Stainless brake lines worth it? Poll

[wrasse]

Those with stainless braided brake upgrades. Tell us your experience.

[edmundu]

But mine are on STI Brembo's, which I think are tougher to improve upon being fixed piston calipers. This is a response, feel mod. And not a braking improvement, unless perhaps in a track environment!

 

Either way, totally worth doing!

[mouldman1]

under hard braking rubber hoses tend to flex thus reducing the braking power. If you wanna go fast....you gotta be able to stop....fast!

[wrasse]

Hey edmundu. Nice work on that brembo setup. Do you love it? I understand you had to fabricate brackets for the rear. Are the front STI brembos bolt on for the legacy?

[wukindada]

$$ well spent;)

[edmundu]

Hey edmundu. Nice work on that brembo setup. Do you love it? I understand you had to fabricate brackets for the rear. Are the front STI brembos bolt on for the legacy?

 

ABSOULTELY! You would have to go to AP Racing, Brembo GT, or similar to do any better! I did have to start with a new blank brakcet, which was based of of the TWR Racing R160 kit.

 

Fronts go on like they were meant to be! Just need rims to clear!

[cbroo]

how about in cold weather, I have noticed lately when pushing on my brakes in colder weather they tend to be little tighter and sometime wont stop unless I warm up the brakes for like five minutes. so would upgrade on brake lines be worth getting for cold weather or will they freeze easier, and harder to warm up over the rubber lines?

[agctr]

Its just not the lines that u have to upgrade, there are things around the lines that you need to upgrade as well. Therefore U will need

 

1. SSBL

2. Better Brake Fluid

3. Better Pads if possible &

4. Upgrade Rotor.

 

The whole deal shouldnt cost u much more than 2K if that.

Ada///M.

[wrasse]

puhaha, lol. $2000 Yeah right. I don't see myself upgrading my brakes that much just for street use. Prove to me that your proposed esetup will stop at least 20% quicker than stock on a emergency 60 MPH stop then it might make sense. (I'm not talking repeated severe duty use like on track days, just street use)

 

If I was a zillionaire like edmundu maybe but no 2K brakes for me anytime soon =)

 

 

Its just not the lines that u have to upgrade, there are things around the lines that you need to upgrade as well. Therefore U will need

 

1. SSBL

2. Better Brake Fluid

3. Better Pads if possible &

4. Upgrade Rotor.

 

The whole deal shouldnt cost u much more than 2K if that.

Ada///M.

[Thrasher]

Gotta jump to my buddy Edmundu's defense, even if you're j/k. He sourced most of the parts inexpensively on ebay, if I recall correctly. He also did a lot of head-scratchin', finagling, and leg work to make his most awesome rig happen as inexpensively as possible.

Bravo

[edmundu]

Gotta jump to my buddy Edmundu's defense, even if you're j/k. He sourced most of the parts inexpensively on ebay, if I recall correctly. He also did a lot of head-scratchin', finagling, and leg work to make his most awesome rig happen as inexpensively as possible.

Bravo

 

 

Yeah, I appreciate you watchin' my back Rich, but the man's got a point....It did cost roughly $2.1k, even with all the finagling! Oh, BTW I'm no zillionaire, but I did tell myself that this time around I would do the brakes RIGHT. I'm not regretting it...money well spent!

 

Wrasse,

 

BBK will not decrease 60-0 stopping by 20%, but tires & suspension will! You were right, BBK's will not come into their own until you decide to brake repeatedly from higher speeds, or do some spirited mountain driving!

[agctr]

wrasse, maybe i should have made my position a bit clearer.

2K AUD meaning roughly 1500USD.

 

Based on the information that edmundu has said, if u have the correct tyres, suspension and with my braking system noted above, I believe that 2K on this system should brake 20% better. But I was NEVER talking about 20%, put it this way, an improvement over stock would be atleast 10 - 15% based on my package on the STi.

Ada///M.

[riscy]

Just installed Techna-Fit lines last weekend and upgraded to Motul 600. Very little improvement. Pedal feel does improve slightly and sooner than stock. It is worth the cost (barely), though, since it does get rid of most of that "ohmygawditsnotgoingtostop" feeling. But they did not make a dramtic improvement. Plus, they took ass-long to install.

 

In a few weeks I'll get some cash and then I will install Bobcats and a set of BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2s and then I think the complete package will be a dramatic improvement.

[agctr]

Exactly riscy, I think u have to upgrade more than just lines and fluid, its everything around it as well.

Nice write up riscy and love yr ohmygawditsnotgoingtostop..... very funny.

Ada///M.

[wrasse]

Man, I wish I could find some awesome roads around here without tax collectors hiding behind every blind corner. I pretty much live in a police state when it comes to spirited (or rather) attentive driving.

 

I did the tires/wheels (with a little bling), some suspension. Taking an incremental approach to brakes since stockers are pretty darn good. If I get crazy and decide to do track events like I did with my old car, then it's a no brainer.

 

I never got into modding cars so much before but it's sure fun given how the LGT is so responsive to upgrades

 

Yeah, I appreciate you watchin' my back Rich, but the man's got a point....It did cost roughly $2.1k, even with all the finagling! Oh, BTW I'm no zillionaire, but I did tell myself that this time around I would do the brakes RIGHT. I'm not regretting it...money well spent!

 

Wrasse,

 

BBK will not decrease 60-0 stopping by 20%, but tires & suspension will! You were right, BBK's will not come into their own until you decide to brake repeatedly from higher speeds, or do some spirited mountain driving!

[robsontuning]

Made a different on my 2.5rs and also the WRX's I installed them on.

[subastyle]

where have people bought the stainless lines from is it a pain to install?

[Xenonk]

I got mine from http://www.brakeswap.com for a set of Techna-Fit lines.

[Xenonk]

Just installed Techna-Fit lines last weekend and upgraded to Motul 600. Very little improvement. Pedal feel does improve slightly and sooner than stock. It is worth the cost (barely), though, since it does get rid of most of that "ohmygawditsnotgoingtostop" feeling. But they did not make a dramtic improvement. Plus, they took ass-long to install.

 

brake lines install shouldnt take more than 2 hours.

[mbacis]

I have the Techna-fit lines from BrakeSwap as well. My install experience was a nightmare, so overall the whole thing was not worth it. However, if you can install yourself or at a good shop for a decent price, then the Techna-Fit lines are worth their bargain price. The pedal feel is definately better, although not drastic with just lines/fluid.

 

I probably wouldn't pay for the more expensive lines though, not enough of an improvement. I'm also waiting for my stock pads to wear before I replace them, hopefully that will further improve the braking experience.

[Xenonk]

^ did you get the first version?

 

once you get the pads, the bite and everything will feel better.. lines only give better pedal input.. it just shortens the effort needed to push the pedal, it does nothing else.

[riscy]

brake lines install shouldnt take more than 2 hours.

My friend, I couldn't agree more!!

 

Nevertheless it was a "nightmare" for me as it was for mbacis. I had the upgraded rears and they were still extremely frustrating. No clearance for tools, needing to be under and beside the car at the same time, etc. Plus, the SOA gorillas had been at the fittings and they took immense pressure to break. I managed to bend (not too much) one of the hard lines before I decided remove the bracket that secures them to the frame and pull the rears out as an assembly. That helped but created addtional frustrations putting them back in. And don't even get me started on the C-clips

 

A long way to go for a small amount of benefit, but I do think it is marginally worth it. I agree that this is probably better experienced as a package.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I think the Techna-Fits are a fine product... I just think that some of the posts that claim amazing improvements are very misleading.

[Xenonk]

My friend, I couldn't agree more!!

 

Nevertheless it was a "nightmare" for me as it was for mbacis.

 

 

A long way to go for a small amount of benefit, but I do think it is marginally worth it. I agree that this is probably better experienced as a package.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I think the Techna-Fits are a fine product... I just think that some of the posts that claim amazing improvements are very misleading.

 

 

Did you install the lines prior to my walkthrough posted here?:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22401

 

 

Some people get overwhelmed with the shorten pedal feel and was caught off-guard of how sensitive things can be.. it was the same way when people test drove my WRX with the quick-ratio steering rack (it was such a suprised that I refrain letting people test drive my WRX on the street and had to take them to an empty parking lot with no curbs and poles).

[mbacis]

My "nightmare" was with the shop that did the install. I can't speak for the difficulty of work as I did not do it myself, I just learned the hard way not use this local shop ever again. The vendor, Eric at BrakeSwap, was very helpful. The price was good and the shipping was fast.

 

Xenonk, I'm sure I will notice more of an improvement when I get to doing pads.

[j255c]

re-submerge the dead thread. Im looking towards upgrading my brakes, dont want to do anything big, just want to get rid of the squealing and steering wheel shake. The subaru dealership i go to said the rotors are warped and they're going to re-surface them for free. My brakes are in the low-medium to almost done stage and i definately want more bite. I have no problem with how the pedal feels, so would just upgrading my pads still make a world of difference in terms of stopping? Im thinking carbotech bobcats btw... any other brake pad recommendations you guys would suggest?

 

Thanks,

Jeff