerebralpalsybmxrider]

Could you do a video on your type R please? It looks beautiful

[@benoitvaillancourt3851]

Loving the care you give to the little details, great stuff!

[@EricKutilRacing]

Thanks! 👍

[@robertbloss4409]

Good synopsis on the brake setup. Calipers, pistons, knock back springs, etc. One thing you didn't mention was the hardware connecting the rotors and the aluminum hats. Another trick I see other club racers do is delete the spring clips and/or belville washers on the bolt hardware. Essentially it allows a little more flex for your main wheel bearings without brake knock back rearing its ugly head as much. Just wondering if you have ever experimented with that with any success?

[@davidl2473]

should do a video of that black dc2 in the back please!

[@EricKutilRacing]

Needs some love first haha

[@Beezy_Builds]

Really good info!

[@bryanzimmerman8737]

I had similar issues on my miata with Stoptech calipers as well. The issues I was having with pad knockback stemmed from the hub flexing. These old 90's Japanese hubs were never designed with the amount of forces we now subject these cars to with the current crop of tires. When I upgraded to stronger, billet hubs, I forget exactly but the hub flange was somewhere twice as thick, almost all knockback was gone. Definitely take a look at your hubs if you haven't yet. Love the videos by the way!

[@EricKutilRacing]

Yeah. It's worth inspecting, that's for sure!

[@msinfield]

Not sure anyone makes billet cnc front hubs anymore. Was thinking about going that route with a j swap endurance car as I’m worried about wheel bearing life. Absolutely awesome video as always. 🎉

[@Rodman8500]

Love the new wheel look , the car looks fresh again with the complete lighting and everything .Good luck on the next race!!💪🤙

[@EricKutilRacing]

Thanks man! The blue actually looked a lot better than expected!

[@Rodman8500]

@@EricKutilRacing it looks proper

[@MinhNguyen-Z]

car looks awesome with the Mag blue color wheels 👌👌

[@iamrobski908]

in order to get something done right you have do it yourself, to know that its safe to be a confident driver and push to the limit.

[@EricKutilRacing]

100%!

[@paulrhines8685]

Awesome content … those anti kick back springs are awesome

[@josephmatuszak3855]

I don't know what paint ya used for the wheels, but I found out that caliper paint you have to bake on seems to work well. I have an antique pedal driven manual lathe I use to spin wheels wheels when I paint them to get a consistent and even coat. Only have a couple hundred RPM, so the pedal has great control. In either case a hot racing wheel and brake dust... that's always gonna be a chore. Don't beat yourself up over it.

[@casefc3s]

tldr: because we drive old cars as race cars and really want our brakes to work when we ask them to xD i really want to add some anti-knockback springs to mine, but i'd also like to figure out the root cause as well since it seems so prevalent

[@EricKutilRacing]

Haha dude for real! Especially without ABS, you really have to rely on that pedal feel. Without that confidence, it's really tough!

[@casefc3s]

@@EricKutilRacing 100% i just do not have the mentality to push without confidence in every aspect. looking forward to the Mid-O video and all them fancy new camera angles! PS: when're you gonna join us for the Gridlife iRacers shenanigans? ;)

[@ttt69420]

I would bench bleed the master and check the seals. It shouldn't take more than a single tap and your pedal seems pretty spongy even after pumping them.

[@ConHuesos]

Wheels look great

[@1stGenCRXs]

Surprised they don’t come with the anti-knock back prints already. I run a fast brakes Wilwood kit and have been chasing brake challenges since upgrading the power level of the car. I know the feeling of not being able to go into a corner fully trusting the brakes!

[@jrjimenez7858]

I hate when I get asked that question?? Why I tap my brakes aswell!!! It’s to make sure u have pressure in the system b4 coming into a braking zone!!! I’ve hit the brake petal and it went to the floor ! I dnt think people have experience that !! I think if they have experienced it they’ll knw

[@mr.cangieter8758]

Love this

[@XxXixixiXxX]

My question is, why do FF race cars never have emergency brakes? As someone who comes from the drifting side of things i cant imagine not having that tool in my arsenal in ANY performance driving. Even just for the instance of losing brakes in the pits. I feel like they should be required in all forms of racing 🤔🤷‍♂️

[@EricKutilRacing]

Almost all racecars don't have emergency brakes. It's mainly to reduce weight and also eliminate another potential failure point. Sticky e-brakes could cause other issues on track.

[@SEPU03]

Your car is really cool I would love to have something like that but my question to you is what's covered up in your yard behind you under the tarp what car is that and do you plan to build another one

[@tylerpalmer8973]

Lol, I noticed that you do that but I thought you were just twitchy, haha. Good explanation, though.

[@EricKutilRacing]

Little bit of a soft pedal, little bit of a habit ha

[@tylerpalmer8973]

@@EricKutilRacing The fix for the caliper bracket was 100% the way to go, too. Bolting through and having a nut secure it all is so much stronger. That's not going to come loose ever.

[@johnvigolo4972]

Very important to use the off season to go thru the suspension, brakes & refresh/replace all seals etc! Especially given that all components are undergoing extreme forces under race conditions. A race season will certainly take its toll with abnormal wear & tear on all components. I’m surprised you’re running very wide 10.5” wheels with only 265 tyres, which will fit easily on 9” wide wheels? With 10” wide wheels, 285 wide tyres would fit easily, but obviously not under your car’s bodywork. Therefore no point in having all that additional weight (rotational mass), especially with an 18” wheel. The weight saving on running on lighter 9” wide wheels on all corners should make a difference. In addition, do you need to run on 18” diameter wheels & can you run on 17” wheels, which would add to further weight saving, but more importantly on rotational mass?

[@shiftlifegarage3284]

Nobody can say your pedal game isn't on 1000

[@VWRalf]

How often do you need to change your front wheel bearings running such a wide wheel/tire? The brake caliper wear could be from the hub flexing with worn bearings.

[@EricKutilRacing]

Every off-season, so once a year

[@josephmatuszak3855]

For the inside caliper damage, you are getting rocks sucked up thru there and that's why it looks chipped instead of ground.

[@josephmatuszak3855]

That bracket being loose makes sense too. The marks and the plate say small rocks to me that create micro stresses. Everytime anything gets obliterated in that small clearance it creates a rocking motion. And aluminum only has so much impact resistance. I see this a lot in Pre-Runners after gravel trails. Never stop doing your nut and bolt checks. It's the difference in having a whole good day, or a real short stressful one.

[@EricKutilRacing]

@josephmatuszak3855 yup exactly man! I was confused why it was grinding because I knew I centered up the caliper but after finding the damaged threads and loss of bolt torque, that confirmed it was the issue.

[@TURBOTRISTO]

People who don’t know this haven’t ever raced

[@ThomasBeverly-u5x]

Did you run knock back springs with the old STR42 fast brake kit on your eg hatch? I've been running this setup on my STL EG civic for a couple of years, and have been thinking about adding the springs so I can stop having to left foot pump the brake pedal on the straights.

[@EricKutilRacing]

Yup, I did. I also ran floating rotors which helped a little too. Current rotor is solid mounted

[@SeemsLegitGarage]

Do you have pedal position issues? Which sensor do you have? Ours goes crazy. Using same Tilton pedal setup and sometimes its cal gets screwed up

[@EricKutilRacing]

Yeah, I have a pedal position sensor for the throttle, penny&Giles TPS280DP sensor. I use pressure sensors for the brake and clutch.

[@audigybeats]

how do i go about doing dbw?

[@EricKutilRacing]

It's quite involved. But you need a standalone ecu, engine harness, dbw tbrottle and a dbw pedal.