[Akiata]

Here are the teaser pics.

I bought them at www.achtuning.com in Redmond. They got them in really fast. They are an authorized Stoptech dealer which means they can not sell them lower than what stoptech has told them to do BUT the owner told me he would give you guys a good deal on the kit. If you buy from him he will throw in free rear stainless lines, 2 bottles of Motul brake line fluid AND a Achtuning T-shirt. (made by the same guy that made the wcss shirts, Mike)

Anyway, here is what he emailed me to tell you guys.


Stoptech WRX Big Brake Kit $1695
Free Rear stainless lines
Free Motul 600 high temp fluid (2 bottles)
Free Achtuning T-shirt
Red calipers are $200 more

And heres some more info on the brakes (taken from stoptech.com)

Subaru Impreza RS 93-99, Impreza WRX 2002+ Big Brake Kit - Front, 2 Piece Floating Directional 328mm x 28mm AeroRotors, Drilled or Slotted, 4 Piston ST40 Calipers,7075 T6 Billet Aluminum hats, Stainless Steel Brake Lines, AXXIS Ultimate Brake Pads - Black Anodized Calipers. Requires 17 inch wheels

*Dramatically Increases heat capacity of front brakes.

*328 mm x 28mm high performance AeroRotor™

*Floating two piece rotor includes hat system using billet
7075 T-6 hat - eliminates distortion.

*Innovative anti-rattle hat mounting system -
minimizes noise and knock-back

*Slotted or drilled finish available for outgassing and
better pad bite.

*High performance 4 piston aluminum caliper with
differential bore and dust boots - sized specifically sized for the Subaru WRX.

High perfomance pads included, racing pads available.
Front stainless steel brake lines included.

And I weighed everything...here is what I found.

stock
rotor 14lbs 6 oz
caliper 13lbs 12 oz

Stoptech
rotor 13lbs
caliper 7lbs 11 oz

That is for each side! So you will save appx 16 lbs with this brake kit.

 

[PhreeZe]

They look SWEEEEEEEEEEET. Any reason why you went stoptech instead of brembo? I heard stoptech is better though......

 

[Akiata]

Well, I guess the biggest reason is Achtuning is sponsoring my car and they sell stoptechs.

But the stoptechs cost less than most other kits. I have not heard any bad things about them. (or any of the other kits) Gary Sheehan raves about them and he will use them way harder than I ever will. Also people from stoptech have taken time to come on the I club and post answers to questions. Does Brembo do that? no....

[email protected]
www.achtuning.com

And to whoever called achtuning asking about brake upgrades, when Ben told you about the stoptechs and you hung up the phone on him he was just trying to find out what you want exactly, what you will be using them for. No, not everyone can spend this much money or even needs this brake kit but they don't know what you need until they ask. That is all, they are really nice guys and do know their stuff. Give them another chance or you can pm me, we could hook up and go there together. I won't let them treat you bad.

 

[PlatinumWRX]

Nice freaking brakes!

-Jim

 

[WRXed]

Those are really nice brakes, Akiata! It looks like they just BARELY fit in those 17"s. Post on how much of a difference they make once you "try" 'em out.

 

[Bask Oner]

If it's $200 extra for the red calipers, what do you get for the normal price?

By the way, those things are DOOOOOPPPPPEEEEEEE!!!! My stock brakes seem to shudder and I don't know why. Stoptechs wouldn't do that, would they?

 

[Akiata]

How'd this get here?

Your shuddering brakes are probably warped. You may need to get them turned. By turned I mean take them to a brake shop and have the rotors put on a lathe (or whatever they use) to make them straight again.

You could have warped them from hard breaking (through da twistez) and comming to a complete stop and leaving your foot on the brakes. This is really bad. Or they are just getting warn out.

The stoptechs should not do this if you allow the rotors to cool down before comming to a stop after hard breaking.

Bask Oner, the normal price is $1695 for the black anodized calipers. $1895 for the red calipers. These are fronts only also.

I am doing 3 lapping days in October. (I wonder where I will get all this money...Oh ya CREDIT ) I will let you guys know how they do!

[email protected]
www.achtuning.com

 

[rsr911]

I am so jealous. I want those and I am going to have to spring an extra $200. for the red ones. First thing on next springs upgrade list. I am starting to save now.

 

[rsr911]

By the way did the rotors come assembled or did you have to put them together and safty wire everything?

 

[jesse370]

How well do the brakes work with the abs? I was on stoptech's site and they went into detail about how certain brake kits messup the abs system..I know that with having that info on the site you would think that they would work like a champ.

 

[WRXin']

WOW...I'm jealous!!!

 

[Akiata]

I actually didn't put them on. Achtuning did but I do believe they come all together. I work 2 blocks from them and droped my car off in the morning...came back after work and vola! I will ask the guys though.

The abs do kick in but its not any worse than stock. Remember I have Azenis' so they are just about as sticky as you can get for a true street tire. Everyone who I give rides to says WOW when I stomp on the brakes.

If anyone wants to test them out in Seattle (from the left seat) you are welcome to.

[email protected]
www.achtuning.com

 

[supermarkus]

How much extra is installation? I'm assuming they charge the usual rate for labor around these parts.

 

[Akiata]

If you have any mechanical skill at all you can install these brakes. They come with a great install manual.

If you are thinking about these brakes go talk to them. If you don't want the free SS lines, T shirt and brake fluid I'm sure they could install them for you for free. But you would have to talk to Josh (the owner) about that so I don't know for sure.

[email protected]
www.achtuning.com

 

[TristineLim]

Is there any difference between red caliper and black caliper other than color? Is red caliper actually better? or is it just the color?

 

[Akiata]

Just color. But they are soooo sweet looking.

[email protected]
www.achtuning.com

 

[ScoobySteve]

Just curious, Akiata. How are you liking these so far ? Got everything seasoned and bedded in yet, and if so, how do you compare with the stock brakes so far ? Do you anticipate any front / rear bias issues with that much stopping power in the front ?

 

[Akiata]

I love them. They do dust A LOT though. If you have white wheels they will be dusty all the time. I actually haven't been out driving hard on them too much yet but I have a lapping day this Tuesday and will let you guys know how they do.

I am thinking about doing the rears as well. I would like a stoptech rear kit but I don't think they have any plans on doing one. I may get the subaru 2 pot rears.

It does seem to lighten the rear up a little bit more than I would like but that could have been because I had to brake pretty hard on a bumpy curve.

The lapping day is at Pacific Raceways (formerly SIR) in Seattle. It is pretty hard on brakes, there is a fairly steep hill with a tight turn. I should know a lot more about them next week.

[email protected]

 

[ScoobySteve]

Sounds promising ! I hear you on the dust. Since I switched to semi-metallic pads, the dust is worse (glad I have dark rims). I'd guess even worse in your case considering your larger braking area.

Good luck with them on the track. If you haven't used them hard yet, I'm assuming you plan to season your rotors first with heat cycles. Otherwise, they are likely to warp under the sudden extreme heat of racing. As for bedding the pads, I did it by the book and still found from hard lapping that they were not fully bedded in yet. It took the whole first 20-minute session to get the pads right and then they were good to go for the rest of the day.

I look forward to reading your post about your track day.

 

[Akiata]

I did bed them in the way stoptech wanted but after that I haven't been too hard on them. I haven't been driving my normal fun roads lately just been putting around town.

I have some Pagid "orange" pads for the track. They should be here Friday. I will have to bed those in this weekend though so I guess it looks like I will have to go drive some fun roads.