Best Inexpensive BBK
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 686
From: SoCal
Car Info: PSM 2K2 WRX Wagon
Best Inexpensive BBK
I am looking for a BBK for my 02 WRX wagon. I am looking for something inexpensive, more fade resistant than OE & easy to install. I have kinda narrowed down my choices to the LGT front calipers & rotors w/ the H6 rears or the Subaru 4pots & H6 rears. I have 17in SSR Comps, so I don't think there are clearance issues w/ the LGT brakes.
Which set up is better based on the above criteria?
Which set up is better based on the above criteria?
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 10
From: Shawnee, KS
Car Info: 2003 WRX Wagon
You'd be better served by the LGT front calipers and rotors, and though I haven't done the math it seems like the H6 rear upgrade would match up with that pretty well.
If you want less fade, all else being equal, you need larger rotors up front. The Subaru 4-pots do essentially nothing for fade resistance, though they do firm up the pedal quite nicely. Combined with the H6 rears they do shift bias a bit rearward, but that only helps reduce fade in theory and not in our experience.
Now, have you tried the usual upgrade of pads and fluid? A set of Carbotech Bobcats all the way around and some ATE SuperBlue or Motul RBF600 go a LONG way toward making the brakes fade free on the road. Even charging down twisty mountain roads at speeds well in excess of the posted limit. Not that any of us do that sort of thing, just saying that if you did I can say with confidence that the brakes will hold up fairly well. And stainless lines from Goodridge or Stoptech don't hurt, either, as they make the pedal feel quite a bit better.
If you are tracking the car regularly, and I mean road course, then you are thinking right by going with bigger brakes. If you only get on track a couple times a year, just get a set of Carbotech XP8s for the OEM front calipers and make sure you're using Motul RBF600 fluid and you should be in good shape. Reason I say that is because you CAN make the OEM brakes fade-free, even on track, with good track pads and fluid. However, you are putting enormous amounts of heat into a small heat sink when you're on track, and if you do this regularly you will cook things like wheel bearings, calipers seals, etc. However, if you just do it a couple times a year, the longevity of other 'local' components shouldn't be too adversely affected.
And if you plan to keep the car a long time, track it regularly, and just don't want to have to mess with brakes every couple years, get yourself a Stoptech kit and be done with it. That's where I finally ended up (and this before I got into the performance parts business), and I wouldn't ever go back on that decision.
Last comment; all of the above applies to a stock or lightly-modded WRX. If you're running 300hp or more and frequently go to the track, once again save yourself a lot of hassle and spend the money on the Stoptech. Or plan on going easy on your brakes
. Feel free to PM or email and I'll be happy to discuss our experience further.
Regards,
Phil
DPE
If you want less fade, all else being equal, you need larger rotors up front. The Subaru 4-pots do essentially nothing for fade resistance, though they do firm up the pedal quite nicely. Combined with the H6 rears they do shift bias a bit rearward, but that only helps reduce fade in theory and not in our experience.
Now, have you tried the usual upgrade of pads and fluid? A set of Carbotech Bobcats all the way around and some ATE SuperBlue or Motul RBF600 go a LONG way toward making the brakes fade free on the road. Even charging down twisty mountain roads at speeds well in excess of the posted limit. Not that any of us do that sort of thing, just saying that if you did I can say with confidence that the brakes will hold up fairly well. And stainless lines from Goodridge or Stoptech don't hurt, either, as they make the pedal feel quite a bit better.
If you are tracking the car regularly, and I mean road course, then you are thinking right by going with bigger brakes. If you only get on track a couple times a year, just get a set of Carbotech XP8s for the OEM front calipers and make sure you're using Motul RBF600 fluid and you should be in good shape. Reason I say that is because you CAN make the OEM brakes fade-free, even on track, with good track pads and fluid. However, you are putting enormous amounts of heat into a small heat sink when you're on track, and if you do this regularly you will cook things like wheel bearings, calipers seals, etc. However, if you just do it a couple times a year, the longevity of other 'local' components shouldn't be too adversely affected.
And if you plan to keep the car a long time, track it regularly, and just don't want to have to mess with brakes every couple years, get yourself a Stoptech kit and be done with it. That's where I finally ended up (and this before I got into the performance parts business), and I wouldn't ever go back on that decision.
Last comment; all of the above applies to a stock or lightly-modded WRX. If you're running 300hp or more and frequently go to the track, once again save yourself a lot of hassle and spend the money on the Stoptech. Or plan on going easy on your brakes
. Feel free to PM or email and I'll be happy to discuss our experience further.Regards,
Phil
DPE
i went from stock to stoptechs and back to stock brakes. i can tell you that stoptechs are great...brake pedal feel is so much better on stoptechs than it is on stock brakes! for that alone, i would get the BBK.
read the C&D review on BBK's on the WRX...it was published awhile back. then decide for yourself.
read the C&D review on BBK's on the WRX...it was published awhile back. then decide for yourself.
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 686
From: SoCal
Car Info: PSM 2K2 WRX Wagon
DoughBoy - how much?
The big problem w/ StopTechs are the (relatively) big price. By my figures either the Subaru 4pots or the LGT fronts & H6 rears would be approx 1/2 the price of the Stoptechs. Plus I can buy the parts piecemeal, which is not so much an option w/ the Stoptechs.
I am totally sold on the StopTechs, though, so you are preaching to the choir. I have that issue of C&D. I called StopTech for information before I decided on buying wheels, b/c I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be clearance issues. IMHO, they are easily the best BBK out there. But, while not Brembo F40 kit - expensive, they are a little rich for my blood right now. (The only slightly surprising thing about StopTech is their semi weak warranty.)
To answer your Q DPE, no my brakes are basically stock. I was planning to do OE slotted rotors, SS lines & performance pads & fluid, but that puts me at about $4-500, which is only a couple hundred less than the LGT/H6 or 4pot/H6 parts. I can fade my brakes w/ <2 hard stops from super legal speeds (if there were posted speed limits on a track). & i figure I could use those as a stopgap improvement while I work on the rest of my car.
The big problem w/ StopTechs are the (relatively) big price. By my figures either the Subaru 4pots or the LGT fronts & H6 rears would be approx 1/2 the price of the Stoptechs. Plus I can buy the parts piecemeal, which is not so much an option w/ the Stoptechs.
I am totally sold on the StopTechs, though, so you are preaching to the choir. I have that issue of C&D. I called StopTech for information before I decided on buying wheels, b/c I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be clearance issues. IMHO, they are easily the best BBK out there. But, while not Brembo F40 kit - expensive, they are a little rich for my blood right now. (The only slightly surprising thing about StopTech is their semi weak warranty.)
To answer your Q DPE, no my brakes are basically stock. I was planning to do OE slotted rotors, SS lines & performance pads & fluid, but that puts me at about $4-500, which is only a couple hundred less than the LGT/H6 or 4pot/H6 parts. I can fade my brakes w/ <2 hard stops from super legal speeds (if there were posted speed limits on a track). & i figure I could use those as a stopgap improvement while I work on the rest of my car.
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