Just out of curiousity, is anyone familiar with AP Racing Brake Calipers for the subaru? 4-pot fronts only. more curious on if they affect brake bias... would they be ok to run with stock rears? would they be ok to run with upgraded rear (2-pot kits) brakes? how are AP's compared to brembo's and stoptech's (2-piece systems)? thanks.
-bbsmurf

 

AP are by far the best brakes there are out there, IMHO.

 

right... but can i run them with the certain rears i already have on? or would it be better with stock rears? hehe
-bbsmurf

 

Hmmm..... I have the AP 4 pots for the fronts and the AP 2 pot rears.

Lemme see if I can answer your questions. Please excuse the lack of description as im not too car savvy. Im learning as i go along here. Feel free to ask me more questions.

> can i run them with the certain rears i already have on?

I dont see why not. They are a bolt on replacement. (I had all sorts of issues putting them on *stupid shims* *rubbing with the rotor* *grrr*

> more curious on if they affect brake bias... would they be ok to run with
> stock rears?

Hmmm. Im guessing that if you just replace the front calipers only, that you'll probably dive hard when you brake only. I can only speak from what i have. I went from the stock brakes on the 02' wrx to a 4 pot front/2 pot rear in the back.
When I went on this setup, my cars nose really dives down when i break hard.

Im guessing with AP 4 pots fronts and the stock rears, you'll dive even more so then i do because the stock rear calipers arent helping as opposed to the AP 2 pots.

*Of course, im speaking out of my butt here, it seems like common sense. Feel free to correct me if im wrong here *

> would they be ok to run with upgraded rear (2-pot kits) brakes?

Sure why not, i dont see why not?

> how are AP's compared to brembo's and stoptech's (2-piece systems)?

I wish i could answer this one. I never got the brembo's or the stoptechs.
What stopped me here from getting those two was that i would have to upgrade
my wheel size to 17", which would be an additional 1K-ish for tires and wheels.

> but can i run them with the certain rears i already have on?
> or would it be better with stock rears?

Again, i dont see why not. Im guessing the limiting factor is the wheel size. There isnt any electronics (at least i dont think there is any) that attach to the caliper.

I hope this is helpful. And please correct me if im wrong.

- Ulysses

 

thanks for the info
i'm only asking because i have a big brake kit on my car already with 4pot fronts and 2pot rears, but was thinking of just switching the fronts for a number of reasons... but was going to just switch 'em before my next track event (later this month)...
i refrain from mentioning the current setup i have because i don't want to get in trouble seeing as i'm supposed to run their stuph for a bit longer (sponsor...) heh
i will let u know how the 2pot rear and 4pot fronts feel

 

I too am interested in the AP Racing kits...

It seems like the AP Racing rear two pot is only available as a custom set up from KVR/ION racing in Canada. On AP Racing's home website, they don't make a rear kit for the WRX.

With that said, their are a number of different AP front kits available from AP Racing if you look on their home page. If you do not want to import one of those kits, the official distributor for AP Racing in the USA is Brake Pros. They offer only one WRX kit. It's a front 4-pot, 330mm rotor based kit, and is available in Red or Black calipers. I don't believe you can get Red AP calipers from the imported kits in Europe.

Anyhoo, this USA AP kit, from Brake Pro's has about the same bias as the stock front brakes on a WRX. Many people (including StopTech) believe that a lower front bias will help overall balance because the bias is already too far forward on the stock car. StopTech has about a 10% less bias up front.

To balance out the bias in using the USA AP Racing kit, I would think that either an H6 upgrade in the rear, or the Subaru (non-Brembo) 2-pot rear kit as used on the 22B would be a welcome choice in balancing out the overall bias.

Of course, you could go with the matching 4/2 AP Racing kit from KVR/ION Performance, but I think the logo's on the calipers don't actually match. The rear's use the older style of logo if I'm not mistaken...

Hope that helps a bit. I too am considering an upgrade from AP Racing and did some investigating a while back...

- Paulie

 

ScoobyTuner i think it is sells a 6-pot suby front bbk. its alot of money most likly more than the 4-pot. i think it may be more of a racing kit.

 

so if the set i have is imported and not the usa version, but i only have the 4pot fronts and not the rears, how does that affect bias? or is that then similar to the usa spec ones?

 

It would probably be similar to the USA version, depending on the size of the rotors...

- Paulie

 

Alex, what makes you say that? Be honest, you won't hurt my feelings.

 

We can calculate the change in bias if we know some specs for your equipment. I think you can get dimensions of the AP stuff on their site, and we can figure out the dimensions of your existing rears easily enough, and calculate the differences.

 

Be careful with those calculations, they are not nearly as simple as one might think. Give me a shout and I'll be more than happy to help. Even if you refuse to accept that fact that the ST-40 is a superior caliper to the AP calipers that are used for aftermarket BBKs.

Vanessa might not remember me from back in the day but I'll be a little upset if Mr. SUVs doesn't remember me. Hope all is well up in the homeland and I'll talk to you kids soon.

Tim
www.stoptech.com

 

Heh heh, where do you think I was going to send that info once I got it, Mr. Smartypants? Although, the equations using that data are posted in the White Papers...

 

Ouch, even took the time to put in the italics...

Oh and Smartypants is my middle name not my last name

 

hi! can you possibly post a pic of the setup on ur car? thanks.