Has anybody here uprated their brake fluid?

[Virdi]

Hi all.

..Has anybody here changed their Brake Fluid to a perfomance / racing or DOT 5.1? .....Something like Castrol SRF or Motul?

....is it worth doing..? Did you find it made a difference?

Thanks

 

[-westy-]

I haven't myself, but I can't see it having much difference on the road, only if you were on track and using uprated pads/discs where higher temperatures were involved.

 

[D4VE]

yeah I did it because the different between DOT 5.1 and the lesser fluids was only a few quid.

Didnt see any difference, but didnt take the car on the track.

 

[Dogbreath]

Hi all.

..Has anybody here changed their Brake Fluid to a perfomance / racing or DOT 5.1? .....Something like Castrol SRF or Motul?

....is it worth doing..? Did you find it made a difference?

Thanks

It's only worth doing if you are currently having problems with the fluid boiling in your system. On a road car it's usualy not worth using the high spec racing fluids because they are affected by moisture more than standard fluids, so need changing more regularly.

 

[tblocksom]

Yes

But as mentioned before, you don't notice the difference in normal (and even some abnormal) road driving conditions. For the track it is a different matter

 

[Stonedofmoo]

As said the difference is a few quid. On a half decent car its worth while if you are doing a full system flush

On my Pulsar I did notice the pedal was less squishy but that could equally be attributed to the whole system bleed.

 

[Dogbreath]

As said the difference is a few quid. On a half decent car its worth while if you are doing a full system flush

It's not for the reason I have already stated. The boiling point will degrade more quickly than the lower spec fluids so you end up changing the fluid more often. If the standard brake fluid doesn't boil, you don't get any advantage from the higher initial boiling point that posh fluids give you.

 

[Stonedofmoo]

Ah I see, I never noticed but thats most likely because like most people interested in this question I was forever upgrading and tinkering with my brakes

As such the fluid got replaced an awful lot

 

[Virdi]

Many Main Dealers also recommend the Brake Fluid is changed every 2 years... is this pants?

 

[nutcase]

No, because brake fluid is hydroscopic (I think that's the term), meaning it absorbs water. The more water in it, the lower the boiling point.

 

[Ev0]

I was recommended Castrol Super dot4 when I changed my lines over a dot5.1 fluid.