Not only am I very real, I worked as an R&D Engineer for Wilwood and I have worked on (as in been PAID to) race cars for nearly 15 years. That in addition to working on my own stuff for much longer than that.
I take it you think I'm contradicting myself? I am not, they are totally different design considerations.
Have you ever used larger tube or hose? Have you ever done the calc which shows how much the increased diameter increases the surface area? The difference btwn 3/16 tube inside surface area and 1/4 tube inside surface area is a lot larger than you'd think. Over a 12" span the difference is ~2.4 square inches. At a service max of 1200 psi that's a lot of force.
Since it's pressure over area, and ALL of the area inside is subject to the pressure, and there is no such thing as a perfectly rigid tube, it all expands under pressure. The larger the surface area, the more the tube or hose will expand, which results in a mushy pedal. If we could use -2 (1/8") tubing or hose as a way of reducing the expansion under pressure we would. The problem with -2 is that it won't flow enough volume for a brake system to properly function.
Braided hose happens to expand nearly the same amount as steel tubing when under equal pressure. Which is to say not very much. Not nearly what the OE hose does under the same pressure. Those are not even close to the same as steel tubing. Put your hand on one and have someone stand on the brake pedal some time. Then do the same with a braided SS hose.
This lack of large expansion in braided SS hose is why you CAN use it to do a complete brake plumbing job, assuming that you can afford to do so.
Now if you use -4 (1/4") hose instead of the recommended -3 (3/16") hose then you will have a mushy pedal.
