'00 2.5 RS Calipers on 95 L

[Bimmerman]

Hi all,

I recently scored a matching set of 2000 2.5 RS Front brake Calipers, pads, and brackets. I want to swap these for my current calipers so I can put a set of street-legal racing pads(Hawk HP+, ...) for auto-x and track days. My questions to you all:

1) will the calipers/brackets fit on the stock 95 L single pot front brake backing plate and the rotors? For reference, the calipers are the same 2 pots as the 2.5GT and LS/LSi, or at least the pads are identical.

2) If these calipers will fit on the stock backing plate and rotor, will they fit under the 14" wheels? I have a kickass set of snow tires I'd rather not consign to the useless bin.

3) If they won't fit under the 14s, will they work with the 15s from the 94Legacy turbo/ BD LS/LSi? If neither my summer or winter wheels will work I may just sell the calipers.

4) If they cannot be mated to the stock backing plate and rotors, will the 2.5rs plate fit, and what is the minimum wheel size for that combo?

Thanks in advance

[ivwarrior]

The 2000 RS came with 10.7 inch rotors and 16 inch wheels.
Your 95 Legacy L comes with 10.2 inch rotors. You're going to need the RS rotors to use the RS calipers/brackets.

The other Impreza models for 2000 came with 10.1 inch rotors, and 15 inch wheels. I'd bet the RS got the 16's for brake clearance. I'd think you'll probably need 16 inch wheels.

Easy way to check, pull off one of your front wheels, unbolt the caliper bracket and put it back, out of the way. Bolt the RS caliper in place, and see if your wheel will fit back on.

[Bimmerman]

Thanks. I will try just bolting the rs caliper on there. Won't the current 1pot pads need to be re bedded in/seated on the caliper if I bolt the RS caliper in place even though I'm not disconnecting the stock caliper from the brake line?

What doesn't make sense to me is why the bigger calipers need bigger rotors. Shouldn't they work with the stock size rotors or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks for your help!

[Reason]

Because if you use a bigger caliper with a smaller rotor it may over lap the rotor depending the size. Also the rotor may be a different thickness (I doubt it). Everything should bolt up no problem. Shouldn't take you more than 30 mins if it's your first time. 15 mins if you done it a few times.

I don't understand your re bedding question on the pads to caliper? Do you mean the rotor? You have to open the caliper enough for the new pads to fit over the rotors. You should get the RS rotors if they are bigger. It's kind of pointless doing a brake upgrade if you are only going to do half of it.

[Bimmerman]

@Reason-

I do plan on eventually doing the rotors and brakes, I just really want to keep using at least one of my sets of wheels. I have a feeling that the 14s won't fit with the calipers w/o rotors, and the 15s may or may not fit with the rotors and calipers. These calipers are identical to the BD/G/K 2.5gt and Outback 2piston fronts, so if the 15inch legacy turbo style fits over those then there's no problem.

What I meant so far as bedding the pads is in order to bolt the RS caliper to the stock rotor to check wheel clearance I would have to take the old caliper off, that much is clear to me. What I'm not sure about is when I take the new caliper off after checking what needs to be done to the pads/old caliper/rotor in order to not compromise the braking ability of the car.

[Reason]

As far as I know the 14" rims won't fit over the RS/GT caliper (front)

[ivwarrior]

The caliper body may be the same, but I bet at least the bracket is different. A 1997 Legacy GT has a 10.9 inch rotor, (even bigger than the 2000 RS) and also came with 16 inch wheels.


Note, I'm getting all the rotor size info from www.cars101.com (http://www.cars101.com), so if it's wrong, it's their error. :grin: