Upgrading Brakes

[Guest Bjcnz]

Heya All, how are ya? Weelll, times come that I think I'm going to jump in and upgrade my brakes. I have a 2000 TS-R with the smallest ever front disks (and I mean small, my 1.6 impreza had bigger brakes than it!) and for some weird reason rear drum breaks, anyone seen or heard of this before? I spoke to Subaru and they said they had never heard of that before in a legacy, so who knows.

Anyways, so I'm looking at upgrading my front brakes (rear ones can come later down the track, but in no hurry as most braking power comes from the front) thinking about using GTB brakes, what do you guys think? I'm pretty sure my current master cylinder will handle it, if not I'll just bung it out for a new one. Anyone got anything for sale? Would love rear disks too, but I just don't have time and cant be bothered dealing with the hand brake right now

[BC5RA]

Have you found the limit's of your OE braking setup?

If you have, then you can upgrade your front brakes with better pad's and overhaul.

[Guest Bjcnz]

Yeah I was going to overhaul and new pads, but my disks are at about 60-70% life so they're sweet, and pads are fairly new, the rotors are really really small, they only thing really to do is upgrade them

[Guest]

 BC5RA said:

Have you found the limit's of your OE braking setup?

If you have, then you can upgrade your front brakes with better pad's and overhaul.

I think thats a bit "cut a long story short"

I recently upgraded the brakes on my non-turbo 2.2 wagon with 2 pots and bigger disks off a STI , along with the rear ventilated disks and callipers.

There is a DEFINITE improvement in pedal feel over the old small disks and single pots. As well as improved fade resistance and initial bite.

Was an easy job, cost about $250 all up for parts and pads etc. and was well worth it. They are the same as the GTB brakes I believe, although i'm not sure if they have the ventilated rears.

[BC5RA]

Why upgrade if the OE setup is adequate?

Yes we could go on and on about the merit's of each and every upgrade; 4 pot's/294mm rotors, GTB caliper/294mm rotor's and other lesser retrofits.

What's the intention and application?

It's a TSR; is he tracking it? is he pushing on the road and has gone beyond the limit's of the brakes leading him to an upgrade?

More specific question's = More specific answers.

[Guest]

+1

Me thinks you need a better base car, ihstead off throwing money at the TS-R sell it and buy a better model

[Guest Bjcnz]

Naa my TS-R is going pretty sweet, prob one of the quicker ones around, trust me, if you drove it you'd agree the breaks need to be replaced. Butt alll good, I'm just gonna source some GTB ones me thinks

[Guest Bjcnz]

(PS, I dont track it, but I live up the mountains and chase winters, it'd be nice to have bigger and better breaks on those roads)

[Guest Bjcnz]

 forhire said:

I think thats a bit "cut a long story short"

I recently upgraded the brakes on my non-turbo 2.2 wagon with 2 pots and bigger disks off a STI , along with the rear ventilated disks and callipers.

There is a DEFINITE improvement in pedal feel over the old small disks and single pots. As well as improved fade resistance and initial bite.

Was an easy job, cost about $250 all up for parts and pads etc. and was well worth it. They are the same as the GTB brakes I believe, although i'm not sure if they have the ventilated rears.

How long did the job take you? If it wasn't tooo long, I may as well do my rear ones at the same time, thanks for your help!

[Treecrusher]

Seems weird for a TS-R to have the smaller disks and rear drum brakes. AFAIK the TS-R is the top non-turbo model other than TS-R B. Which usually have the same specs as a GT but without the turbo. I've owned a couple of non-turbo legacies for daily drivers and always made sure to get the TS-R as it comes with the better brakes, double overhead cam engine and nice interior (i.e. climate control, better seats etc.)

I know some LX legacies have rear drums, single overhead cam and push button heater, a/c. Does your car have double overhead cam, digital climate control?

[Guest Bjcnz]

Yeap its double over head cam, but its push button a/c, its all a bit weird. Goes pretty strong for a 2.0 ltr legacy, and I've driven most there is. Its just my daily car too, well its primarily used up the mountains.

[Treecrusher]

Does seem to be a weird combination.

Using it for the mountain is a good reason to upgrade to the larger disks. If not for braking power, then for heat dissipation. I use a v5 wrx for a ski wagon and I upgraded the brakes to 4 pot. Made a big difference on the decent. Also a good idea to get some pads with a higher than normal temp range to stop brake fade.

[Carbon]

If you are in Auckers, Ive got a pair of 294mm discs and calipers you can have for $50

They came of a B4 thats done 50k when I upgraded to Brembos - should bolt straight on maybe?

[Guest Bjcnz]

Brah I could be keen on those, I live in Gissy now, but I come up to auckland most months, I'm up on the 19th of this month

[Carbon]

Yep, drop me a PM - I could be in aussie then, but sure we could work something out

btw - these are the standard 2 pot calipers Im talking about, not 4 spot