Truth about using STI Brembos on the twins

[mrk1]

Very good read. Calipers are not just calipers.

https://racetechnologies.wordpress.c...or-subaru-brz/

[DustinS]

What is interesting is the fact people saying the change in brake bias in actually good. I also feel Brembo has a big reason to tell people they can't be used. As in the $3k starting price of the brake kits.

[tyrantcf]

I've always been weary of doing a swap like that, apparently for good reason.

Only problem is: of course Brembo is going to say you can't make the swap work, they want you to buy their BBKs.

[civicdrivr]

While I agree that they might be trying to steer people to their BBKs, I wonder if this is a valid concern:

If mounted in front of the axle, by exchanging positions of the plugs and bleed screws on the caliper, it is not possible to bleed all the air out of the system because the fluid crossover in the caliper is the highest point and will trap air.

Can anyone confirm that the crossover is in fact higher than the relocated bleed screw?

Sent from my XT1095

[fang_gt86]

Somebody should do a test to settle this. Just take three twins, mount one with the a similar Brembo BBK, one with STi, and one stock. Beat the crap out of them with different tests.

[Fizz]

I've run mine with the staggered pistons orientated "upside down" and there's hardly any uneven pad wear after approx 7500miles (street use, no track work) so far.

[wootwoot]

It seems all of the people in the know, ie the guys that are tracking/racing or building cars for that purpose, agree that the STi swap is not an upgrade in performance. Brakes are important. Please don't fuck them up in an attempt to look cool.

[protpibe]

As someone that's swapped STI brembos over to a twin, I can confirm a few things:

I didn't die in a fireball (knock on wood)
There is no noticeable decrease in braking performance (as some of stated elsewhere)

I did not invert my bleeders because I could honestly care less about the pads wearing a little unevenly. Even if significant uneven wear were true (which some have proven otherwise), I don't really care if I have to replace my pads a little earlier.

In regular day to day street driving, and the odd "spirited" drive, there is no noticeable difference in bias. I'm going to the local track in May for the first real test on this braking setup, and will report back then. I only really hot lap, so I'm not out for any time attack records. If I were fighting for tenths of a second per lap, I would of just went with an AP Racing setup. With that being said, I don't anticipate any noticeable decrease in performance from my old pad/rotor upgrade on the OEM calipers. The increase in rotor size will also help with heat capacity.

Thanks for posting the article, and although I don't doubt the data in it at all, I can't help but feel that the delivery was skewed to be a bit of a marketing ploy. I realize the science behind why an STI Brembo isn't the #1 choice for a performance upgrade, I don't think i'ts the worst thing you could do to your car either.

[Shankenstein]

Mildly off topic, but since they mentioned the Brembo kits.

Does anyone know if the 4-piston 332x32 front kit will fit under 17" OEM wheels?




AP Racing Factory kit is 330x28, which gives me alot of hope for this. I'm a fan of "better not bigger" brake kits, since I've got 2 sets of 17x7's (OEM & RPF1).

[protpibe]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

You seem to be mentioning two unrelated items in this sentence. The bleeders being at the bottom is not related to uneven pad wear.

You sure about that ?

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by protpibe

You sure about that ?

No.
Supposedly it is the incorrect staggering of the pistons that lead to uneven pad wear.

[protpibe]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

No.
Supposedly it is the incorrect staggering of the pistons that lead to uneven pad wear.

Yup, from running the calipers on the opposite side due to not swapping the bleeders

[Tbird232ci]

Originally Posted by protpibe

You sure about that ?

He is correct.

The bleeders not being inverted means the air gets trapped in the top of the caliper. Air naturally travels upwards and without the bleeders, it will just stay in the caliper. That will not create uneven pad wear, but it will create a soft and spongy pedal.

The incorrect piston staggering leading to pad wear is all theory. If nothing else, it will only be noticeable towards the end of the life of the pads, If you care enough, you could probably swap the inside pads for the outside pads to even out the wear. Brembos are incredibly easy to swap pads so it really isn't as inconvenient as it sounds.

[protpibe]

You guys are really intent on showing people they're wrong.

I did not invert the bleeders and ran the calipers on opposite sides to compensate.

Ffs this forum is annoying sometimes. People are more interested in proving others wrong than they are contributing to a discussion. Seriously, look at the amount of text has been written to show that I'm dumb for not knowing what I'm talking about. I'll bet I'm the only one of the three of us who has done the swap.

And for clarity: I ran calipers on opposite sides and inverted therefore have inverted pistons. I did this because I wanted bleeders on top but did not swap them.