quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:

quote:

All brake pads have a coefficient of friction and getting a set with a higher COF will result in increased braking performance

No it won't. change the feel about braking, initial bite versus pedal pressure, but in the end affect the actual braking result for any competent pad. No.

As someone who races Porsche’s and is a nationally certified high performance driving instructor with over 50,000 miles of track experience I guess we’ll just have to disagree....

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
There are a lot of ways to improve the braking in a vehicle.

Once you had the sticking caliper fixed a cost effective way is to get a more “aggressive” brake pad provided the rotor is good.

All brake pads have a coefficient of friction and getting a set with a higher COF will result in increased braking performance.

Define "increased braking performance". The OP is looking for shorter stopping distances. Assuming his current brakes can lock up his tires, wouldn't the tires be the limiting factor? Different pads may require less pedal pressure to lock up the tires, they may change the feel, they may resist fade better and provide more consistent stopping distances, but how will they chance stopping distances?

Unless that kit has bigger rotors and or better calipers, I would not get it. The cross drilled and slot business is not going to do a thing for your brake performance. Otherwise I'd resurface the rotors, replace the bad caliper, and upgrade the pads after researching what most subie people use. Also if you don't have QUALITY performance tires - I would get some. Putting actual performance tires on my GTI was the best upgrade thus far.

First thing I would do is take your WRX to a known good Subaru dealer and have them inspect your brakes; I wouldn’t trust some oil/lube joint to do this. If they agree with the assessment you already got, I’d replace all brake components in question (your caliper & rotor) with OEM parts. Buy the OEM parts online (usually cheaper) and do it yourself; brake work isn’t very difficult.

IMPORTANT PART: When you replace the caliper, flush ALL of your brake fluid and replace it with quality brake fluid, in spec with what Subaru calls for. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (it absorbs moisture over time) reducing its effectiveness.

Replacing your brake lines with stainless steel braided lines will firm up how your brake pedal feels.

quote:

Originally posted by Gascan:
First thing I would do is take your WRX to a known good Subaru dealer and have them inspect your brakes; I wouldn’t trust some oil/lube joint to do this. If they agree with the assessment you already got, I’d replace all brake components in question (your caliper & rotor) with OEM parts. Buy the OEM parts online (usually cheaper) and do it yourself; brake work isn’t very difficult.

IMPORTANT PART: When you replace the caliper, flush ALL of your brake fluid and replace it with quality brake fluid, in spec with what Subaru calls for. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (it absorbs moisture over time) reducing its effectiveness.

Replacing your brake lines with stainless steel braided lines will firm up how your brake pedal feels.

Well, it was in at the dealership for the oil change, tire rotation and balance.

The rotor is groved, and caliper is sticking. It's not know what part of the caliper is sticking. I believe it is the sliders, but I'm not sure. The dealership couldn't get to it that day, and since it wasn't a safety problem they said to make an appointment for a later date.

I'm thinking as of now, I'm just going to replace the caliper that is bad, new rotor on that side with OEM parts, resurface the other (as they all are fairly new ), new pads on all four corners.

I still would like to upgrade, but it looks like to get where I want to be, I will have to go with a big brake kit and that right now is out of the budget.

ARman

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
There are a lot of ways to improve the braking in a vehicle.

Once you had the sticking caliper fixed a cost effective way is to get a more “aggressive” brake pad provided the rotor is good.

All brake pads have a coefficient of friction and getting a set with a higher COF will result in increased braking performance.

Define "increased braking performance". The OP is looking for shorter stopping distances. Assuming his current brakes can lock up his tires, wouldn't the tires be the limiting factor? Different pads may require less pedal pressure to lock up the tires, they may change the feel, they may resist fade better and provide more consistent stopping distances, but how will they chance stopping distances?

No, it doesn't work that way. Any crappy car with factory brakes can lock up the tires with ABS turned off.

Larger rotors and high performance pads can apply more friction, more smoothly, and more drag before they lock up the tires. A lot of times the tires lock up from a quick stopping motion (like jamming the break pedal to the floor) and it's that quick change of motion, transfer of weight, and intertia that causes the tires to lose traction and skid.


Same with accelerating and letting out the clutch. You could sit at a light with the engine at 2500 rpms and if you ease the clutch out, the vehicle will accelerate much faster from a stop, than if you just dropped the clutch and the vehicle just sat there spinning the tires.

I used to drag race, Fun Ford Weekend street renegade series.