Rear Disc Swap

[laborsmith]

Based on my last reply from Borla, granted more than a month ago, they either have nor begun work on this or are not far enough along to have anything ready for real life testing.

In January I drove the DDMWorks Sonic with their exhaust and as that was what I wanted I ordered it, had it put on and am quite happy. I have a 1LT with the six speed manual transmission, and the exhaust system is cat back with resonator and without muffler.

Laborsmith

 

[Malvino89]

It will be several weeks, but when the Borla full bolt on exhaust comes in, I will go over this idea of using the Cruze rear discs with my mechanic. If this is workable, it could definitely be better than waiting for some company to come out with a kit.

Laborsmith

Where'd you get the exhaust from?

 

[doreo]

Where'd you get the exhaust from?

DDM or BNR both sell the exhaust system i too have the same system just i have the muffler no resonator as im running the 1.8, easy install tho

 

[laborsmith]

DDMWorks. Click on them in our vendors section, click Sonic then click exhaust.

I did not answer SonicBoy. After following the discussion on CruzeTalk I have concluded a rear disc is as easy as it would have been on the old Cavalier, on which I put a Wilwood big brake front disc, but to do a drum to disc for the rear I would have had to do extreme fabrication such as use the Neon rear disc brakes, something I refused to do.

The SonicRS shows rear disc brakes, so waiting a few months and one of the vendors may have it or if the other changes appeal you may want to trade up to the RS. As I elsewhere stated, if a yellow such as Rally Yellow is offered, I fully intend to trade.

So today, a rear disc sysem for the Sonic may be possible but in my mind is not feasible. That seem to be where CruzeTalk left it and the Cruze already has a rear disc brake option.

Laborsmith

 

[SonicBoy24]

I did not answer SonicBoy. After following the discussion on CruzeTalk I have concluded a rear disc is as easy as it would have been on the old Cavalier, on which I put a Wilwood big brake front disc, but to do a drum to disc for the rear I would have had to do extreme fabrication such as use the Neon rear disc brakes, something I refused to do.

The SonicRS shows rear disc brakes, so waiting a few months and one of the vendors may have it or if the other changes appeal you may want to trade up to the RS. As I elsewhere stated, if a yellow such as Rally Yellow is offered, I fully intend to trade.

Laborsmith

Thanks for the info.
Now I'm only 19 and this is my first new car, so excuse myself for not having the knowledge...
When you say trade in for the RS, you mean giving the dealer your Sonic for the Sonic RS, right?
How much of a price difference are we talking, ballpark figure? I know it varies on what model you have and the miles you've put on, but I'd love to get the upgrade if it can be done reasonably without too much more per month.

 

[Dragcamaro]

just a thought, the upgrade may not be worth it.

On first gen neons a lot of guys that autocross switch from disc to drums, weighs about 10 pounds less if i remember right and the stopping difference is the same or better.

Very different cars though

 

[SonicBoy24]

First off, Lol dodge neons.
Secondly, I don't think any of us plan on racing them, so weight is not an issue, I think that this switch is mostly for aesthetics.
Thirdly, although they are different cars and I am only 19, I have never heard of drums out performing discs.

On a side-note, my dad's '99 Tahoe with 107,000+ has the original pads on the rear drums, but the rears also do only a fraction of the braking. Sometimes drums can be preferred because they do no catch the road salt that discs will, but that is a different issue.

 

[Dragcamaro]

there was actually an article in grassroots motorsports about it.

Not trying to stir up anything here but first gen neons are quite good handling cars, and srt4s with any kind of bolt ons are nothing that any sonic ive ever saw can say anything bad about besides fuel economy.

i respect the aesthetic standpoint. the biggest reason id want to do the swap is maintenance, change a few sets of drums and youll understand what i mean.

and as far as performance goes i had both on my 2.4 swapped neon coupe, i switched to discs because they looked better and were easier to deal with, stopping difference was about the same, itd out brake my friends evo 8 and nc miata pretty easily before and after

 

[SonicBoy24]

Not trying to stir up anything here but first gen neons are quite good handling cars, and srt4s with any kind of bolt ons are nothing that any sonic ive ever saw can say anything bad about besides fuel economy.

i respect the aesthetic standpoint. the biggest reason id want to do the swap is maintenance, change a few sets of drums and youll understand what i mean.

I've changed a few drums, i know its not the most joyful thing to do.

The fact that you are comparing a car that has had many years to be modded and tuned to a car that is only a few months (in many cases only a few weeks) old is kinda funny. There are very few aftermarket parts even being considered for Sonics yet, so I don't think that a comparision to modded neons can be made. Give the right person as much time with a sonic as people have had with neons and you will have a better car all the way around.

 

[SonicChris]

First off, Lol dodge neons.

Doge Neons were great auto-X cars. The ACR was designed for road course and auto-x racing. SCCA even sanctioned an entire series around the Neon.

Secondly, I don't think any of us plan on racing them, so weight is not an issue, I think that this switch is mostly for aesthetics.

I absolutely plan on auto crossing my car and given the opportunity, it will also be put on a road course. If you check out the motorsport forum, there are quite a few of us planing to make weekend warriors out of our Sonics.

I'm not trying to rip you or be an ass. I just don't agree with those comments.

 

[Dragcamaro]

acrs were sweet, i had an acr coupe with the factory adjustable konis, it was a blast

and I absolutely intend on autocrossing my sonic.

 

[Machine]

I have been digging into this at work a bit lately, but it requires the help of parts department and I cant bother them too much. That being said, most of the stuff that has been discussed here looks like it would work out.

Heres what I KNOW and what I THINK would have to be swapped from a LTZ Cruze RS (most should be obvious)

Rotors, pads and calipers (duh) would be a obvious requirement.

The caliper bracket would have to get swapped and possibly the wheel bearing, things get a little tricky here. There is a good possibility that the bearings are the same as ours, but it needs to get checked. It would only take a millimeter or two of incorrect spacing to screw up a lot of things. Ive looked mine over well, but I have not had the chance to do a rear brake service on a ltz cruze, and its probably a ways off before a i do. and I cant be pulling apart a car thats in stock.

the parking brake should not be an issue, cables and maybe a bracket or two would need to be swapped, but my guess is this part will be bolt on more or less.

Brake hydralics and ABS; Now things are getting interesting. Looking at the pics, hoses and hydralics should not be an issue at all. If there is no difference on Master cylinders for a cruze, then it stands to reason it does not need to be f'd with on our car. Rear brake hoses shouldnt be an issue either. My guess is the hoses should swap over, but even if they dont, custome lines could likely be done for less than $200-$250 max. The tricky part is the ABS/brake controller, (called a Electronic Brake Control Module by GM). It would need to be calibrated for the rear discs. This would require reprogramming by a GM dealership (you would "build" the programmer like you were working on a Cruze) provided the cruze runs the same controller.

Having a GM dealer reprogram your brake controller with a non-original (even if its GM) calibration is a quick way to get that controller declined on warranty if it fails (however, ABS pump failures are rare on ANY vehicle in my experience)

Ill keep up the research and maybe I can come up with a Swap Parts list in the future. But believe me, it likely wont be cheap.

 

[theenico]

Heres what I KNOW and what I THINK would have to be swapped from a LTZ Cruze RS (most should be obvious)

Why bother with Cruze parts? The Sonic RS parts will be out shortly.

 

[lambertsonic]

Why bother with Cruze parts? The Sonic RS parts will be out shortly.

I was just thinking that . Every part should should swap over .

 

[Machine]

price might be one thing.

 

[13sonicT]

Bringing it back! Any update on this?

 

[Bogus]

Bringing it back! Any update on this?

Basically everyone's waiting for the RS parts list to come out. Since it comes with rear disks.

Subscribe to this thread.

 

[boxingjunkie]

The Sonic RS has factory rear disc. I would imagine everything else is the same so it would be an easy swap.

 

[theenico]

Did you read the entire thread before making that brilliantly redundant post?

We've known about the Sonic RS having rear disks for quite some time now.

 

[Eric Smit]

Thank you enico.


-Eric Smit