Stainless brake lines?

[rodhx]

I will soon be changing the brakes on the Miata and am wondering if going to stainless lines is worthwhile. It is a debated topic in Miata-dom with no clear consensus. The original lines are now 13 years old.

What say ye?

[TouringBubble]

Brake feel should be a little more "direct." That's about it. There is no reason to not use them.

[JohnW8]

Get them if the class rules allow it. You will notice a difference in performance.

[e30Racer]

why worry about stainless lines in the miata? The question is will stainless lines help in a 318is BMW!?

[Cholewa]

I love the stainless lines in the volvo, it makes a pretty gnarly difference.

But like Mark said, forget about that silly miata.

[EvoLady]

I was not aware that Miatas used their brakes???? LOL We have them on the Evo's and like them a lot.

[rodhx]

As little as possible Sara..as little as possible

[nicktcr]

Stainless lines are brake upgrading 101. Definitely worth the upgrade, so long as class rules allow it (if you're into that whole, class rules thing )

[rodhx]

Stainless lines are brake upgrading 101.

Not necessarily..that's why I'm asking. There is a whole other camp that says almost all the benefits of SS lines (on a miata at least) is actually gotten from having better fluid and good pads.

May be a moot point anyway. A good set of SS lines is cheaper than the OEM rubber lines, so it may be a no-brainer.

[slowautoxr]

I put SS brake lines on my RX-7 years ago. I couldn't tell the difference.

[TouringBubble]

Not necessarily..that's why I'm asking. There is a whole other camp that says almost all the benefits of SS lines (on a miata at least) is actually gotten from having better fluid and good pads.

Lines are under pressure when braking ... the braid, when done properly, helps resist this pressure and reduces the "bloat" that rubber lines experience under braking. Fluid and pads have 0 affect on this issue.

[nicktcr]

Lines are under pressure when braking ... the braid, when done properly, helps resist this pressure and reduces the "bloat" that rubber lines experience under braking. Fluid and pads have 0 affect on this issue.

This was the basis of my statement. Also, I should have further elaborated to say that, stainless lines, ALONG with better pads than your standard cheap AutoZone special, and some fresh fluid, that is brake upgrade 101...my bad.

[kilgojr]

I put SS brake lines on my RX-7 years ago. I couldn't tell the difference.

Going from Marks car without SS lines to Marks car with SS lines, I couldn't tell any difference either. The braking in the BMW is very good to begin with, I don't know, maybe you can't improve on ULTIMATE in the Driving Machine.

[bimmertech]

Yeah. I understand the arguments, but the only real application I see for SS lines is if your lines are routed in such a way that chafing may be an issue. Beyond that, stainless has a higher coefficient for heat retention than rubber and teflon so, unless they're just cheaper and you're due for replacement I don't see the benefit.

I have yet to see a high performace car, or even supercar to utilize stainless lines.

[jledford]

I could tell a big difference racing motorcycles.

I can't really tell a difference in cars but have done it to the last few 'weekend' cars that I've owned just because it was the same price or cheaper than stock replacement lines.