rota's + Brembo's = spacer

[gotturbo]

ok guys i just purchased a set of 17 x 7.5 rota sub zeros with an offset of 48. i might be in the process of upgrading the front brakes because the factory cant handle the power from the turbo. so i wanted to know what size spacer do i need to make sure the rims and brembo ever rub.


thx in advance
-matt

[Jonathan]

IIRC - This is for your '98 Legacy GT with an EJ22T motor & a FMIC ?
(not sure about this just asking).

I would suggest doing a WRX Front brake conversion (Rotors, pads, Calipers, and caliper brakets), and an "H6" Rear brake conversion.
Adding too much front brake with out improving the rears may actually hurt brake performance. Balanced braking is key to having decent stopping power.

This brake setup will work fine with stock 16" rims, although it will not work with 15" rims.

[iamrazor]

I would second the WRX + H6 brake upgrades. maybe even 4-pots depending on your intended use. what do you do with your car? auto-x, track days, hillclimbs? street only? If you're street only, WRX fronts would be adequate. tracking the car involves serious braking. 4-pots would be good. brembos even better....

oh, and I've never read anywhere about using a spacer. you should use the correct wheels which fit with your brake setup.

[Perdue]

You're out of wheel well room as is. I believe that 17x7.5et48 is about the widest you're going to get on the first and second generation legacy. If you put a spacer in there, you're probably going to have to roll the fenders or something. I would find another brake upgrade. A Stoptech kit may fit under those wheels, but I'm not sure. There's always the FHI 4 pots, WRX Brakes, and the Racing Brake Kit.

[sheepdog]

Personally I would opt for something other than the WRX front brakes, unless you go to drilled rotors or something. We over at ECB have had nothing but trouble with the stock WRX brakes :evil: they warp in like 5 seconds

[RABID_SUB]

Besides wheel well room, you wont have enough threads on your studs with a spacer. Trust me, spacers are a head ache. :-D

[iamrazor]

you still haven't told us what your intent is with your car. If you're tracking it, WRX brakes will not be suffucient. I'd go 4-pots or something larger. slotted rotors are ok, but stay away from drilled ones. they're prone to cracking.

[gator gt]

I say 4pots for the fronts and for the rears:

- 91-94 Legacy Turbo vented setup (same size as stock diameter, but vented, IIRC)
- 00-04 Legacy H6 larger solids (larger than stock diameter)
- 05 Legacy GT vented setup (same size as H6, but vented)

As mentioned, balance IS key.

GGT

[JPaul99GT]

stupid uneducated question... will your front brakes adapt to the back? if so could you put those there and upgrade the front?

dumb question maybe....

[BAC5.2]

You have a parking brake in the rear, so the front rotors would not work in the rear unless you worked around the parking brake issue.

You may need custom brackets/sliders, but you could... in theory... get the front brakes to work properly in the rear.

It would likely be far to unreliable, unless you find some rotor that has a parking brake drum, and the same swept area as a stock front brake.

You could "fake" big rear brakes, with more aggressive pads. That will help shift braking bias to the rear slightly. I'm running WRX fronts, stock Leg Turbo rears with hotter pads in the rear than up front.

Braking is pretty nice, and I'm known for being aggressive on the brakes. I burned through a set of NAPA "premium" pads in under 10,000 miles.

You'll only need a 5mm spacer for Sub-Zero's to clear the FRONT brembo's. They will clear the rears.

I may consider the Brembo swap in the future, and would hate to get rid of my Sub Zeros

[Sarra]

I've got a little problem with my stock BE brakes, as well.

While on this subject, is it possible to leave the fronts stock and go with H6 or 2.5GT rears?

I, um, tend to drive agressivly on a mountain from time to time, and get the front brakes so hot, the rotors glow bright enough to light up the entire wheel wells. And, no, before you ask, there is no pad left in the front because they melted/burned off. :(

Going to get a more agressive pad for the front, but I'm also hoping to shift some bias to the rear to prevent the fronts from failing due to overheating. =\