legacycentral bbs

Hola everybody,
Why would I not be able to use the sport brake package for the Legacy turbo on my non-turbo that is listed on www.brembo.com? Would I have to upgrade wheel size? Would they not fit in the calipers? Would I have to upgrade the master cylinder? What gives? They don't list anything on Brembo. Please help I want better brakes.

where are you seeing a sport brake package for the legacy turbo?

I don't know what that "sport" check box is for, but the specs they give are for the stock sized turbo legacy rotors.

As for brake upgrades, you can swap pretty much any calipers/rotors around from any other new subie....excluding the SVX.

I have WRX front rotors & turbo legacy vented rears on my car. It will soon have an SVX master cylinder and probably a legacy wagon proportioning valve.

I've pretty much redesigned the entire brake system. When I get done, the final product should be a reasonably priced braking upgrade with very good results.

What I did is probably a little overkill for most, and I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you really know what you're doing.

As for better brakes for your car.....get some better pads. That will help a lot, also, braided stainless steel brake lines help with mushy pedal.

SubaLegacy, I didn't see what you were referring to on their web page, but here's the basic compatibility info:

If the package includes caliper brackets, calipers, and rotors, then it'll bolt up fine.

If it's just rotors, then you will likely need Turbo Legacy calipers and caliper brackets.

Most of the time, people consider the caliper bracket and caliper to be one single unit, and call it the caliper.

You need the correct caliper and bracket for the rotor you're using. Like Josh said, the Legacy/Impreza/Baja/Forester lines all use the same mounting scheme, so any caliper brackets for one of them will work on any other. Any rotors for one will work on any other too.

I second Josh's suggestion of doing simpler stuff first to improve your brakes. Good brake pads and good tires usually will go very far towards improving your braking. The tires also help with overall grip.

If after that you still feel like you need more, then look at upgrades like those from other Subarus or from Brembo. The stock non-turbo Legacy brakes can be really underpowered, depending which setup you got.

Okay sounds good. What pads would be better than stock? And how can I make my rusty calipers and rotors look nicer? Would I hurt them by sanding them or using steel wool or something like that? As much as I'd like to say I'm taking my Subie rallying, I'm not so I suppose for now I don't need much of an upgrade, pads should be good for now. Unless getting a turbo set of calipers and brackets would be cheap. Would I have to upgrade to 15" wheels if I did that?

Oh BTW This is what I was looking at, here are the directions....
Brembo.com--> Shop On-Line, Auto Brake System-->pull down Subaru -->pull down Legacy 4WD Turbo. Scroll down and voila. I think if I would have just put a link here it would have been messed up so this should be easier. Their sport system is just drilled rotors and pads, well maybe pads don’t come with it, but any how this is what I was looking at.

It appears that those are just rotors, so you would need the caliper and bracket assembly from a Legacy Turbo to use them.

I hear good things about Axxis' series of pads, particularly the Metal Masters and Ultimates. EBC Green Stuff pads are supposed to be good too. Mintex makes supposedly good pads too.

I wouldn't worry too much about rust on the rotors; they'll get covered in rust after a few drives anyway, since they're cast iron parts rapidly heating and cooling in an oxygen-rich environment. A lot of people recommend going over them with emery cloth when replacing pads, since it supposedly breaks away the old pad material. Some people say it's a bad idea, but I don't recall reading a reason. Some people would recommend having the rotors resurfaced, but I'm not sure I agree with that, since when you resurface a rotor you lose a good deal of heat-dissipating material. But make sure you bed the new pads in properly.

To get rust off the calipers, you could probably sand it off somewhat. Start by spraying the whole thing with brake cleaner (in a well ventilated place). If you do it while the caliper is still on the car, a lot of dirt should drip off. Then, when the cleaner dries off (should only take a minute or two), use a wire brush to loosen any dirt that's still on there, and do another round of brake cleaner. The aerosol can shoots the cleaner out with a decent bit of pressure, so you can use it to push dirt off. After that you could try a sander. After you get it all clean, it might be a good idea to paint it if you want to keep it looking good. Use high-temperature paint meant for this kind of stuff. And while you have them off the car, you might consider getting a caliper rebuild kit and replacing all the seals and whatnot, and relubricating the guide pin and stuff.

Slightly off-topic -- Oh, and I would definitely recommend getting Speed Bleeders and installing them while you have the calipers off. Speed Bleeders are awesome, and fairly cheap from Oakos Automotive ( http://www.oakos.com/ ). Last time I bled my brakes, it only took about 5 minutes.

Realize Brembo brakes are just generic brakes, that many auto parts store and independant repair shops use. Nothing great about brembo. DBA is the Subaru Enthusiast choice most often.

I checked out DBA. They only list front for what they have listed as the BC6 which would probably be my application. They have front and rear for the RS, is that the only model with discs all around in Australia?

Rear discs are the same from the 1990 legacy all the way up to the WRX.

There are only a few exceptions. The turbo legacy had vented rear discs, same size though.

The H6 and newer legacies have 11.4" solid rear discs (larger rear disc)

Not sure what the SVX got....but it's sort of the bastard step child......

Honestly.....I wouldn't worry about different rotors. It doesn't sound like you're going to be pushing them too hard. I've run several different rotors, the subaru rotors have been the best for me.

dba does have good rotors. The venting design on them is superior to stock, but like I said, for your purpose, I don't think it justifies the extra cost.

Axxis ultimates are pretty good pads. I'd suggest them.

Ok, I see that everyone likes the Axxis Ultimates +. What I would like to know is where can I buy them for my car?

I couldn't find Axxis Ultimates for our cars. I tried a few different places. I decided I was going to get the Axxis Deluxe Plus instead. Then I ran out of money and got neither.

How stupid of me...I meant the Deluxe + pads. Sorry about the misprint.

where can i get dba rotors for my 91 turbo legacy

check out www.isrperformance.com

Or look on dba's site http://www.dba.com.au/

which ones fit our car from dba

Your car isnt turbo right? That means basically all of the rear brakes would work. For the fronts just make sure and match the diameter of what you have now.

it is the turbo

dba is saying the rear of the rs was a solid rotor.