I think the stock brakes on this car are more than capable of handling anything the stock tires can take. The brake feel is way better than some of the other cars I drove before buying and my pedal is rock solid. Dunno what some of you are doing to your cars to make the brakes work so poorly. I cruise at ~80 all the time, that's not that far off from 90 and I've never had an issue.

Don't be going 90 when you're going to run out of road. :rolleyes:

Nathan

Maybe I was spoiled by the Corvette's brakes, but the FR-S' brakes don't feel like their performance matches the rest of the car.
I agree, but it's cheap insurance as well as with any of those 3 fluids you know when its dirty pretty easily. Also if you do ever decide to do a track day or even an auto-x... you're halfway prepared.
Not everyone will track, sure, but it's not a bad thing

There are plenty of reasons for driving a sporty car to work every day or on the weekends. :) But:
If the car can stop itself fine (if it couldn't, Toyo/Subaru would be sued), and
If the car isn't used for track use (no potential for boiling the fluid), and
If the car has Prius tires, and
If the OP doesn't care about how his brakes look

Then upgrading brakes beyond changing pads is a silly waste of money. I'm not criticizing, just giving my opinion.

You're right, ATE is inexpensive. I would run it on the street when the time comes to swap out the fluid. But I wouldn't expect it to fix the OP's problem. Even a slightly squishy pedal will still stop the car. If he's got air in the lines, then bleeding the system with stock fluid will solve the squishy problem. If there's lots of air then his original problem is also solved.

Everybody says that. :iono: I think they're fine for the street, and I used them for about 3 events in my Miata on street tires. I think the stock brakes feel more like the Hawk Ceramic... frustrating

Agreed, any potential for track days might as well spend the extra and put in some ATE. Stock fluid WILL boil at the track, causing gas bubbles. I did it a few weeks ago to test out the stock system. Fluid boiled and pads glazed and wore out really fast, and I was on the stock tires.
But unlike slick tranny fluid you won't notice the difference between stock and upgraded brake fluid unless you are braking enough to heat em up to the boiling point of stock fluid.

My only problem with ATE (and the reason I'm switching) is the large bottles. I end up tossing mine in the trash because I'll open it, do a bleed or two, then it sits for awhile and I don't want to use an opened bottle of ATE that's been sitting around capped for months. Might not be as big of a deal outside of this swamp but the water definitely gets to it here.

And hey, at least someone in the world has had good luck with HPS pads! :) Not sure how it happened but as long as they work for you :thumbup:

I'll be trying AP Racing pads for the first time soon, I'll see how it goes.

YES well said.

OP from your description of engine braking saving you I would say you need to do the Driver mod.