ST-X

Having bought my '03 WRX recently, I did so knowing that the rear pads were living on borrowed time with c.3mm of material left on the visible outer pad. Rear discs were good, actually pretty new in terms of mileage according to the Subaru history, and the lack of lip would attest to this. The fronts on the other hand were the opposite; the pads were reasonable on but the discs heavily corroded. So I bought a pair of Bluestuff EBC front pads cheap, and then got on the phone to Ian at Godspeed for a set of front discs and his German Kevlar pads for the rear.

I finally got round to doing the rear brakes on Friday night after a week or two of putting off the inevitable. And what did I find on pulling the wheel off? One knackered outer pad, and a virtually new inner pad that was jammed solid in the caliper. Not ideal. For anyone worried about doing their own brakes, don't be. The top loading opposing piston calipers are so simple to work on that I had them done in half an hour a side, and that included a lot of cleaning up. In hindsight I should have taken some pics but as it was by headtorch and in the pouring rain it wasn't the top of my priorities!

Anyway, I managed to wiggle the rearmost pad free with a little perseverance by first of all getting a screwdriver down between the pad and disc to push the piston back into the caliper and create some wiggle room. I then grabbed a pair of molegrips, clamped them on, and then started wiggling while pulling upwards. It was slow but they did come out in the end. I think a few things caused this: a) the inner half of the caliper is slightly smaller than the outer, b) corrosion had built up between the stainless steel plates and the caliper which closed the gap to the pad and, c) the pads were pretty tight anyway, even once cleaned up. As they were genuine Subaru items I can only assume that when everything is new they work ok but as time goes on, everything corrodes up and seizes solid. It was all easy enough to clean off the corrosion from the caliper with some emery paper and some oven cleaner on all the stainless parts to strip off the caked on brake dust. Even with all that though, I still found the new pads to be a very tight fit on the inner half of the caliper. The Godspeed pads weren't oversized compared to the old ones so I can only assume that the tolerances are incredibly fine, even when new. I ended up filing a small amount from each side of the inner pad back plate to create some space, and hopefully stop it all seizing up again in future.

And the performance? Well the brake pedal is noticeably firmer as the outer piston is no longer trying to flex the disc over to the inner pad, they no longer bind so hopefully fuel economy'll improve, and cornering is better with a more mobile rear end. Oh, and even on the first stop the brakes were night and day better. The brakes are now sharp, easily modulable, and far far better from higher speeds with more stability. Given that when I test drove this car the brakes didn't feel any better/worse than any other car I drove, I can only surmise that a lot of cars could well be suffering from the same problem so it's perhaps worthwhile investigating before deciding on any brake upgrades.

I'll update this when I get the front brakes also sorted. I was keen to do them separately so I could accurately gauge the improvements at each end.

It's an easy job really, so if you've been putting off doing this yourself, just get out and do it, and if you're looking at getting anything from Godspeed, do that too. Ian was friendly, full of advice and great to deal with, the parts turning up next day with DPD.

craigybaby

iTrader: (8)

know how u feel mate i did a disc and pad change all round last weekend godspeed items and everything was stuck 1 piston in each front caliper was seized so had to remove both calipers and take the pistons out and renew the pistons and seals and then refit then change the rears again snapped a caliper bolt and broke a titanium drill bit and easy out trying to remove it so ended up just buying a new caliper refitted and bled the entire system but it feels so much better now those grooved discs and kevlar pads have made a deffo noticible difference i reccomend godspeed to anyone that is thinking of changing they're brakes

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

I've got disks, pads, braided hoses and fluid sat waiting to change all four corners on my 2005 STi. My rear pads are on the limit, with all disks showing a bit of a lip, my missus' 1.2 Corsa seems to stop better than this Impreza with Brembo's, so I'm really looking forward to changing them all over.

I keep putting it off though!

PJ-STI

iTrader: (7)

I am in the same boat. I have a 05 WRX and sitting in the garage I have Godspeed front & rear disc's, Orange stuff pads, braided hoses and some 5.1 AP racing brake fluid.

I have been putting it off. I have changed front disc's and pads before but never done the rears, braided hoses or bleed the system so it will be a big learning curve for me. Any hints would be good

Turbo Tone

iTrader: (2)

Likewise.

Fronts seam straightforward. Two bolts from the back and the caliper is off.

Any pointers for the rear? Am I right in thinking that you can get the old disc off by chocking the wheels and letting the handbrake off? Read that this makes it easier?

ST-X

Although I didn't replace the rear discs, it’s a pretty straightforward process.

First of all, take the top off the brake reservoir in the engine bay and pull out some fluid with a syringe/turkey baster) to allow for the fluid to be pushed from the caliper back into the system. This is especially important if the brakes have been bled while the pads/discs are low as there will be a lot of fluid in the caliper as a result of the pistons being so far out. If you’re bleeding the brakes then the better way to do it would be to open the bleed valves as you insert a thick screwdriver between the discs & pads to force the pistons back, and allow the fluid to be pushed out of them. This prevents dirty fluid being pushed back up the system.

Next, there are two bolts holding the caliper on which will need to come off first (hold the caliper up with some cord once you've removed the bolts). Leave the handbrake off and insert two 8mm bolts into the discs (there are holes for this purpose); as you start to wind them in alternately the disc should get to a point where you can just pull it off the hub.

Next up you push the new discs back on, refit the caliper, and then insert the new pads.

I’d take time to clean up the caliper as much as possible so have a fresh can of brake cleaner, some emery paper, some copper grease and an old tooth brush for cleaning all the gunk out. The pins that hold the pads in aren’t threaded despite what the Philips head would lead you suspect so once you’ve removed the wire clip from the back, just drift them out from the back. They’ll probably be quite rusty so they’ll be tight, but some 80 grit paper’ll take this off easily and allow them to slide in easily upon refitting.

You may also need to back the handbrake cable off slightly if there’s too much of a lip on the inside of the drum. So if it doesn’t start to come off easily, or feels like its stuck on something, then stop forcing it and back off the adjuster that sits behind another hole in the disc. It’s easy, but just remember to re-set the adjuster to the new discs otherwise you’ll find your handbrake doesn’t work when you next go to use it!

PJ-STI

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for all the info

ST-X

And for part two...

Having bedded the rear setup in last weekend, I was massively impressed with the improvement. Under day to day driving with medium pressure on the brakes and no hard stops they were maybe 50% better? Something of that order. I think that under light braking, the rear calipers were barely activating because the inside pad was so seized into the caliper so with freed up assembly and better pads they're now doing the job they should.

So, turning to the fronts I started pulling them apart earlier tonight. I had feared that despite the 50k on the tacho, the ten years and potential abuse could have seized things solid. Luckily, the fears were unfounded. Basically; pop the wheel off, force the pistons back into the caliper by using a large screwdriver (knowing I was junking the discs & pads meant I had no qualms damaging either of them in removal). Undo the two 17mm caliper bolts and pop the caliper off. I simply lifted the caliper up, rested it against the suspension arm and then put a screwdriver through the bolt hole to hold it in place behind the strut rather than use string/cord etc. To get the disc off was simple; just screw an M8 bolt into it. Two's ideal, but you can get away with only one by alternately screwing it in and then hitting the disc from behind 180deg from the point you've put the bolt in.

As with the rear, I cleaned everything up with contact cleaner and fine emery cloth, gave the calipers a lick of paint (Rover Gunmetal is a good match for the OEM grey if like me you want to keep it subtle), and re-assembled. It really was that easy. A little copper-slip on the back of the pads, wheel threads and mating surfaces for the rotor on the hub and it was an easy process. How easy? 50 minutes a side including painting the calipers and putting the wheel back on.

Performance? Well given that I discovered only half the rear braking surface was seeing true action it's no surprise to find that it's massively improved. The pads were making contact but as there was a lot of rust to clean off, the pitting was beyond redemption. A half hour drive of gentle 60-40 braking, gradually increasing in force, a period to cool off, a repeat with slightly more pressure, another cool off, and then another bout of braking took the pads to a hot smell with wisps of smoke. They're not totally bedded in and I imagine they'll improve over the next few trips but so far braking is massively improved, to the point that under hard braking I think matching Blue NDX pads in the rear may be the best bet to ensure maximum stability under heavy braking. Still, I'd say that it was another 50% improvement over what was on there before. Of course this is only first impressions, and it's comparing old knackered stuff with new uprated but so far I'm pleased with the £230 cost so far.

Cost for new front pads: £80
Cost for new front grooved Godspeed discs & rear German Kevlar pads: £150.

Time taken for fitting rear pads: 1hr45(ish) including grinding down pad backing plates and cleaning up calipers.
Time taken for front discs & pads: 1hr45(ish) including painting calipers.

Tools:
17mm socket/1" offset ring spanner for front caliper bolts
M8 bolt & 6mm allen key to remove front disc
pliers for removing clips from pins
A large screwdriver to push back the pistons (alternative is to remove the pads and then use a g-clamp).
Copper slip, brake cleaner, a file (medium) & fine emery paper

Hopefully tales of an easy job will help convince anyone who is a little hesitant to just get out there and do it themselves rather than pay a garage to get in on the act.

ST-X

And another update...

Taking the car over one of my regular backroad drives today (B7007 into B709) confirmed what I thought last night; the brakes are much improved. First application is a tad wooden and lacking at low speed but literally the first application on the journey, or slightly heavier braking both seem to be enough to generate the necessary heat and make them work effectively. However, it's when really leaning on them that they come alive, the performance is just night and day when compared to what was on there before.

In terms of brake balance I think that there's a little bit to be desired between the Bluestuff/Godspeed discs on the front and the German Kevlar Godspeed pads/OEM discs on the rear. Under heavy braking you can feel the car pivoting about over the front axle more than before which is great when left foot braking to modulate turn in as it quickens the gyration into the corner. However, I think that increased nervousness on greasy roads/emergency situations where you're not necessarily using the power to then keep everything pointing in the right way could be a little more of a problem. If it does turn out to be so then I'll probably look to match the rear up with another set of Bluestuff pads. However, for now, I'm very happy although it has shown the lack of grip on offer from the 215/45 P-Zero Nero's. They wouldn't have been my first choice but are at least of reasonable quality. Why anyone spends big money on large brake upgrades only to hamper their efficiency with cheap & nasty tyres is beyond me!