[spshultz]

I did the WRX brake upgrade yesterday. The learning curve on the first rotor is always the longest. The other rotor went pretty quickly and the brake pad change on the rear only took 10 minutes per side.

And for those of you who haven't done this before, get yourself a large C-clamp to push in those caliper pistons and an 8mm x 2" bolt to pop off the rusted on rotors.


Here are some pics between the old rotor and the new rotor. I can definitely tell a difference in stopping power between the two. No it's not like going up to a large Brembo or what not but it's darn nice for the money I spent.


As you can see, the new rotor is just a bit bigger and pushes the caliper closer to the outside of the rim.

 

[2Point5RS]

Looks good man.. I used an old brake pad to push the 2 pistons down.. Wasn't hard at all, just needed a little pressure.

So what do you think about your braking distance?

 

[spshultz]

So far I think it's better. I haven't really had a chance to test them until today. On my way to work I was being cut off left and right! And I noticed that for the same amount of pedal pressure they definitely grab more. I'm actually impressed. No it may not be a huge difference but it is noticeable and nice.

On a side note, my car has almost 76,000 miles on it. I haven't changed the pads in that time. When I pulled the old ones off they still had half the pad left. I couldn't believe it. I guess I'm not a heavy braker!

 

[RS25.com]

I haven't seen this mod before - can you describe what the difference is and what needs to be done (anything special)?

 

[spshultz]

James,

I'm no mechanic so I will try to describe the way I think it works.

First of all I got the parts from www.Subaruparts.com . It is the WRX brake upgrade and comes in a kit. I think the price was below $300.00. I wanna say about $225.00+.

The kit includes, two big rotors (same size at 4pot rotors?), two caliper brackets, and a stock front pad kit.

The caliper brackets move the pads closer to the out side of the wheel as you can see in the picture. In essence the swept area of the brake went up about an inch I believe. I want to say the old rotors were about 10"+ and the new rotors are a bit above 11"?????


Everything comes in the kit. Pushing the pistons back in was the hard part for me. I just couldn't get them pushed in. The 8mm bolt is a must. I thought a light tapping with a rubber mallet would do it but nope. They were really on there. I actually went through two bolts. The first rotor shredded the bolt threads.

Once the brakes bed completely it should be even better. The left pad is taking a bit longer for some reason. But like I said above, for the same amount of pedal pressure it seems to produce more braking. It is the most noticeable mod I have done to the car yet except for appearance items.

 

[DoorKnob]

I have this mod too. It's such a simple mod, I had everything done in just about an hour. Detailed instructions are at ravensblade-impreza.com.

There is quite a difference in performance. I have a review of the upgrade, ss lines, and fluid on the i-club here . There's some other stuff there too like where I got my parts.

 

[Peaty]

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22

 

[Siper2]

I hope to do this mod sometime this year, too. I'll have to sell my 15" steel wheels and winter tires and get new 16" replacements though, since the WRX rotors and spaced caliper won't clear. Oh well.

It is indeed a cheap upgrade. If I buy my rotors new, I'll get them from Exeter Subaru at www.subaruwrxparts.com as they sell them for about $100/pr. Spacers are cheap. I'll probably buy Porterfield pads from them too, front and rear. My rears are pretty worn. I'll then be painting my calipers black, all around.

From all I've heard, it's a nice upgrade. And yes, the WRX rotors are the ones used in the 4-pot caliper/rotor upgrade. Same ones.

-S2-

 

[10th Warrior]

I'll have to sell my 15" steel wheels and winter tires and get new 16" replacements though

15" Raceline RL-7 rally wheels will clear the STi 4-pots. just another option for you.

 

[Siper2]

Yep, those I know about. The RL-7 is nice, I tried to find a set a while back but couldn't. I know Mike at SPD-USA sells them, but I couldn't get in touch with him. Tried SubieGal, and she said that regardless, Raceline wheels are really tough to get these days. Forget why, you'd have to ask her.

Plus there's a slight change to the design of the RL-7... The "new" design has fatter spokes than the old ones, which if you ask me, has a shrinking effect. I like 16" wheels (17"s are pretty but I'd worry about damage), but wouldn't want them to look like 15"s.

Plus they're kinda pricey! TireRack sells WRX wheels for $89/ea.
I'll probably just buy a set of those for winters, if I can't find anything cheaper.

-S2-

 

[asusimpreza]

Okay, this is off the topic regarding Mike at SPD-Usa. I heard from the I-club that he was not selling parts anymore. But then just the other day someone told me he just stopped the online store but is still selling to locals. Is that true or not?



Ben

 

[Siper2]

Mike had health problems a while back, which is why he disappeared for a while. Rumor was that he was shutting down, at least temporarily.

I hear people saying that they've ordered stuff from him lately though, so I've no idea what's up.

 

[mykrrrr]

Can I use RS brake pads on this conversion???

10th - Ask Shawn about those RL7's.

-mykr.

 

[Siper2]

Yes, you can use OEM pads. The only two things that change are the rotors, and that you need to buy spacers for the calipers, since they're pushed outward to accomodate the larger rotor.

-S2-

 

[jagcars26]

This is a kit???Part # please,or do you guys just buy the seperate parts.Those #s i have.
Rudy

 

[Siper2]

No it's not a kit, it's just rotors from the WRX, and spacers from the dealership (that I assume are on the WRX too, not sure). The rotors you can buy new or maybe get some super cheap from a WRX person who's doing an upgrade.

Exeter Subaru sells both the clips and rotors. The rotors go for $100/pr. I think, through them. Mike or Bill (both are NESICers) at www.subaruwrxparts.com .

-S2-

 

[jagcars26]

Thank you,,,:biggest:

 

[Siper2]

No sweat. Tell Bill that I sent you.

-Chris