poor brake performance
 

hey guys, some time ago i put EBC grooved/drilled discs /red stuff pads, on the front of my 02 wrx.

to say the performance is poor is an understatement.
i drive a ford transit connect for work that brakes better!!

im open to any suggestions from other peoples experience..

pad upgrade, different discs, hoses, fluid, whatever to make my car stop how it should!

ive got a quote for a set of sti front discs and calipers £450 + VAT (second hand)
are these calipers 6 pot instead of 4?, would they be any better?

would i infact notice a great difference just by getting better pads?

the brakes i have are also very noisy, is this due to the discs being grooved, the pads, or a combination of the both.

thanks in advance guys, know its a heavily talked about topic, i have searched about, but each persons needs are specific, so needed to ask myself..

Rob

The peformance of the subaru stamped 4 pots on your car arnt great to start with,however it could be you have some jammed pistons which will make them much worse,get them checked out,if you have any jammed pistons you can get a new seal kit from godspeed brakes and overhaul them yourself if you are mechanicly minded.If not godspeed offer a recondition service for sensible money,they will come back like new with stainless steel pistons in any colour you want.Also the combination of grooves and drilling is not good,in theary the more holes etc cut in your disks takes away surface area for the pads to bite to.Also redstuff pads on a impreza are not regarded highly,again talk to ian at godspeed and he will point you in the right direction.The best mod for the impreza, is the fitment of braided brakelines,it gives you a much stiffer pedal,but as before,make sure your pistons are all working 100% first...

Hi, first thing I would try is new pads.

I, like many have been bitten by EBC's marketing. Had EBC pads and their grooved disks.

With my Classic, I ended up with a situation where the rear brakes were giving more effort than the front when cold. Not very clever or safe on a emergency stop during a motorway cruise! Back end would weave about under hard braking before the ABS cut in, which then took an eternity to stop.

In the meantime I replaced all the pads with some cheap unipart pads I got from the local motor factors, (I had to do something, as the car wasn't safe IMO and pads were the easiest and cheapest first option). I found that after a few hundred mile bedding in. Braking perfromance was improved and the ABS worked better. Plus the droning noise I got under hard high speed braking also reduced.

I did later change the fluid which improved the pedal feel a tad, but I do that every 12months anyway (dot4 fluid).

I didn't get round to putting any other pads on (the idea was the Uniparts being a trial test to see if it was the EBC pads at fault), I intended to go back to some other Fast road pads, but ended up selling the car before then.

So based on that, I would say pads all round first. Unless you upgrade the calipers. I belive the STi calipers will be 4pots, unless they are aftermarket ones.

in regards to the sti brakes,again talk to ian godney at godspeed,he will tell you if he thinks that money is good or if they will even fit,what he doesnt know about subaru brakes isnt worth knowing!

cheers guys, so i might not need to change the calipers after all?

the droning noise mentioned.... i get that when braking from high speed (not hard braking just normal)

pedal feel is poor as well, is it worth using dot5 fluid?
or will that make no difference

The only real difference between dot4 and dot5.1 is wet boiling points after a few years. I've been told that dot5.1 is slightly more compressable than dot4 so dot4 should give better pedal feel, but will need changing more often to maintain its boiling point (2years max), added advantage of more frequent changes is regular purging of any accumulated air in the system.

Careful, do not mix up between Dot 5 and Dot 5.1 which are very different fluids, dot5(silicone fluid) is totally unsuitable as it will give even worse pedal feel. Whereas Dot 5.1 is similar to Dot 4 (glycol based fluid) and is ok.

yeah dot5.1 was what i meant, but sounds like im better off sticking to dot4

do these braded brake hoses actually make any difference?

the last thing i want to do is start buying things that will not help..

They make a huge difference to the feel of the brake pedel,being braided lines they dont flex like standard rubber lines when the brake pedal is pushed hence more pressure reaching the pistons in the calliper,its your first and cheapest mod(£60).However as i said before,all mods are useless if your pistons are seized,this style of calliper is notorius for it,especially at the age of your car,get them checked first..

My pal had nothing but hatred for EBC pads, he tried the lot and gave up and put standard pads back on !

LOL

DunxC

its strange how redstuff pads are so rubbish on a impreza.Redstuff pads on my integra type r were fantastic,never faded and bit hard from cold?so much better than standard.The ferrodo ds2500 on my impreza seem good,but require more warm up.

my wife has got red stuff pads on her corolla t sport and they are ok when cold but a lot better when warm, when i replaced the pads on my t sport i used the green stuff ones which where a lot better from cold and just as good warm,

i also think the brakes are better on the corolla which seeing as the imprezza is quicker and heavier is a bit shocking

Rob If you can Brembo Calipers are a must:notworthy
I have Black Diamond Fast road Predators I think they are called? and the brakes are fantastic cold and warmed up, if you give them some stick you can really pull your eyes out of your sockets.
Personally I would not bother with braided hoses firstly get a well trusted 4 pot caliper (Brembo Gold ) look cool as well:)

Try a decent set of pads before spending your money on anything else :)

ok cheers for all the responses!!
still unsure on what to do,

if i were to buy any/all of the following, what could i use again on the brembo calipers should i decide to change if any?

braded hoses
ds2500 pads
new discs?

obviously, if i get the pistons sorted thats different all together..

do i need new discs if i change to the brembos?

lots of questions, sorry peeps, just dont want to spend money three times over on the same fault

i should add, my brakes feel really really pants, im very doubtful (although no expert) that new pads alone would sort this..

like i said earlier, my ford transit connect outbrakes my scooby :nono: , my pedal is definately too spongey, and im having to apply far to much pressure to try to do an emergency stop (after warming the brakes)

thanks again!!

Id never fit new discs for the sake of it unless you were going to fit larger. The majority of the braking performance is in the pad compound and ensuring that you run fresh fluid of a sufficiently high temperature capability to prevent it boiling. Braided lines will help pedal feel to an extent.

the pads and disks from the subaru 4 pots will not fit the brembos.The brembos use diffrent sized pads and larger disks,so costs could start to spiral.Have you had your callipers pistons checked yet?i really suspect you have a jammed piston/s,your scenario is exactly the same as mine,my 4 pots were bordering on dangerous.One callipers strip down and clean/reseal(2 jammed in pistons),full fluid flush,braided lines and ds2500 pads later,50% better brakes...

ok this is where im at..

got myself some gold brembo calipers from "JB1" on here (many thanks!!) 330mm tarox sport japan discs and ferodo DS2500 pads.
goodridge braided hoses and millers racing 300 DOT4 brake fluid

if that doesnt stop my car, .. well it will be on an online auction site lol

Let's hope it 'goes' as well as 'stops' when you come to fit your wheels over the Brembos:)

I take it you have wheels to clear?

i have wrx 17" wheels, and im told ill either need 5mm or 10mm spacers, anybody confirm this?