Quote:
Originally Posted by BunnyRZed
I never said those car used STi Brembos. If you read the article it said that they were aftermarket and not STI. So you're pointing out something that we all already know. My point is that you can go with bigger calipers up front and leave the stock rears with upgraded pads which is what Toyota did. Which was what I did on my car.
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lead82 already made my counterpoint. Your argument is like saying, "Well that racing team threw on a set of racing coilovers, so if I swap the springs off this other car it will improve the performance of my car!" Sure they might help, but it's not just an automatic guarantee.
Yes, larger front brakes on a car can work while keeping the stock rears, but that doesn't mean that just throwing
any larger front brakes on will automatically improve performance and work with the overall dynamic of the car. There are aftermarket kits for the car were designed to work together with the stock rears. I'm 100% confident the designers of the older STIs weren't sitting there designing the brakes around the notion that one day they might be swapped onto a light FR car that was going to come out.
I'm not saying that the STI brakes won't work and won't feel better than stock during daily or spirited driver, or even maybe autox. My opinion on this whole thing is inline with what CSG and RCE have said. That being that the swap won't be detrimental in most driving situations, but is not suited for tracking and even has the potential (however slight) to fail in an emergency situation on normal roads.
For me suspension and brakes are the two parts of your car you should put the most thought and planning into when modding them, and I don't think you should ever go cheap on either. That doesn't mean you can't modify them without spending thousands. For suspension a good set of springs and shocks will cost you as much as cheap coilovers, and they will more likely perform better. With brakes, a good set of pads, a fluid change, and stainless lines will be more than sufficient for most people (especially if you aren't tracking and are still naturally aspirated). These cars don't put down enough power to really warrant a BBK, unless you've done significant upgrades (i.e. FI) or are tracking a lot. In either of those cases I'd imagine you've got enough money to put on an appropriate BBK anyways.
I get that there is a financial motivation to the company publishing the article about the problems with the STI swap, but I also think that the issues they point out are factually/mechanically significant. I don't see this thread as a bunch of "fear mongering" as many have put it, rather it is trying to educate people about the impact of upgrades on the overall system and dynamics of the car.