Brake hose advice

[Pierrick]

Hi all I have been looking on the forum before to ask the question... but still have question.

I've send an e-mail to earl's to have a quote for braided and non braided hoses.

Is there any need to have braided hoses if you drive your car in a "normal" way... I mean no track days and not like crazy on the open road!

Where would you advise to buy braided and non braided hoses?
Goodridge seems to be very expensive, euro car parts is selling Pagid hoses at around 12£ a piece... seems a good price.

And finally should I change my clutch hose too? and while I'm at it remove the CDV?

Thanks for your help.

[Del]

I also use my 1.9 for just normal road use and personally see no point in braided hoses (for my car) which really have their origin in track/race use where the brakes and hydraulic fluid have to cope with much more heat and stress than one is ever likely to see in normal road use.

[Southernboy]

The only advantage of braided over non braided is the reduced expansion of the rubber hose. This means a more solid response to the brakes being applied. The question of heat is moot... the fluid in the brake system probably doesn't heat up as much as in a competitive environment and the necessity of braided hoses for "normal" driving is probably little. However, should one be faced with an emergency situation, it may be useful to have an immediate response to the brake being applied hard. The clutch issue is definitely advisable... I frequently find that changing down from 4th to 3rd is an issue with the clutch not releasing before I can move the gearshift. This is mostly apparent when wanting to overtake and accelerate in 3rd to pass the other vehicle... But again, if you're the type of driver that prefers to wait until you have a sufficiently lengthy view ahead before overtaking, then it's a waste. Again, you may find yourself in a situation where a quick down shift is required, but unable to effect it because of the delayed response... Ultimately there's no harm in doing the modification and perhaps having done it you will have greater peace of mind that you and the car can respond abruptly if required.

[Pierrick]

Thanks for the advice.

So rubber hoses all around and new hose for the clutch without the CDV.

Should I keep a rubber hose for my clutch as well?

[beerbelly]

whats a cdv

[Rafolian]

Clutch delay valve.

[beerbelly]

oh thanks will this be the reason gear changes never seem as slick as my other cars

[lightning]

The Z3 gearbox is not the smoothest unit, gear changes are often notchy.

Changing the gearbox oil for something like Castrol Syntrans B75w (available from Opie Oils) and removing the delay valve can help. I did both on my Z3 3.0 and it made the gear change much better.