Airmiles

Now I'm getting used to the car, the soft brake pedal and lack of feel are (for me) unnervingly at odds with the rest of the car.

So, I'm looking for a firmer pedal and improved feel. Not fussed about trackday upgrades yet, and don't want to splash out much over 200 drinking vouchers - if that.

Having searched the forum (no muppet-isms here ) there's a bit of a lack of consensus. It's also the case that a lot of people seem to change everything at once, so it's difficult to see the effect of individual items.

So, excluding disc upgrades.....

Braided lines. Some people say the improve things, others not, and yet others are sussed enough to realise that most of the difference may be the new fluid....

Master cylinder brace. Some people say they're a waste of money, others think they're good. Do opinions vary by STi vs UK?

Mintex pads - EVERYONE seems to like these - but is that because of fade/power, or do they give a harder pedal/more feel?

Seems the car world is a whole different ballgame to bikes - OE pads are invariably best on OE (s/s) bike disks - is this because the disks aren't s/s?

Cheers

Airmiles

Squizz

OE discs cracked and worn after 15,000 road miles.

Replaced with Black Diamond cross-drilled & grooved discs and Mintex pads.

Can't for the life of me feel any difference.

The lack of initial bite is probably down to all the ABS gubbins in the system.

Chris L

Airmiles

I agree with Squizz, the break feel (or lack out it) is mostly to do with the ABS. Personally I'll take the ABS. If you get a chance, have a go in a non-ABS WRX and you'll feel a considerable difference.

Seeing as you are in the London area, have a chat with Steve Lawson at Cheam Motors (www.cheammotors.co.uk). I think it is always worth getting some professional advice if you are thinking of changing your brakes (rather than just reading the ramblings of us enthusiastic amatuers )

Chris

Pete Croney

New pads (all makes) always improve pedal feel, as there is substantially less fluid in the system.

The best fluids are Silkolene Pro Race 2000 and AP Lockhead 5.1.

The Silkolene is rated at DOT 4, but both have the same wet boiling point.

Arron

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Squizz:
<B>OE discs cracked and worn after 15,000 road miles.

Replaced with Black Diamond cross-drilled & grooved discs and Mintex pads.

Can't for the life of me feel any difference.

The lack of initial bite is probably down to all the ABS gubbins in the system.[/quote]

I have Mintex C Tech pads in my my98 uk turbo and I must say that I was not that impressed with them.They were only slightly better than standard , they were noisey from light high speed braking and on my car if you really pushed it they would smoke to the point of worry. I.E Loads of smoke pouring out the arches( But that could be my braking ).Still for £65.00 + vat what could I expect.

Squizz

I wanted the AP set-up, but it's not worth it when I don't do track days and only use the car for a couple of hours each weekend.

(Sigh).

Regards,
Squizz.