AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I've got a 09 Legacy 3.0R LTD with around 1400 miles on it now. I find the brakes are by far the least responsive/effective of any brakes on any cars I've owned in the last 5 - 7 years (VW R32, Jetta GLi, Audi A6). I feel I really need to stomp on it to get the car to slow quickly. Is this just legacy brakes or do mine have an issue? I've never owned a Subaru before so I have nothing to compare these brakes to. Any input is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 More info. What do you mean by least responsive? Mushy pedal? No initial grab? No brake feel? Long stopping distances? What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 More info. What do you mean by least responsive? Mushy pedal? No initial grab? No brake feel? Long stopping distances? What? I find they do not have the stopping power I'm used to. It takes far more foot pressure to get less stopping power with less feel. Essentially, little initial grab and the feel is almost missing if that makes any sense. If I need to stop in a hurry, like a car suddenly stops to turn with no signal and I need to brake hard I've got to put my foot through the floor to make it happen where as in any of the cars above only a light step on the pedal would yield the same stopping power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 A lot of people have complained of that in the LGT. The best solution for pedal feel/eliminate mush has been more aggressive pads and stainless steel brakes lines so the lines don't expand. I don't know if the SS lines for the LGT fit your 3.0. If you want to go crazy, get a BBK setup! As for stopping distance, that's mostly tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 A lot of people have complained of that in the LGT. The best solution for pedal feel/eliminate mush has been more aggressive pads and stainless steel brakes lines so the lines don't expand. I don't know if the SS lines for the LGT fit your 3.0. If you want to go crazy, get a BBK setup! As for stopping distance, that's mostly tires. What's a BBK setup? What does it consist of, I'm new to the Subaru "thingy" lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Big Brakes, like the STi Brembo calipers on my car. Not necessary for a street car at all but great for race tracks. Expensive, though, but purty, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oh, okay. My 2008 R32 had blue brake calipers, looked cool and the pads were big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGR-LGT Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Id jsut get a set of Braided brake lines and see how you like it from there? very cheap and inexpensive to install, and wont void your warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praedet Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 The brakes on your 3.0R are bigger in the front, and smaller in the rear, than your R32 I believe... Try bedding the brakes first, then bleeding them... Then, if that doesn't work, get new pads and lines. The LGT ones will work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red98lude Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 That is just the way the brakes are. I was thinking something wasn't right with mine as well but you do get used to it. It seems like nothing really happens until the pedal is around halfway down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 just a pad upgrade will be more then sufficiant to give the OP the feel and resopnse he needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Id jsut get a set of Braided brake lines and see how you like it from there? very cheap and inexpensive to install, and wont void your warranty. I'll try this first and go from there. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 That is just the way the brakes are. I was thinking something wasn't right with mine as well but you do get used to it. . I don't want to get used to mediocraty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 The brakes on your 3.0R are bigger in the front, and smaller in the rear, than your R32 I believe... Front Brake Rotor Diam x Thickness (in) R32/3.0R LTD 13.6 x - TBD - 12.3 x 1.18 Rear Brake Rotor Diam x Thickness (in) 12.2 x - TBD - 11.3 x 0.71 The R32's brakes are bigger all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdoggydog Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 What's a good pad upgrade for standard driving conditions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronemus Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Check out http://store.r1concepts.com/store/se...&submit=Search. E-line slotted rotors and PosiQuiet pads are good performers at a reasonable price. I got the slotted rotors more for the plating (no rust) than any performance benefit. The PosiQuiet pads have good bite and fade resistance (better than the Hawk HPS they replaced) at a price similar to bottom-end parts store pads. I've got about 3000 miles on them now and couldn't be happier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katalyst Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 i'm not even certain SS lines would make that much of a difference since you essentially have a new car, i don't see how the factory lines would be weak at this point just go with a kit fredbeansparts.com or magnetic1 have kits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS5689 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Heh, VW brakes feel like crap also. I used to own a MKV also, and those brakes were pretty damn mushy. Anyways, the Legacy brakes are along the same lines, very mushy. I did a Hawk HPS pad upgrade. The pedal is a lot firmer now. You still need to stand on it to stop, but the pedal is a lot firmer with a lot less travel in the procoess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Heh, VW brakes feel like crap also. I used to own a MKV also. You had a MKV what? GTI, Rabbit? Even between the GTI and R32 the brakes are different? The R32 brakes are built for no fade as many R32's see track time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Today driving home from work I had to make two med to hard stops and the brakes feel like they grip-release-grip-release almost like a brake pad is warped or something and there was some vibration in the steering wheel which was never felt there before. I'm going to make an appointment at the dealer for Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 One contributing factor to the mushiness is probably the floating calipers. It's not the best brake solution and if the brakes seems to be worse than usual it's time to check the pins that the calipers are riding on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 I'm sitting at the Subaru dealer as I type this. I was just told that I have a bad rotor which will be replaced under warranty of course considering I only have 1100 miles on the car. The service advisor thought it was that in the first ten seconds of me telling him the issue. It seems this is fairly common. Hopefully this won't be a recuring issue. That's two issues in 1100 miles (two tpms sensors on day 1 of delivery) and now a rotor 7 weeks later. Hmmm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Was your car assembled on a Monday after a long tough weekend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 Was your car assembled on a Monday after a long tough weekend? Hopefully not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8TORSADF Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 An interesting development has taken place. Once they had finished working on my car the service advisor came out and told me they machined the damaged rotor (cause from a bump spot of rust). It looked like the car had been sitting out in the back lot for some time before I purchased it. I told the service advisor that I was not happy that they machined a rotor that has only 1100 miles on it versus replacing it. His response was that SOA would never authorize a rotor replacement when the rotor thickness is in spec. So I said what is to say that in another 1000 miles this rotor needs to be machined again and this time it's too thin and I then need to pay for a replacement. He said that the rotors are under the 3yr/36K miles warranty and if that happened to the same rotor it would be replaced under warranty. It sounds sketchy to me but I guess we'll see. I know the sales manager really well and I spoke to him about it and he called SOA for me who confirmed the service advisors story. The sales manager said if you have any issues with the rotors again he'll be sure to back me up for free replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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