ColinM

After reading the latest Impreza STI review in Autocar they say the brakes can fade after just a few corners of hard use. Does everyone find this to be the case ? Are the brakes the same as the previous STI ? What are the best pads for fast road use ? Does the standard car have steel brake lines ? Does anyone sell steel brake lines all round ? I really do not want to get replacement calipers.

Andy W

After reading the latest Impreza STI review in Autocar they say the brakes can fade after just a few corners of hard use. Does everyone find this to be the case ?-------Not Yet, but I am easier on brakes than some, Maybe 'cause I have to fork out the silly prices IM charge for the discs and pads. I have experienced 'Pad knock off' where initially after severe braking the pedal requires a pump to bring the pads back to the disc surface.

Are the brakes the same as the previous STI ?------I believe they are the same as the 02 STI UK.

What are the best pads for fast road use ?------- Pick out of the usual contenders Pagid, ferrodo, etc.

Does the standard car have steel brake lines ? Does anyone sell steel brake lines all round ? NO and Scoobysport, TSL etc Go for a better fluid when changing the lines.

I really do not want to get replacement calipers----- depending on how quickly you go through discs and pads, in the long run it may not work out any more expensive to change to a better set up like AP as the prices for pads and discs I believe are a fair bit cheaper and the chances of fade reduced.

(not all from my own experience but much of it a rehashing of what members more experienced than myself have said in the past)

Andy

Big Goon

Autocar is the Sunday Sport of car magazines, the Brembo's are fine for fast-road and occasional track use.

They can be greatly improved with better pads and braided hoses, but out of the box they are very good indeed.

stockcar

the only problem for "press-on" driving with this set-up is the friction material that the brembo's come with is not anything special (due to potential problems with disc warp, noise, etc.....)
changing to a 'proper' material from say Pagid will see a substantial improvement in both pedal feel and response!
and yes "aeroquip" hoses are available..........
hope this helps, alyn - as performance

mwp

had sti8 a month 3000 miles ... seems ok to me.

autocar is acrap magazine.

DJB

Yes, I agree Autocar's lost the plot a bit recently. I own a STi7 (2002 model) and have never experienced brake fade. I am not hard on brakes either. However, soon after launch of the STi Type UK, Subaru UK organised several track days for prospective STi owners. I attended one and can say that none of the STi's used on the day (about 6) had brake fade after repeated excursions around a track - this was not true for the standard WRXs also used on the day.

D.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I did about 7500 miles on my first set of pads so quite hard on Brakes. Can say that don't recall any brake fade. Fitted Ferodo DS 2500 and found to be better but still squeals in reverse

Tony

ColinM

Sounds like the std Brembos should be fine for road use and very good with uprated pads, SS lines and good brake fluid. Thanks for the info.

Big Goon

I'm almost at 30,000 with the original pads, still plenty of meat left on them, although I drive 80% on motorways.

Got 30,000 out of my tyres too.

All in 8 months.

el fi

on the basis that the set up is essentially the same as the evo 6,then the only problem will be warping of the discs.i will not take my sti 7 on a track day until it has two piece discs, the choices at the moment are limited to the australian type from jw
or nothing.BTW i treat track days as r--e days [shock horror}
know what is required.

nellie

Getting DBA Gold drilled/grooved discs,braided hoses,racing fluid, fitted all round to my STI7 today will post and let everybody know what they are like.

AJbaseBloke

Don't take drilled and grooved Golds on track, m8 They are most certainly NOT meant for that!! <-got that straight from Steve Gavin - senior engineer @ DBA (sorry Steve, if I got your title wrong).

And yes, the STi's brakes are very good indeed (up to a point). But natch, better pads can be had. IMHO it's the cost of the discs is a bit , so a set of DBA5000s is not a bad option when the time comes (and yes, I admit am biased, I've had a set on my Leggy for over a year w/22B calipers, and they do VERY well on track w/some good pads, fluid + hoses ).

Cheers

Edit for sperring

[Edited by AJbaseBloke - 3/29/2003 9:04:20 AM]

And again for daft mistake (left the NOT out)

[Edited by AJbaseBloke - 3/29/2003 4:27:23 PM]

Big Goon

Nice one Nellie, let us know the price and who fitted them too please, ta.

Andy W

I thought grooved were fine, good for deglazing the pads but drilled lead to weaknesses in the disc and cracking

AJbaseBloke

Andy, you'd be picking up the winner's cheque for that answer too