Brake Fluid

[Martin]

My car is due a service soon, and a wise member of the forum has told me that DOT 5.1 fluid is the way to go. I called Honda, and apparently they only supply DOT 4, but if I supply 5.1 they will use it.

Question time:
1 - Which 5.1 is best, if any? ap racing, motul, ferodo etc
2 - Where do you buy it from? online? elsewhere?
3 - How much? Quantity and price?

Apologies if this has all been covered somewhere before.

Cheers
Martin

[sportyking]

Dot 4.0 or 5.1 is fine but do not use Dot 5 as it is not compatible with dot 4 systems.
It is all covered elsewhere on here and there are lots of sites explaining the difference so I'm not going to.

I used ATE blue (5.1) which is expensive but is more stable than most wet (after absorbing moisture) or dry (as new out of the can). This means the boiling point remains reasonably high as the fluid ages. and are the figures to enquire about when comparing.
As to what is better or worse, I wouldn't have a clue, I am happy with the ATE and feel no need to experiment.

Higher dry figure = better initial performance (race stuff frequently changed)
A High wet figure = will continue to perform longer
Of course a good quality fluid such as ATE will have good temps for both.

If it's just a road going NSX getting the fluid changed every 3-4 years then truthfully the Dot 4 is more than adequate for the job and anything else is expense for peace of mind or overkill.

The ABS system is I think separate from the main circuit and I never did that side but iirc I had plenty left over from 2 litres doing front and rear. Again this largely depends on what method you use to bleed the brakes and how wasteful/efficient it is.

[Martin]

Where do you get ATE blue 5.1?

Cheers

[Silver Surfer]

You can get good stuff from Oilman.

Quick delivery!

SS

[sportyking]

Hispec in Dartford stock ATE Blue, I think a search on Hispec or hispecmotorsport will find their website
I have no idea why I said it was 5.1, it's a while since I did this, it is of course dot 4, and as said the boiling points are the important thing.

Bumpf from a US retailer:

ATE® Super Blue (DOT 4) has a dry boiling point of 536F and a wet boiling point of 396F. ATE Super Blue is identical in specification to the ATE TYP 200 brake fluid.
ATE Super Blue is compatible and will mix with most DOT3, DOT4, or DOT 5.1 Fluids.
This top-of-the-line product lies 20 °C over the DOT 5.1 standard and surpasses this standard in nearly all the other requirements as well. This means that cars can go without a brake fluid change for up to 3 years while products with a lower wet boiling point have to be replaced considerably more often (e.g. DOT 3 products should be replaced annually).

The overall high dry and wet boiling points make this fluid an excellent choice for street driven vehicles where brake fluid is flushed less frequently than in racing cars. Also, the blue tint of the fluid makes bleeding brakes easy! You can easily tell when you have flushed out the older fluid.

TIP: Racers frequently will alternate fluid flushes using both the SuperBlue and TYP 200 (Amber). The identical specifications of the fluid and difference in color makes it easy to know when you have completely flushed old fluid out of the system.

[dan the man]

ABS is seperate from the main circuit ? how does that work ?

[Martin]

This top-of-the-line product lies 20 °C over the DOT 5.1 standard and surpasses this standard in nearly all the other requirements as well.

Well, I was going to go for DOT 5.1, but after reading this, and researching it independently, I have gone for this DOT4 product, and I should have it tomorrow.

Thanks to all for advice :-)

Cheers
Martin