brake conversion

[Adrian2627]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the standard GT brakes, especially the Spec B 17"/16" vented set-up. For the street all you need is some good pads and you're good to go. You could go a little further with higher boiling point fluid, a master cyl support, and braided lines if you wanted to as well. That would get you a very capable street set-up that could even handle a beginners track day. Of course they look as good but it depends what you are after.

If you plan on tracking your car regularly then the Brembos would be an upgrade. However, these are OEM Brembos not not their high end aftermarket race brakes. You still need good fluid and pads. If you are really serious about tracking then you might want to look at AP, ENDLESS, Willwood, Alcon as well just to name a few but be prepared to dig really deep into your pockets. Here in Japan the entry level Endless models will set you back nearly AU$7k. Prova's Brembos are about the same.

[andy_mac]

^ Everything he said is spot on. Spec b brakes are the best kit subaru offers besides brembo's, and other than fade can be comparable to stock setup brembo's with the correct choice of pads, rotors, lines and fluid.
The real question is are you wanting this kit for performance, looks or a bit of both?

[HyRax]

Seems like an unavoidable hefty price tag for such a conversion starting to wonder if it would be a worthy upgrade compared to standard gt brakes?

The Brembo path gives you pretty-looking brakes whose discs are 10mm larger than the GT brakes.

The GT path gives you 99% the performance of Brembo at only 10mm smaller, but look ugly. The upside is that they will fit under your stock rims making the entire project significantly cheaper as you literally only have to do the calipers, rotors, pads and bleeding and you're away.

If you are after function over form, go the GT brakes. Want the bling? Splash out and get the Brembo's.

But don't forget that better braking performance is not just the size of the brakes - all that does is help provide a greater friction surface and dissipate heat better. As already mentioned, better pads will stop brake fade under extreme conditions, stickier tyres will allow you to pull up faster and prevent ABS kicking in too early (because your tyres have run out of grip), better brake fluid will not boil so easily making for a firmer pedal feel instead of a squishy one, braided brake lines will prevent the hoses flexing under load (firming up the pedal further) thus transferring more pedal force to the calipers instead, an STi Master Brake Cylinder will pump 13% more brake fluid to the calipers for the same pedal force (an uber-cheap upgrade), and finally a Master Cylinder Brace will prevent your firewall from flexing under heavy anchors, transferring more of that pedal force into the Master Brake Cylinder instead (firms up the pedal more again, and again relatively cheap).

[HardwareBoB]

tldr THEY ARE SO PRETTY!


From viewtopic.php?f=19&t=15726&start=255

[HyRax]

Yes, yes they are.

[andy_mac]

That picture alone has convinced me i must infact paint mine and not just leave them in their current scratched up gold form

[Jake.h71]

They look amazing! but I am after form rather then just the bling. so a much cheaper yet equally as good option for my my04 gt premium would be a spec b set up? I am guessing both callipers and rotors are different?

[HyRax]

They look amazing! but I am after form rather then just the bling. so a much cheaper yet equally as good option for my my04 gt premium would be a spec b set up? I am guessing both callipers and rotors are different?

You mean you are after function over form? Form is the bling in this case!

Spec B and GT calipers and rotors are the same - they used 316mm vented front rotors and 290mm vented rears. For 2.5i Gen4 they were 295mm vented fronts and 290mm solid (non-vented) rears.

By comparison, Brembo is 326mm vented front and 316mm vented rear.

EDIT: Made a mistake with quoting what the GT/Spec B size pre and post facelift was. Fixed.

[Jake.h71]

yes that one! lmfao half asleep -.- lol. so are pre and post fl callipers the same? due to the thicker rotor? would that mean thinner pads? could gt-b rotors be a sneaky upgrade'?

[HyRax]

yes that one! lmfao half asleep -.- lol. so are pre and post fl callipers the same? due to the thicker rotor? would that mean thinner pads? could gt-b rotors be a sneaky upgrade'?

The size refers to the diameter of the rotor. Only the rears had a blatant difference in thickness (solid vs vented).

EDIT: Incorrect info deleted. All Gen4 GT and Spec B ran the same size calipers and rotors.

If you're coming from a 2.5i, then the GT/Spec B upgrade would not only look very OEM, it will also help fill out the wheels a bit if you have 18" rims.

[HardwareBoB]

That is incorrect. PreFL/postFL GT/Spec B brakes are all the same - 316mm. There may be a difference on the NA models, but all GT or spec B brakes from a gen4 are the same.

[Jake.h71]

Ohhhhhh ok so lmao so in other words brembos are the only genuine upgrade for a gt?

[HyRax]

That is incorrect. PreFL/postFL GT/Spec B brakes are all the same - 316mm. There may be a difference on the NA models, but all GT or spec B brakes from a gen4 are the same.

A quick look on the DBA website suggests you are correct. I might have mixed it up with the 2.5i size which is definitely smaller than the GT and Spec B.

Previous posts updated accordingly.

Ohhhhhh ok so lmao so in other words brembos are the only genuine upgrade for a gt?

Well, as I said before you can always get better pads and wider, stickier tyres. It also depends on how you drive. If you need better stopping power when cold such as pottering around town, then a set of high-temp pads will not suit you, but if you like to do lots of spirited mountain driving, then street pads are going to fade too fast. Likewise, normal tyres tend to be a harder compound and when hot are pretty much useless, but last a while and are generally good in the wet. Semi-slicks are usually a softer compound, will stick better and deal with heat a bit better, but conversely they also wear faster and are usually not so good in the wet.

[HardwareBoB]

Ohhhhhh ok so lmao so in other words brembos are the only genuine upgrade for a gt?

genuine in terms of from subaru? basically yes, but there are several other options, all of them expensive. let me break it down.

GT/3.0 brakes: high performance street brakes. With an upgraded pad/rotor combination they will be excellent for light track and street duty.
Brembos: basically the same as above, although a bit better, but they look pretty
other options: much larger /more piston options for various amounts of money that if you really need, you learn more about braking systems

[gen3v8]

Brembos are not just larger in diameter, the fiction area is also deeper giving more pad bite area.
I must admit the clamping force of the stock 316mm callipers is more than the brembos