zesty

HI, just got myself a 2003 wrx wagon but am not that impressed by the brakes.
I feel the car lacks initial bite and then seems to take too much time to slow down (maybee because I am going faster than I realise).
Is there anything I can do for sensible (less than £500) money and not affect the warranty?

Any ideas please.

Apple

I know what you mean about the brakes - I had a few hairy moments with mine when it was new until I got used to it...

It's alright putting go-faster bits on but you've still got to stop the thing...

Without affecting the warranty, not a lot apart from some official Prodrive uprated pads but I'd guess you'd need to be sitting down when finding out the price

There's also the Prodrive Alcon brake upgrade (discs, calipers, pads, lines, fluids etc) but this runs to something like 1700 quid which puts you up into the realms of AP 6-pots and track day usage before you use the full potential of the system.

You could change the brake lines for Goodrigde hoses which might take a bit of the sponginess out but this is only when you are on a mission - I doubt you'd notice much difference on the shopping run

For "non-approved" parts you could start with a different set of brake pads as I'm fairly sure the warranty wouldn't cover them anyway as they are consumable bits (check the wording just in case...)

There's Mintex, Ferod, Pagid, EBC options amongst others depending on whether you want road / track use (don't assume track materials will be ideal for fast road use for the odd time you venture on track).

Another option is to replace the discs - this can be with the same size so everything else is standard. The discs can be grooved / drilled etc but generally, drilled is not recommended for track use due to cracking issues.

The next step is to get bigger discs and keep the same calipers (e.g. Godspeed 335mm conversion) as this kit includes spacers to reposition your calipers to a bigger diameter. This should be as far as you need for "normal" road use unless you are a) very heavy on the brakes, b) going too fast, c) poseur, d) loaded, e) idiot driver

It's possible then to get bigger discs and change the calipers. You can get replacement 4-pots (Brembo, AP etc), 6-pots (AP) or even 10-pots (Tarox)

Just make sure whatever you do will fit under your wheels...

Plus, if you put a humungous stoppers kit under the front, it's worthwile upgrading the rears as well to bring the brake balance back to something like normal.

I've got a bugeye saloon and have just changed the front pads to Mintex M1230 which is a heavier duty standard replacement road material rather than competition spec stuff. I like the feel of them so far and there's a hell of a lot less dust than OE material .

If I upgrade any further, it'll probably be a Godspeed 335 kit and keep my existing calipers . Scoobyclinic has got one of these kits on a 22b so if they'll stop one of those, I'm in with a chance on my WRX

Andy

zesty

Thanks for the reply, I will have a look at changing the oe pads for some different ones first.

G4Tyrant

Zesty,

Had the same problemon on my 2001 WRX so upgraded to the Prodrive grooved discs and pads from the dealer ! Was about £450 for the upgrade i think ? They feel much better now !

G4

stockcar

the pad is the most important part of the equation when you are looking for "bite" and pedal "feel"...................depends what you are after, but mild upgrade pads start from around £69.99+.....................
the hoses will only eliminate some of the "sponginess" inherent in the std system

alyn - asperformance.com

JIM THEO

IMVHO change first the pads with Ferodo DS2500 (much better feeling), brake fluids with a better type and finally try some better discs as Prodrive's or DBA 4000s fast road (better and cheaper option).
Best value for money give the pads!
JIM