[Jay11STI]

well that sucks for me because i think the oem brakes leave a little to be desired lol..
It seems the next step up from the mid grade brakes are roughly $180/set, then double it for front/rear.
Any other recommendations besides get a better job?🤣

Yeah oem brakes are good for an out of the box factory car i guess. Its hard for me to remember what they were like. If remember correctly, i got roughtly 30k out of my oem set of brakes. Ive have my current brake combo of b-force pads and dba 4k rotors on the car for approx 40K. If it wasnt for the rusty rotors due to lack of driving over the years, they would be staying on the car for awhile longer. Iduno in my opinion, getting 40k+ out of a set of brakes is pretty good in my book. Ive herd of some guys getting close to 60K on a set of quality aftermarket brakes.

Now a days, some cars dont even get 20K out of a set of brakes. These arent performance cars im referring to either lol.

 

[Parker]

So where does the enthusiast land? I can promise 400+ dollar brake pads are NOT in my future. It seems the general recommendation are outlandishly expensive. There's got to be a good middle ground to stand on here.

Where are you looking at $400 pads? a simple search will yield you plenty of options well below $400.

2019 Subaru WRX STI Base Brake Pads - Stoptech 308 Performance Street Pads

StopTech 308 Performance Brake Pads are a great all-round performer with excellent bite, low dust and very quiet. Upgrade over stock, moderate price and all hardware included. Ideal for normal commuting and an occasional thrill run through your favorite twisty bits of road.

www.buybrakes.com

 

[Owen H]

Where are you looking at $400 pads? a simple search will yield you plenty of options well below $400.

2019 Subaru WRX STI Base Brake Pads - Stoptech 308 Performance Street Pads

StopTech 308 Performance Brake Pads are a great all-round performer with excellent bite, low dust and very quiet. Upgrade over stock, moderate price and all hardware included. Ideal for normal commuting and an occasional thrill run through your favorite twisty bits of road.

www.buybrakes.com

kind of like what jay and I were talking about. I understand the stoptechs in the post are a slight improvement or stock equivalent all things considered. It seems like the next bump up puts us around the ~180 + ~180 price range. I'm really open to anything else though, im still pretty green.

Edit: thanks for showing me that website. super cool!

 

[Raakaar]

My rational is that brake pad friction material probably has the largest effect on the pads coefficient of friction, so shouldn't two pads that are both semi-metallic offer you the same stopping power? There are semi-metallic wagner brake pads for $45. I wonder if the wagner's would be less susceptible to brake fade compared to the $5 API brake pads? Then again there are carbon fibre-ceramic pads also for $45. Did they make them out of carbon fibre because they know car enthusiast drool over anything carbon fibre, or because carbon fibre excels in this application? Is it a red flag that the company selling the carbon fibre pads is called "power stop" lol?

The last thing I would want to do is neuter the brakes. I also don't want to be the fool who will buy something because it's more expensive but not actually get anything better.

There are a ton of options, yes.

However, there are also loads of reviews and reputational analysis done. The video I posted shows the testing that NRS does on their pads and shows the dangers of cheaping out.

I drive a bit "Spiritedly" with the occasional track day, so I look to be ~$250 to $450 for front and rear. NRS is there, as is Hawk and Stoptech. However if you are not doing spirited driving, then an OEM replacement "Gold" pads are perfectly fine and match the OEM specs (Think Duralast, or PowerStop). Most of those are ~$100-150 front and rear.

 

[Boilermaker128]

2018 STI put on 140,000km before I changed the front brake pads, they still had 2mm left too could've been milked more. OEM parts have been nothing short of amazing.

I didn't want to replace front rotors so threw on some FactionFab F-Spec Front Brake Pads Subaru STI 2018+ – FactionFab for cheap and put 13,000km on them, so far so good for daily driving.

Can you believe the subie dealer 12 months ago gave me a quote for $2800 at the 100,000km service for front rotor+pads, said they needed changed asap...criminals.

 

[Raakaar]

2018 STI put on 140,000km before I changed the front brake pads, they still had 2mm left too could've been milked more. OEM parts have been nothing short of amazing.

I didn't want to replace front rotors so threw on some FactionFab F-Spec Front Brake Pads Subaru STI 2018+ – FactionFab for cheap and put 13,000km on them, so far so good for daily driving.

Can you believe the subie dealer 12 months ago gave me a quote for $2800 at the 100,000km service for front rotor+pads, said they needed changed asap...criminals.

Yeah, dealer prices can be criminal, bur brakes are so easy to do, so why bother? Just do them your self or ask a mechanically inclined friend or family member and toss them a couple bucks. I usually charge ~$150 per axle for friends.

 

[mheyman]

well that sucks for me because i think the oem brakes leave a little to be desired lol..

What is it you don't like about em?

 

[Owen H]

What is it you font like about em?

The only time i ever drove the car hard I got a squishy pedal.
I should have worded that differently I suppose.. I should probably flush the fluid and track the car then make that type of assertion. What I really should say is "I want the car to decelerate faster for less pedal input"
It wasn't like I was locking the tires up or anything, and I want them to bite harder. I was mostly unimpressed at how fast they faded just from back roads.

 

[Raakaar]

The only time i ever drove the car hard I got a squishy pedal.
I should have worded that differently I suppose.. I should probably flush the fluid and track the car then make that type of assertion. What I really should say is "I want the car to decelerate faster for less pedal input"
It wasn't like I was locking the tires up or anything, and I want them to bite harder. I was mostly unimpressed at how fast they faded just from back roads.

I had that problem on my 2012 STI, I fixed it for 70 bucks. Change the front brake lines to braided brake lines. The last foot of brake lines needs to move and flex, so the lines are rubber and the warmer rubber gets the softer it gets and stretches, giving you that soft pedal feel. If your replace the basic rubber ones with ones encased in a metal braid, you eliminate that flex because of heat. These are the ones I bought: StopTech® - Stainless Steel Brake Lines (carid.com) It is even cheaper for 2015-2020 StopTech Stainless Steel Brake Lines (Front) - 2015-2020 Subaru WRX & STI|Subispeed

 

[Parker]

Yeah, ^ that.
The stock brake pads are actually quite good but they're not the greatest for a track car...you need some aggressive hawk style track pads for that. But pedal feel can be improved with fresh brake fluid and/or the upgraded brake lines.

 

[ajsti24]

There are brake pads available for 2015+ STI's for $5CAD on rockauto. They are semi-metallic. I assume that the pad material on my (2ndhand) car right now is also semi-metallic as they are dusty and noisy. Who cares if the $5 pads wear out faster? Why pay over $100 for pads that might last longer when I can get these pads nearly for free? Random manufacturing defects aside, do you think these people could sell brake pads that that will fail?

Wide range of options here:
Street Pads:

https://www.knsbrakes.com/c/car-items/2674_2015+Subaru+WRX+STI+All+Models/_/3_Street+Brake+Pads

Track Pads:

https://www.knsbrakes.com/c/car-items/2674_2015+Subaru+WRX+STI+All+Models/_/4_Race+Brake+Pads

 

[2018sti]

Quality matters! do not risk your life or anyone else's to save a few bucks. Watch this video to understand why: What Are The Best Brake Pads? Cheap vs Expensive Tested! - Engineering Explained

That's a great video, thank you. Those graphs were especially great to see.

Dont cheap out on brakes. This isnt the car for that. I dont think you should ever want to downgrade from what the car came with. Especially something as important as brakes. You may not be hitting the brakes hard often BUT that one time (oh shyte moment) when you do, you will be glad you didnt get the cheap stuff that let you down. There are plenty of options for brakes. Check out KNS brakes, they are a popular vendor on here. They have all kinds of options and combos available. There are also plenty of other places to shop around for brakes for our cars. Nothing against Rockauto, just not really a performance aftermarket spot.

My recommendation when it comes to pads, Project Mu B-force. Low dust, amazing bite hot and cold, quiet, long lasting. They are just a bit pricey but so well worth it. So worth it in my opinion that i will be going with these again in a couple of weeks.

$5 brake pads 🤦‍♂️

Rockauto has been my go-to for the past decade, but I guess it's time to move on. So now that I've moved on, I'm leaning toward the project mu B-force pads that you recommended. The material is super graphite metallic and they have a temp range of 0-400 *C. It's nice to know they work well at lower temps, some other manufactures seem to gloss over the lower end spec for operating temperature.

 

[Karlot]

That's a great video, thank you. Those graphs were especially great to see.





Rockauto has been my go-to for the past decade, but I guess it's time to move on. So now that I've moved on, I'm leaning toward the project mu B-force pads that you recommended. The material is super graphite metallic and they have a temp range of 0-400 *C. It's nice to know they work well at lower temps, some other manufactures seem to gloss over the lower end spec for operating temperature.

Project mu pads are fantastic. You won’t be disappointed.
Rock auto is great, but one thing to keep in mind is that subarus can be picky. I’ve replaced like 3 parts (basic master cylinder, sensors etc) from rock auto. And every time they broke again quickly. If it’s not an aftermarket performance upgrade they really like oem parts. Not sure why.

 

[2018sti]

So where does the enthusiast land? I can promise 400+ dollar brake pads are NOT in my future. It seems the general recommendation are outlandishly expensive. There's got to be a good middle ground to stand on here.

In a sea of upside down stools, the enthusiast tries to land on one that's right side up. I want to see detailed specs on car parts like we see on medicine packaging.

Project mu pads are fantastic. You won’t be disappointed.
Rock auto is great, but one thing to keep in mind is that subarus can be picky. I’ve replaced like 3 parts (basic master cylinder, sensors etc) from rock auto. And every time they broke again quickly. If it’s not an aftermarket performance upgrade they really like oem parts. Not sure why.

I pulled the trigger on the project mu pads since they seem to have such a good reputation. At first I resisted because they have about the coolest name a brake pad company could come up with, and then they went and made the pads aqua green. I get worried when things are too flashy sometimes, in case the product is all bark and no bite but you got lured in by it's esthetics...

 

[Jay11STI]

I pulled the trigger on the project mu pads since they seem to have such a good reputation. At first I resisted because they have about the coolest name a brake pad company could come up with, and then they went and made the pads aqua green. I get worried when things are too flashy sometimes, in case the product is all bark and no bite but you got lured in by it's esthetics...

Trust me, they got plenty of bite. You're going to feel the differance on the first hit. In terms of flashy, i dont think anyone is going to be able to tell you have teal colored brake pads unless they're real up close. You would really have to be looking at the pad to notice.

Another thing that wasnt mentioned on here, what are you doing about rotors? Are you going to for brand new rotors? At the very least, i would recommend resurfacing them if you are sticking with the original oem rotors. Although that may turn into some down time while your waiting for the job to get done.

 

[2018sti]

Trust me, they got plenty of bite. You're going to feel the differance on the first hit. In terms of flashy, i dont think anyone is going to be able to tell you have teal colored brake pads unless they're real up close. You would really have to be looking at the pad to notice.

Another thing that wasnt mentioned on here, what are you doing about rotors? Are you going to for brand new rotors? At the very least, i would recommend resurfacing them if you are sticking with the original oem rotors. Although that may turn into some down time while your waiting for the job to get done.

I wanted to run them again as is, but now i'm looking at new rotors...

 

[Crusader89]

I wanted to run them again as is, but now i'm looking at new rotors...

On my 2019 STI I went with DBA T3 ClubSpec 400 series rotors (slotted) I found them locally through a vendor. The pads I bought from KNS they are GLOC GS1

 

[2018sti]

The previous owner had the rear brakes done a few months before I got the car. My rear rotors are a bit grooved / have a medium amount of waveyness to them. So obviously they ran the rotors as is without turning them. Looking at the front its nice to see the rotors aren't grooved badly, but I felt them with my finger and there is still a wavey surface finish. It definitely wouldn't hurt to have them turned or replaced. Do you guys ever choose to run rotors as is when they are not smooth to the touch?

I see the DBA 4000 series Club Spec rotors are available in 2 different flavours depending on if you want slotted or drilled/slotted. Are these considered to be an improvement over OEM? The description on subiedepot.ca states "mid series enhanced performance rotor". It says they fit 2015-2017, are rotors different after 2017?

 

[Karlot]

The previous owner had the rear brakes done a few months before I got the car. My rear rotors are a bit grooved / have a medium amount of waveyness to them. So obviously they ran the rotors as is without turning them. Looking at the front its nice to see the rotors aren't grooved badly, but I felt them with my finger and there is still a wavey surface finish. It definitely wouldn't hurt to have them turned or replaced. Do you guys ever choose to run rotors as is when they are not smooth to the touch?

I see the DBA 4000 series Club Spec rotors are available in 2 different flavours depending on if you want slotted or drilled/slotted. Are these considered to be an improvement over OEM? The description on subiedepot.ca states "mid series enhanced performance rotor". It says they fit 2015-2017, are rotors different after 2017?

yes. After 2017 they went to the 6 pot front calipers and have different rotors to accommodate

 

[mheyman]

Do you guys ever choose to run rotors as is when they are not smooth to the touch?

Yes many many times, and I’ve had no issues doing it whereas I've had several rotor issues after they were cut and ended up replacing them.

But: there is a difference between being budget oriented, and owning and really careing for an STI. Morover cheap soft pads will soon wear in to match the rotors while quality pads are very hard and may take forever to fully mate. I’d never do it w my STIs or Project mu’s. In fact, there is no point in spending that much money on them if thats what you will do. Then youd be better off with cheaper pads and rotors, and I feel Project mu Bforces were the best street pad Ive ever driven.