NeoteriX
07-28-2004, 05:13 PM
This summer was the summer I wanted to get my 2002 WRX's brakes to where I wanted them to be. The short list:
- The 290x10mm H6 / Legacy (my 2000+)rear brake rotors and caliper hangers [$165.71]
- Axxis Deluxe Plus pads front [$31.95]
- Axxis Deluxe Plus pads rear [$24.95]
- Stoptech stainless steel lines, sheathed [$148]
- Speedbleeders [$28]
- Valvoline Synpower synthetic DOT3/4 brake fluid (32oz/1L) [$5]
Approx. Total Cost: $403.61
*Needs
The car is a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX that is daily driven and autocrossed, the car will not be tracked for the forseeable future. Consequently, I needed a good street pad with livable characteristics. I didn't really need additional brake cooling or thermal capacity. I wanted Fluid that was high performance, but I didn't need outrageously high boiling temps -- the brakes never get that stressed in my autocrossing.
*Purchasing Decisions:
I chose the rear legacy rotor upgrade due to the large reccomendation of several members of NASIOC. The original rear rotors are 266x10mm (10.47 inches in dia.) and the new rotors are 290x10mm, which translates into nearly an inch larger in diameter. The result is a 9% mechanical advantage for the rear braking, (all things equal) shifting the brake bias rearward a little. In addition there is a slighter greater thermal capacity for the rotor.
I chose the Axxis Deluxe Pads because I wanted a relatively inexpensive upgrade pad that was friendly with respect to brake noise, rotor life, and dust. The Axxis Ultimates and Carbotech Bobcats are two of the handsdown best performing pads you can buy -- the Ultimates being about $100 cheaper but dust like crazy. The Deluxe+ are a relatively new pad and seemed to me to be the perfect compromise between performance and livability: http://www.zeckhausen.com/axxis_pads.htm As you can see from Axxis's ad material, the Deluxe+'s are not that far off the Ultimates in performance and have better rotor, noise, and dust characteristics. And they're priced well.
Stainless Steel lines will help reduce the sponginess of the Subaru brakes and firm up the pedal a bit allowing for better brake modulation. I chose Stoptech's stainless steel lines because they come sheathed in a protective coating as to prevent dirt and other contaminants from working their way into the steel braiding.
The speedbleeders are designed to allow a brake bleed without two people, I bought it so that if I needed to flush the system again (yearly?) I can do it myself.
I chose the Valvoline Synpower fluid on the reccomendation of several members of the TXIC forum -- I was originally going to go with the ATE Super Blue since it is one of the best compromises between performance and cost. However, the advantages of the Synpower were that it is quite readily available (at any local autoparts store) and it is half the price of the Super Blue, while still having decent boiling point characteristics. The big 32 oz. / 1 liter bottle was enough for the whole thing.
*Purchasing Notes:
This information might be of use to those considering the H6 / Legacy rear rotor upgrade -- Instead of purchasing the rotors through www.subaruwrxparts.com or another retailer for $220, I bought the rear rotors and brake hangers used from a Subaru used parts dealer, http://www.superrupair.com/
I asked for a model year 2000 Legacy rear rotor (left and right) and the corresponding brake hangers/brackets and they had a set in stock. The rotors came out to be $30 each, and the caliper hangers were $40 each. The grand total was $165.71 shipped. Everything came in decent condition, just with a lot of dirt and rust -- nothing that couldn't be taken care of with a little sanding and brake cleaner.
*Install Notes:
A friend from NASIOC helped me with the install since it was the first time I had ever done a brake job before. The install was relatively straightforward. Here are some of the important points I can remember:
- If/When replacing the pads, you only have to loosen one of the bolts connecting the caliper to the hanger, and remove the other. This way, you don't have to completely remove the caliper, you can just swing it up.
- We chose to chisel out the spot welds and remove the dust plate that was blocking the rotor.
- A generous amount of brake cleaner is always good to have on hand. :)
- You don't need to put too much antisqueel on the pad backings :)
- Make sure the car's parking brake is disengaged when trying to remove the rear rotor.
- When replacing the lines, disconnect the line/caliper first, and make sure the banjo washers are out. Connect the new SS line to the caliper. Then disconnect the line to the hardline/car. This was seemed to yield the least mess.
- It might help to have the car running when bleeding the brakes to get that last bit of air out.
*Results:
Make sure you bed the pads in properly! We did a couple stops just to get me home. Afterwards, I went to a local low low low traffic road and did around eight or ten 60-5 mph stops and then drove in circles around an empty building for eight minutes, You want to heat up the pads sufficiently so that they leave an even layer of material on the rotors. From my understanding, this will create a nice surface relationship between the pad and rotor. The important thing is to never come to a complete stop.
Later that evening driving around, the brakes felt fabulous -- just from a pedal feel perspective since that's all I'm qualified to judge, there was less of that initial "slop", like that inch or two of pedal travel where nothing happened. Now when you step on the pedal just a little, there is some engagement of the brakes. The pedal feel is now moreso similar to my parent's 325xi.
In terms of actual stopping distances or whether it "stops better", there is no real way for me to say what kind of improvement there is. Theoretically, moving the brake bias rearwards might help a little bit, but otherwise if I'm engaging the ABS with the stock system, the brake system already represents the maximum potential of braking to the car. In addition, I know enough not to be fooled that an earlier brake engagement does not in any way correlate with actual objective brake performance.
Overall I'm quite happy with the way the upgrade turned out. The pedal feel is quite improved and visually, the car looks great with 11.5" rotors upfront and 11.4" rotors in the rear, the Legacy rear rotors really fill up the stock 16" wheels well.
:banana: :banana: :banana:
~NeoteriX
edit: I was slightly off on the prices for the rotors -- they are correct now.
edit: Added overall pricing.
- The 290x10mm H6 / Legacy (my 2000+)rear brake rotors and caliper hangers [$165.71]
- Axxis Deluxe Plus pads front [$31.95]
- Axxis Deluxe Plus pads rear [$24.95]
- Stoptech stainless steel lines, sheathed [$148]
- Speedbleeders [$28]
- Valvoline Synpower synthetic DOT3/4 brake fluid (32oz/1L) [$5]
Approx. Total Cost: $403.61
*Needs
The car is a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX that is daily driven and autocrossed, the car will not be tracked for the forseeable future. Consequently, I needed a good street pad with livable characteristics. I didn't really need additional brake cooling or thermal capacity. I wanted Fluid that was high performance, but I didn't need outrageously high boiling temps -- the brakes never get that stressed in my autocrossing.
*Purchasing Decisions:
I chose the rear legacy rotor upgrade due to the large reccomendation of several members of NASIOC. The original rear rotors are 266x10mm (10.47 inches in dia.) and the new rotors are 290x10mm, which translates into nearly an inch larger in diameter. The result is a 9% mechanical advantage for the rear braking, (all things equal) shifting the brake bias rearward a little. In addition there is a slighter greater thermal capacity for the rotor.
I chose the Axxis Deluxe Pads because I wanted a relatively inexpensive upgrade pad that was friendly with respect to brake noise, rotor life, and dust. The Axxis Ultimates and Carbotech Bobcats are two of the handsdown best performing pads you can buy -- the Ultimates being about $100 cheaper but dust like crazy. The Deluxe+ are a relatively new pad and seemed to me to be the perfect compromise between performance and livability: http://www.zeckhausen.com/axxis_pads.htm As you can see from Axxis's ad material, the Deluxe+'s are not that far off the Ultimates in performance and have better rotor, noise, and dust characteristics. And they're priced well.
Stainless Steel lines will help reduce the sponginess of the Subaru brakes and firm up the pedal a bit allowing for better brake modulation. I chose Stoptech's stainless steel lines because they come sheathed in a protective coating as to prevent dirt and other contaminants from working their way into the steel braiding.
The speedbleeders are designed to allow a brake bleed without two people, I bought it so that if I needed to flush the system again (yearly?) I can do it myself.
I chose the Valvoline Synpower fluid on the reccomendation of several members of the TXIC forum -- I was originally going to go with the ATE Super Blue since it is one of the best compromises between performance and cost. However, the advantages of the Synpower were that it is quite readily available (at any local autoparts store) and it is half the price of the Super Blue, while still having decent boiling point characteristics. The big 32 oz. / 1 liter bottle was enough for the whole thing.
*Purchasing Notes:
This information might be of use to those considering the H6 / Legacy rear rotor upgrade -- Instead of purchasing the rotors through www.subaruwrxparts.com or another retailer for $220, I bought the rear rotors and brake hangers used from a Subaru used parts dealer, http://www.superrupair.com/
I asked for a model year 2000 Legacy rear rotor (left and right) and the corresponding brake hangers/brackets and they had a set in stock. The rotors came out to be $30 each, and the caliper hangers were $40 each. The grand total was $165.71 shipped. Everything came in decent condition, just with a lot of dirt and rust -- nothing that couldn't be taken care of with a little sanding and brake cleaner.
*Install Notes:
A friend from NASIOC helped me with the install since it was the first time I had ever done a brake job before. The install was relatively straightforward. Here are some of the important points I can remember:
- If/When replacing the pads, you only have to loosen one of the bolts connecting the caliper to the hanger, and remove the other. This way, you don't have to completely remove the caliper, you can just swing it up.
- We chose to chisel out the spot welds and remove the dust plate that was blocking the rotor.
- A generous amount of brake cleaner is always good to have on hand. :)
- You don't need to put too much antisqueel on the pad backings :)
- Make sure the car's parking brake is disengaged when trying to remove the rear rotor.
- When replacing the lines, disconnect the line/caliper first, and make sure the banjo washers are out. Connect the new SS line to the caliper. Then disconnect the line to the hardline/car. This was seemed to yield the least mess.
- It might help to have the car running when bleeding the brakes to get that last bit of air out.
*Results:
Make sure you bed the pads in properly! We did a couple stops just to get me home. Afterwards, I went to a local low low low traffic road and did around eight or ten 60-5 mph stops and then drove in circles around an empty building for eight minutes, You want to heat up the pads sufficiently so that they leave an even layer of material on the rotors. From my understanding, this will create a nice surface relationship between the pad and rotor. The important thing is to never come to a complete stop.
Later that evening driving around, the brakes felt fabulous -- just from a pedal feel perspective since that's all I'm qualified to judge, there was less of that initial "slop", like that inch or two of pedal travel where nothing happened. Now when you step on the pedal just a little, there is some engagement of the brakes. The pedal feel is now moreso similar to my parent's 325xi.
In terms of actual stopping distances or whether it "stops better", there is no real way for me to say what kind of improvement there is. Theoretically, moving the brake bias rearwards might help a little bit, but otherwise if I'm engaging the ABS with the stock system, the brake system already represents the maximum potential of braking to the car. In addition, I know enough not to be fooled that an earlier brake engagement does not in any way correlate with actual objective brake performance.
Overall I'm quite happy with the way the upgrade turned out. The pedal feel is quite improved and visually, the car looks great with 11.5" rotors upfront and 11.4" rotors in the rear, the Legacy rear rotors really fill up the stock 16" wheels well.
:banana: :banana: :banana:
~NeoteriX
edit: I was slightly off on the prices for the rotors -- they are correct now.
edit: Added overall pricing.