mhawes

Ive had an MY99 for 3 weeks now and am very dissapointed with the brakes on the car. The garage i bought the car from MOT'd the car before i bought it(but after Id test drove it) and said they passed fine. The pads look like they are fine front and rear and are subaru originals but they are nothing compared to my old my95 which had ebc greenstuff pads, turbo grooved discs and a brake support bracket, and they are nowher near as good as my mates clio sport which surprises me. Anyone?

RON

Just a thought, have you tried bleeding them with new 'good' fluid? the car's three years old, and may have never had them done, try it, and see if it makes any difference.
Ron.

ozzy

The MOT will just be a simple check to ensure the brakes operate correctly, so I wouldn't use that to judge the effectiveness of the brakes.

What's wrong with your brakes? Spongy pedal, fade, excess pedal travel?

Stefan

mhawes

spongy pedal yes, i suppose theres a lot of travel also as you have to stamp real hard and a fair distance down to stop with any real conviction.

ozzy

If the fluid boils, then you'll not get proper pressure, so you'll get more pedal travel. The rubber hoses are cr@p, so some Goodridges hoses and DOT 4/5.1 fluid would give you a firmer pedal.

The bulkhead does flex a little when you stamp on them hard, so you do get an overall songy feeling. I guess that's why your old car had the brake support bracket fitted. It's nothing major, but enough to feel it even when stationary.

How did the brakes feel during the road test? have they got noticeable worse since then?

Stefan

mhawes

No they felt the same as they do now, I asked the garage to check them out with the MOT but as they passed nothing was done as his view was they passed the MOT so they are ok. I think I will get them bled first and checked over properly.

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

IMHO the my99 brakes aren't that great no matter what you do! I had ebc greenstuff pads and stainless lines fitted and it did improve but as soon as you jump into another newish car you realise how poor they are. The brakes would stop you but it was the initial push with not a lot there that was the worry. Fixed all my brake problems by buying a sti8!!

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

I changed the fluid, hoses and pads and it feels great now, but that could be down to the AP calipers and discs I suppose

F

Dick Turpin

I have just changed all four discs, pads, hoses and fluid on my MY99 because of exactly the problem that you describe. I couldn't believe that the brakes were so poor for such a quick car!

I now have Pagid Group N discs, DS2500 pads, Goodridge hoses and DoT 5.1 fluid. They feel a hell of a lot better and, whilst they need to be warm for best results, have transformed the braking performance. They certainly inspire a lot more confidence on a cross-country blast!!

It's fair to say that the old discs and pads were pretty knackered. I tried Mintex 1144 pads on the fronts first, but this had virtually no effect on performance.

The new set up, whilst not as good as I would ideally like, is cost effective, working out at around £550 all in.