Stainless Steel braided brake hoses

[niky]

Stainless steel brake lines are useless until you change everything else.

Or more specifically: I used to run slotted rotors, high-heat brake pads, DOT4 fluid and stainless brake lines on my car.

Had a pad change once, couldn't get the pads I liked (Hawk), so had to settle for local pads, in the meantime. The braking was crap. Fad resistance was crap. Far before you ever got to the point where the brake fluid started heating up and those fancy stainless lines started earning their pay, the pads would give up the ghost.

And this goes for any street driven car. Your tires, brake pads and brake fluid will all go far south before your rubber brake lines start becoming a problem.

Stainless steel braided lines DO help. They help if you've got a car running aggressive rubber and brakes and you are doing a competitive twenty or thirty lap race on the track. One where you need to go from 160-200 km/h down to about 80-100 at the end of the main straight lap-after-lap-after-lap (Subic was the worst... 160+++ down to a freaking 180 degree hairpin! I've seen a lot of brakes catch fire there... ) On the streets, you will either get yourself killed or in really, really big trouble long before the lines make a difference.

If you want a brake upgrade, upgrade your fluid, change your pads for something better, and get some real rubber at those corners. For most spirited driving, this is more than enough. And if you plan to do the type of driving on the streets that actually requires the lines, may God have mercy on your soul. Because that tree up ahead won't.