02 lgt wagon suspenion and brake tweaking

[dusterbd13]

ok, if im in the wrong place, let me know.

i bought an 02 legacy gt wagon saturday. i love the car. rides great, quiet, powerful...
but it doesnt stop like i wouldl ike it to, the chasis feels squishy", and there is too much body roll.

i was thinking a few things:
1. hawk hps pads. great pad whn ive used them on corvettes and hondas. put fresh turned rotors on, DOT4 (think ATE super Blue) fluid, and let it roll. anything better bang for the buck than this? brake bias tweaking, master cylender bore change, etc?

2. sway bar upgrade. ive been told that the B9 tribeca will swap on the front, and the outback wagon rear, direct bolt on no problem. what are your thoughts and reccomendations? i typically set up a car with soft springs and stiff sway bars,as its what im used to. do the scoobies like thsi setup, or do i need to learn something new?

3. i know on my mazda and my crx, strut bars, lower tie bars, etc, have soleved the squishy feeling. i even used something called a trunk cage one time, and it made a huge difference in a mazdaspeed protege. do they work on a subie, and where do i get them for mine?

4. lastly, what all years and models will interchange brake and chassis parts with my 02?

thanks for any help you can throw a noobs way.

michael
(by the way, just a subie newbie, but i know cars real good)

[Airgne]

first of all. welcome(go introduce yourself in the introductions). good choice on car. next read, read, and read more. here are some stickies that will help you find info. if you do need more after that ask again in this thread(dont start a new one).

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3033 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3033)
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2876 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2876)
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6041 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6041)
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13924 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13924)

[dusterbd13]

i had read all those stickies, actually. bunch of good info.

the tribeca front is rumorted to fit, but before i go out and buy one, id like to know for certain. that way im not stuck.

also, its talking about the forrester rear sway bar being near 25mm in diameter. is this correct? if so, how much surgury to the floorpan is required for clearance? does it make teh spare tire well unusable or anything funky?

the strut bars/chassis bracing wasnt covered very well in the stcikies, either. ive seen a lower tie bar arrangement over on legacygt for the 05 up models, and am wondering if they can be adapted to the 00-04 models.

thanls for the help so far.
Michael

[Airgne]

as for other cars sway bars bolting right up. this is not correct. the 3rd gen legacy is the most differnt than any other scooby. they did not use our rearend sus up until acouple years ago.

swaybars. i would pay 300 for rallitek.com swaybars. f+r swaybars and all hardware needed to install. the best bang for your buck. also you will not have to mod anything for it to fit.

strutbars. cusco makes strutbars for the 3rd gen legacy. rallisportdirect.com has them brand new f+r strutbars for the 3rd gen legacy. the front you can use other scooby strutbars, but you will have to cut your hood. not fun. the rear can not be from another car that i know. since the rear is different than other scoobies.

ndto is selling his JDM strut and spring setup if you would like to get some awsome setup.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15102 (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15102)

[Huffer]

1. Hawk HPS pads are great for daily driving. Low dusting, good bite. You should consider stainless brake lines, that will really help freshen up the pedal along with new fluid.

2. Sway bars are great for controlling the bigger BH chassis - it is tuned for comfort not response.

3. Again, these just provide additional chassis bracing - but not necessary in the BH.

4. The chassis interchangeability is tough on the BH/BE - but with a little time and some creativity you can end up with some pretty nice mods. Brake wise anything from Subaru-fitments will bolt onto the front, and on the rears most everything will but you want to double check because of the multi-link susp. Airgne & rougeben83 are invaluable resources in this area.

[Airgne]

as for brake. i hate hawk pads. i would rather have autozone valuecraft pads on my car.

if you can upgrade to 4/2pot calipers. this means you will have alot more braking(i just did it and love it). also your rotor size will increase, so more clamping force. i used EBC rotors, and EBC redstuff pads. the only problem is that one rotor is cracked. think it was just a bad casting. it happens. other than that nice.

please start/read braking threads on this.

[rougeben83]

I used a generic ebay strut bar from a GC impreza back when I first got my car...

Best pic I have...
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/10/HPIM0469-1.jpg

I don't really think strut braces do a lot, if anything, on the 3rd gen cars. The extra weight they put on was put towards a stiffer chassis than the older subarus in the first place. I have a rear strut bar right now and there really isn't any difference in how the rearend reacts...it's just there cause I got a bling jdm part for cheap :lol:

Most of the front end parts on the BH will interchange with other subarus, its the rear thats the problem. I didn't like the EBC GREENstuff pads, I'm sure their higher models are better. I had Hawk HPS pads, theyre similar to OEM initial bite but they start grabbing once you put some heat into the brakes. Another good set are Axxis Ultimates, theyre the cheapest of the aggressive street pads but they dust a lot. You can also look into Porterfield R4S pads, they're a lot like the HPS/Redstuff pads but you may be able to get them cheaper. I'm running the more aggressive R4 pads right now (technically a race pad), the best out of the other pads in performance thus far, but they are nooooisy, and dust...a lot. Did I mention they dust? A lot?

As far as rotors, autozone blanks are good enough. I'm sure the brembo and ebc stuff has something tangible in there to somewhat justify the higher price, but for a street, and even street/track car, the cheap stuff is enough to take a beating and you won't break the bank when you replace them. You have to realize rotors are a consumable item, just like brake pads.

SS lines are good for just a little bit more pedal feedback, I've used the goodridge ones since theyre readily available, reputation, and were on clearance on tirerack. Good fluid too. I've used ATE Blue in the past with good results, others have used Motul. I'm currently using Valvoline synthetic fluid. It's almost as good as the 2 niche brands (it gives up around 30-50F in dry boiling point), but costs half as much and you can get it at any local auto parts store. The other two you pretty much have to order online or if youre lucky, a speciality/racing store locally.

Brake interchangeability is a looong topic. Read on it. The first step would be to measure whether your front rotors are 10.7" dia or 11.4" dia. The 11.4" front "wrx" brake upgrade is a basic one for these cars since theyre so much heavier than the earlier subarus.

Suspension, just read up on swaybars, I use IPD/rallitek just because theyre the easiest to get a hold off. Read up on struts/springs too. Bilsteins/kyb gr2's are popular. I don't like coilovers for street cars and I wouldn't recommend them to most people, but I know plenty of people that get them for that purpose. Bushings, like I said before a lot of the front end stuff will transfer from the WRX/Impreza, and they will make a pretty noticeable difference. Good bang for buck.