Bang for the buck rotors???

[aldad138]

Been gone for a while in Domestic Car Land...it was frightening...I
know the topic has come up many times, but what is the opinion out
there of the best brake rotors for our legacies. My front rotors are
beyond thrashed with @293,000 and I am beyond tapped out after
destroying and having to fix my sisters piece of shit Pontiac. I
don't care if they look great (though it would be nice with my 17's)
but I am more concerned with stopping quickly. So best rotors that
will bolt on with existing calipers is what I am wanting opinions of.

Thanks again...Alex

[ciper_]

Since you have 17 inch wheels the best bang for the buck would be to grab
the entire WRX set of brakes, including pads rotors calipers bracket and
such. I got mine for 200 dollars plus shipping. You will notice that its
possible to lock the wheels or activate the abs at much higher speeds
showing you the effective increase in BHP.

[Josh Colombo]

If you don't want to spend a lot of money.......just buy some OEM rotors
for your car. I've had quite a bit of different brand
rotors.....including brembro, bradi, OEM, slotted,
cross-drilled........just get OEM.

Liberty subaru, or subaruparts.com should be able to get them for you at
a pretty reasonable price...... www.libertysubaru.com
www.subaruparts.com

You can do the WRX brake swap, it's a pretty good bang for your buck
swap.

I have done this......however what ciper has mentioned about the front
locking up so easily is not due to the extra brake torque. It's due to
the brake biasing being off. The piston area for single larger piston
caliper is greater then the smaller twin piston caliper. What this in
affect does is cause too much brake bias/force sent to the front brakes,
which cause them to lock up while the rears are not getting the amount
of pressure they need.

Also....because the piston area is greater the pedal travel is going to
be more because there is more area to be displaced. AND....because we
have a dual stage brake booster.....braking force gets exponentiall
greater after a certain point.......so you get a very non-linear feel.

I've spent close to a $1000 on upgrading the brakes.....and between this
issue and the fact that the damn things vibrate ALREADY after 2600 miles
is freaking ludicris!

So....after I work out my vibration issue.....I will look into swapping
an aftermarket adjustable or different proportioning valve to help get
the brake balance back to where it should be. Also will be looking at
the single stage booster, and a master cylinder from a later model
subie.

Josh

[ciper_]

This is true about the brake bias towards the front even more than original. Most including myself plan to fix this by the addition of the same rear calipers as the WRX. For myself Im going to use the increased diameter 2000+ legacy (including h6) rotors but in the vented design. As far as I know there are only two vented rear rotors and this one is significantly larger. The other being the standard turbo legacy rotor.

[Josh Colombo]

Adding the WRX rear calipers will not fix the brake bias.......as they are the same as legacy. The wagons have larger piston diameters. So for me.....I could upgrade to those and maybe get it a little more balanced.....but it wouldn't give me a lot of adjustability to fine tune the brake setup. However I've got turbo legacy rear vented rotors.....so I need to have the wider caliper.....and I'm not buyin stuff again.......I'll look for the proportioning valve.

For you.....on your wagon......you'd need either the valve.....or go with the 11.4 rear rotors......I don't think those are vented though.

Josh

[Douglas Hancock]

Just get some slotted rotors, to shave the pads as they glaze. Would’nt get cross drilled as they will warp. Good pads and fluid. Also you could get MRT’s master cylinder support bracket. Should do it for a budget upgrade. I would’nt just upgrade the front without doing the rear when you put bigger rotors and so forth.

[aldad138]

As always thanks for the input. I had alot of responses and now am
looking into funding.