Preface: After getting my WRX back from the dealership with a new engine I have been going through the typical break in process. Keeping the RPMs under 4500 and using engine braking whenever possible. On the dealer inspection paperwork the only part of the car that was listed as “yellow” were the brake pads. The tech estimated them at 40% so totally safe to drive on but in need of service within the next 6 months. Keep in mind I have 45k on these stock brake pads. Last week I noticed a solitary squeak coming from my drivers side front brake and decided it was time for a brake job. With 45k miles on the stock pads and 15k on the current brake fluid I decided to swap just the pads for the time being.
Note - I considered big brake upgrade kits but I decided that they were not in my budget at the moment. Saving for a wedding is currently more important than having huge brakes for my daily driver. As a compromise I decided a medium - aggressive street pad would give me some nice stopping power and depending on the compound I might see a reduction in dusting as well.
Hardware: The options for pads that fit the aggressive street bill were Hawks, Winmax and Stoptech. I compared the max temp rating ( because I am not using a big brake kit at the moment max temp rating should mean that the pad can handle more heat generated under hard braking on a stock sized rotor ) The highest heat rating I found was on the Stoptech pads at a scorching 1300 degrees.Comparing compounds is not something I could find on a spec sheet so I turned to forums for advice. The Stoptechs had the lowest occurrence of poor reviews on the forums, I found that others had reported them as quiet, relatively clean, and effective enough to run on the occasional track day even on stock rotors. After comparing the Stoptech Street pads to Hawk HPS pads I decided that with similar reviews I would save the extra hundred bucks and give the Stoptechs a go.
Install: Install is as easy on the WRX as it is on any other car, Pull caliper housing bolts, tuck the calipers out of the way ( don’t hang them b the brake lines ). Remove the old pads and pop the new ones in place. I did notice that the feeler/squeaker pin on the WRX is bent outside the caliper housing. It took a moment to realise that i shouldn't be tucking it in with the pad. With that sorted out I used a cheapo caliper spreader to open up the brake calipers and they slid back on easily. With everything back in place bleed your brakes and top off your fluids.
Total time for the brake job was about and hour and anyone with a nice floor jack and a set of hand tools can handle it themselves.
Bed in: Stoptech labels their street pads as pre broken in. I have always run through a simple break in process when i install brakes, at least to make sure that they will work when I take the car out on the road. in a safe and controlled environment bring the car up to 35-40 mph and brake under light pressure 5-10x without letting the car stop entirely, then let them cool. Take the car up to 50-60 m and follow the same process to a slow roll 5x and let the cool. Finally take the car up to highway speeds and bring the car to a complete stop 2x. At that point you can drive the car around town and use the brakes normally.
Initial Impressions: I am pleased with the performance of these new pads. They are noise free, vibration free and feel better than the OEM pads when brand new. Having driven 2 new WRXs and 1 new Impreza in the last month I had a great chance to compare new OEM compound to Stoptechs. The stoptech pads have very smooth modulation and great bite. Living in California I really can’t speak to their cold bite but at 65 degrees this morning they felt just fine for my morning commute. I plan on writing an update in the next month with more information about cold bite, dusting and noise.
Note - I considered big brake upgrade kits but I decided that they were not in my budget at the moment. Saving for a wedding is currently more important than having huge brakes for my daily driver. As a compromise I decided a medium - aggressive street pad would give me some nice stopping power and depending on the compound I might see a reduction in dusting as well.
Hardware: The options for pads that fit the aggressive street bill were Hawks, Winmax and Stoptech. I compared the max temp rating ( because I am not using a big brake kit at the moment max temp rating should mean that the pad can handle more heat generated under hard braking on a stock sized rotor ) The highest heat rating I found was on the Stoptech pads at a scorching 1300 degrees.Comparing compounds is not something I could find on a spec sheet so I turned to forums for advice. The Stoptechs had the lowest occurrence of poor reviews on the forums, I found that others had reported them as quiet, relatively clean, and effective enough to run on the occasional track day even on stock rotors. After comparing the Stoptech Street pads to Hawk HPS pads I decided that with similar reviews I would save the extra hundred bucks and give the Stoptechs a go.
Install: Install is as easy on the WRX as it is on any other car, Pull caliper housing bolts, tuck the calipers out of the way ( don’t hang them b the brake lines ). Remove the old pads and pop the new ones in place. I did notice that the feeler/squeaker pin on the WRX is bent outside the caliper housing. It took a moment to realise that i shouldn't be tucking it in with the pad. With that sorted out I used a cheapo caliper spreader to open up the brake calipers and they slid back on easily. With everything back in place bleed your brakes and top off your fluids.
Total time for the brake job was about and hour and anyone with a nice floor jack and a set of hand tools can handle it themselves.
Bed in: Stoptech labels their street pads as pre broken in. I have always run through a simple break in process when i install brakes, at least to make sure that they will work when I take the car out on the road. in a safe and controlled environment bring the car up to 35-40 mph and brake under light pressure 5-10x without letting the car stop entirely, then let them cool. Take the car up to 50-60 m and follow the same process to a slow roll 5x and let the cool. Finally take the car up to highway speeds and bring the car to a complete stop 2x. At that point you can drive the car around town and use the brakes normally.
Initial Impressions: I am pleased with the performance of these new pads. They are noise free, vibration free and feel better than the OEM pads when brand new. Having driven 2 new WRXs and 1 new Impreza in the last month I had a great chance to compare new OEM compound to Stoptechs. The stoptech pads have very smooth modulation and great bite. Living in California I really can’t speak to their cold bite but at 65 degrees this morning they felt just fine for my morning commute. I plan on writing an update in the next month with more information about cold bite, dusting and noise.