Brake swap

[Ledfoot]

If I want to swap my stock brakes out for a better set (this is definitely first on my list), what do you think I should run? Honestly if I can do a straight-up STi Brembo swap, that would be my first choice, but I honestly don't know if it's a straight up swap or not. Any advice or experience you can give me would rock. :tup:

[KA82]

i think for a complete STI brembo swap the fronts bolt right up but the rears need some custom fab.


could call up local shops and ask for a quote, im no expert but thats what i managed to gather up =)

[Ledfoot]

Sweet, thanks for the reply. I think maybe I'll start with the fronts and see how they feel and just hold on to the rears until I know what's needed to do the work. EIther way, when the time comes I'll write everything out here.

[ih8vtec13]

The rears are not that bad to do but if you are going the Brembo route you can just get the Legacy kit.

[TSi+WRX]

There's lots of choices out there - including, of course, the OEM STi Brembos.

A couple of things to look for, though:

(1) If the price is really, really low - be careful that the set may not have full dust-shields. Unless you don't mind caliper rebuilds every 10K to 20K miles, this isn't really a viable option for road-going every-day vehicles.

(2) Wheel clearance. In VA, you'll likely still want to keep a set of dedicated winter rims around - I'm just guessing, but by your enthusiasm for bigger and better brakes, you're likely one who will also insist on no-compromise performance from your tires, which is why I think you're likely to do the 3-season + summer setup. ;) Know that there are various BBK options out there (such as the 4-pot Rotora 330mm diameter kit) which will clear even our stock 17-inch rims. This may or may not be possible with other kits...i.e. the smaller rotor diameter OEM-Brembo/STi setup has a caliper that's "fatter" - thus cannot clear our stock 17-inchers.

(4) Rears. More and more options are becoming available by-the-day. As a complete 4-corner set, while the OEM-Brembos can be bought, in many cases, from STi guys who are looking to sell on-the-cheap, there are many excellent deals going around for complete-retro sets from various makes, and you'd do well to look to the typical vendors to see what's available before you commit. These commercial retrofit kits also have the benefit of being truly plug-and-play "bolt-ons" (and if I recall correctly, there's at least one vendor that does sell the OEM-Brembo as a rear "bolt-on" set, complete with pre-fab'ed brackets).

Best of luck! :D

[Ledfoot]

Wow! Can't thank you enough for taking the time to break this down for me. Seriously, that pretty much hit every concern/point I was mulling over. My plan is to have 18 inchers and performance tires for three season use...and use the stockers as winter shoes (Not much snow to worry about in NOVA really, but I go to CT and NH a decent amount.) Clearance is a HUGE deal for me...that and I think using the stockers for something makes more sense than buying two full sets. I have to do the brakes first, because for me...that was the only shortcoming of the car...get that straight and everything else is just gravy. :lol:

I have been shopping around vendors and running google searches for days, but most of what I find in terms of brakes has strictly been pads and braided lines... So if anyone wants to give some business to a vendor they have had a great experience with...I'm all for it! PM me if you don't want to sound like an infomercial ;)

[TSi+WRX]

:) NP, glad to be of assistance. :)

---

I've had a wonderful experience with Street Image, which is a .com-associated vendor.

Their contact e-mail is:

arnold@streetimage.com (arnold@streetimage.com)

Contact name is Arnold - great guy. Rotora shipped me the wrong BBK, which, luckily, only had the wrong brake lines associated (everything else was the same), and he's been awesome about getting replacements sent out ASAP and handling things with Rotora.

If you do wind up using him/them, please let them know that Allen/"TSi+WRX" from the Forums said "hi!"

To fit under my stockers for winter use, I opted for the Rotora 4-pot 330mm kit. Rotora does market a 6-pot kit that supposedly works with our stock 17s, but to the best of my knowledge, there has been no independent confirmation of this fit, yet.....

[STEye]

STi Brembos FTW!! Chipping the nice gold paint FTL!

[TSi+WRX]

Update:

For those who do track their LGTs, it is *HIGHLY* recommended that, should you choose any of the Rotora systems, that you upgrade with their race/track compound brake-pads!

A recent post on .com saw a member there who managed to burn through his Rotora street-compound pads at about the same rate as our stock, OEM, pads.

Beware!

[Wukindada]

Here is another suggestion, I was about to get Brembos all the way around but it's just not needed any more...

1. DBA 4000 rotors F&R
2. Bobcats F&R
3. SS lines
4. Motul fluid

0 fade & the car really surprises me with how hard the car stops. No comparison to stock.

[Dookie]

Here's another good idea,

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p5870805dc9bc9041a8918b749f27b729/ea6b9b89.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

Final look,
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p38d91f4eb8672ec846e33295806229f8/ea6b97af.jpg (javascript:viewExifData())

These are DBA standard slotted rotors.

[RobE]

sweet deal on brembo fronts http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57502