Stainless Steel Vs. Rubber Brake Hoses Revisited | MK6 GTI

[@OfficialKienTran]

As I understand, stainless steel brake lines are only meant to improve brake pedal FEEL, not necessarily improve stopping distance. So my question is, do the stainless steel brake lines make the pedal feel firmer? Less travel?

[@NorthernUnion13]

My experience with braided brakelines is the brakes feel a lot more positive and they don't feel sloppy like rubber lines.

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

Exactly, such a lovely pedal feel now!

[@nimrodpaul6875]

Do they feel better under daily driving conditions? 2006 mustang v6 molded semi heavy, sway bars , cai, throttle body, coilovers 1in lower, etc, about to put stop tech calipers and slotted drilled rotors on and curious if I should do stainless lines with them.

[@NorthernUnion13]

@@nimrodpaul6875 if your doing calipers and rotors you may as well do the brake lines while everything is pulled apart. The braided brakes will give you a very positive brake feel, the pedal won't go soft under load.

[@robbot9877]

17% improvement for a couple hundred seems a no brainer to me. a lot can happen in 10 feet.

[@RS-jb1lf]

Great video. Steel hoses give better feel and your data proves less travel and repeat abuse sustained. This is the difference between crashing into a car in front! Those differences were huge. Cannot wait to see the rotor and pad change, perhaps Porsche 6 pot callipers with a VW Golf carrier adapter?

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

Thank you for the kind words! Yes, the pedal feel is definitely worth the upgrade! And I think it'll be a progression: aggressive pads and rotors next, then full big brake kit after that.

[@antilogism]

This is pretty interesting. It seems that the stiffer lines may improve ABS performance in some way---at least on this vehicle. Maybe it speeds loop time? It would be fun to do a deep-dive on this. Maybe expore a few diffrerent brands of rubber lines too. Instumentation to record the runs would help.

[@OfficialKienTran]

If the stopping distance has decreased, it's probably because the brake pedal has to travel less, resulting in you GETTING to that full braking force SOONER rather than later. Basically you're quicker to achieve that full braking force.

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

I'll respond to both comments here: Yes! You are right! SS lines provide a firmer pedal feel and stop initial deflection that rubber hoses have. And these 034 lines do just that. That means you can get full brake pressure just a bit sooner and that can decrease stopping distances! Sorry if that was poorly communicated in the video or I accidentally used the wrong word, still learning and growing in my mechanic, filming, and on camera crafts!

[@OfficialKienTran]

​​@@TheParkingLotMechanic It's alright! I just really wanted to know how it felt when braking instead of actual braking performance. I ask a more subjective question because my RAV4 has TERRIBLE pedal feel (like it goes to the floor type stuff) and almost got my parents into an accident. No air in the lines according to the mechanic, the piston moves quite far into the master cylinder from what I see, so it leads me to think something's flexing under even normal braking conditions. Yes I've bled the brakes myself on that vehicle to no avail, so I asked the mechanic to use his scan tool to hopefully bleed air from the ABS module. I can still slam the brakes and get ABS to kick in, which tells me that I can achieve full braking force, but in that critical moment it takes like 2 or 3 full seconds. And yes, the pedal does go almost to the floor, but not quite. Not good if you're in traffic and need to panic stop.

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

That is really crazy to hear. Definitely praying nothing happens until you can get it fixed! Stainless steel lines will definitely help but it almost sounds like there's something fundamentally wrong with the system if the braking is that dangerous. New lines and new pads for sure, maybe a new master cylinder too.

[@AmarrionLopez]

Do you think the stainless steel lines would fit on a 2.5 mk6 golf

[@gabrielo8922]

Are there BRAKE FLUID differences in the test? You had to bleed the brakes after installing the stainless steel brake lines, right? How old was the brake fluid before you removed the rubber lines? That could make a significant difference.

[@cyberknight5680]

ECS has a master cylinder brake brace that I have been thinking about trying. Its not too expensive or hard to install, could make a good review video for you.

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

I’ve actually been looking at that for a while! Would for sure be fun to try!

[@maxwellkeeling3781]

I'm upgrading to SS lines on my 328i xDrive, more so out of the possibility of a bad brake hose that either is failing somehow internally or got kinked and causing a check-valve type effect, resulting in the brake caliper not releasing fully = brake drag + HEAT. Better pedal feel is also nice :D

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

I like to use maintenance as a time to upgrade too! I've had SS lines on two cars and they've done well both times. Not drastic but definitely a confidence builder!

[@OfficialKienTran]

Forgot to ask... Does the brake pedal feel firmer and less spongy when COLD? Let's say you were driving the Golf normally down the road. No racing, no high brake temps, etc. Compared to the original rubber hoses, is the brake pedal still firmer and less spongy in this scenario?

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

Truth be told, I haven't been looking for that type of difference so I unfortunately have no feedback on that. Sorry, dude :(

[@OfficialKienTran]

@@TheParkingLotMechanic But... I got good news as per daily driving. Just installed the SS brake lines on the front of my RAV4 only, because they don't make SS brake lines for the rear (unless you order custom made, I dunno). Long story short, pedal feels better travel wise. More firm, doesn't go as far down as it did before. Wouldn't say a drastic difference, but I only swapped out the front brake lines, not the rears. I would upgrade to 296mm rotors instead of the 275mm it came with, since my Camry has 296mm front rotors and takes less FORCE to stop, which also translates into even less brake pedal travel. Also considering the bigger caliper the 296mm rotor comes with, it should eliminate more squishiness as well since it's gonna be built with more metal to reinforce it. To avoid the placebo effect, I let my dad drive it for about 20 miles in city traffic, and he's happy with just the front SS brake lines so far, and so am I. Not rock solid, but good enough to where everyone's happy with the firmer brake pedal. I'm gonna make a video about this install and test later on. But yes, SS brake lines do in fact help even in daily driving conditions.

[@gabrielo8922]

IMPORTANT to highlight the risks of stainless steel braided brake lines. They don’t last as long as rubber lines. They have higher risks of failure (usually small leak develops with seeping oil out). Exotic high-end sports car manufacturers who equip their vehicles with $10k ceramic discs (per wheel) use rubber lines instead of stainless steel braided lines. Why? The liability is not worth it. Rubber lines have superior reliability. Why? The stainless steel braided weave rubs itself against the inner liners as the suspension moves and eventually deteriorates itself. You need to inspect stainless steel lines more frequently and replace them more often. I am not saying that rubber don’t ever need to be replaced, but they do last much longer. The other reason that car companies choose rubber lines is that controlled tests performed by manufacturers have not shown that stainless steel braided brake lines will actually reduce braking distance. That’s right, it improves brake feel. Rubber lines will allow you to push the brakes to the limits and lock them up. I believe that you made an honest effort to perform these tests fairly, but I think something was missed. Maybe the brake fluid with the rubber lines was older or maybe your stopping pedal technique got better. Honestly now, if stainless steel braided brake lines could even improve stopping distance by even 2%, don’t you think that exotic cars would use them and just make it a requirement to replace them every 20k miles? That would be worth it for performance. Stainless Steel Braided brake lines do offer superior brake pedal “feel”. It feels more responsive or immediate, but that doesn’t translate into better stopping distance. If you slam on the brakes, it doesn’t matter, they will lock up, your ABS will kick in, and you will get similar stopping distance. if anyone disagrees, prove me wrong and find a manufacturer who has published actual test data showing improved stopping distance. On a sidenote, another misconception that people have is that larger brake rotors improve stopping distance. This is also not true, at least not as long as the brakes have not overheated. After multiple extreme stops, the brakes will get hot and you will experience brake fade,. Bigger brakes dissipate heat better and prevent brake fade, but I digress.

[@DiscipleofChrist101]

Are stainless steel brakes good for a daily? Are there any cons?

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

Not any cons I can think of. Just feels like brakes while driving.

[@gamerdiydad]

How does the brake feel?

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

Nice and firm.

[@snivesz32]

yeah, I wouldn’t expect a ss brake line to improve stopping distances. It only is meant to expand less than rubber lines under heavy braking pressure.

[@TheParkingLotMechanic]

You still will get some. A small amount though. If the brakes engage full pressure earlier, you do stop a hair earlier. It's not necessarily a life changing amount and the biggest difference is in pedal feel.

[@ScottPC]

Great video but why the helmet haha

[@StandAndStare]

Was it old used rubber lines vs. brand new SS? If so, this test is completely meaningless.