Brake pads R1 Concepts or OEM Subaru
the subarus brakes feel and stop great, but can get pretty hot in spirited street driving.
Every single time I install non OEM brakes on my Subaru they warp within a year, my Subaru brakes always last me 3+years. I have replaced about a dozen brake kits in my driveways. The Subaru brakes are the best.
i went with R1 concept as well as brakes pads. Night and day difference.
I ran R1 concepts for my tc2 for over four years. An improvement over stock’s brake fading prone design. Not badly priced too
We have a 2019 Crosstrek Limited with Eyesight and no sunroof that my fianc\u00e9 bought new and now has ~78k miles on it. Zero mechanical issues, did the brakes at around 75k miles, and did have the head unit die earlier this year, which was not fun (Subaru of America thankfully warrantied the unit after reaching out to them). Interior wears pretty well considering she doesn't take care of the car much and she often takes our 2 large dogs around in it. For the money, I think they are hard to beat, even with the CVT.
The OE pads do really just suck. The system itself, however is just fine. You should try some different pads of the sportycar flavor (Porterfield R4S, Carbotech Bobcat, G-Lok GS-1, etc.) and see how you feel. I have had no problems with spirited street driving after a pad upgrade. The pedal is actually very well modulated and rather than hitting like a ton of bricks it allows you to control brake friction pretty nicely.
Pros: they fit perfectly, offer great performance and are cool enough to work on immediately after driving. Con: they sent the brakes for the electric parking brake when I have the cable parking brake. They have been 0 help in providing the bracket to adapt it to the cable break.
I originally had r1 concepts rotors and pads but the pads started to squeak like crazy at slow speeds. Rotors were still good so I put on akebono pads and they are perfect.
I had my brakes replaced in January of this year and the dealership didn't charge me. Within about 4 months they started squealing again. I took it back and they basically told me to pound sand. I shouldn't need a 3rd set of brakes on a car with 30k miles. This has been very disappointing and really soured my opinion of Subaru.
I can’t wait to get my brakes fixed under warranty. This will be the 4th brake job before 60k miles which is horrendous. Hopefully around Thanksgiving I’ll try to get her in. The shuddering, the noise etc are something I expect from a car with 200k miles, but my 14 year old Honda with 202k, which also has had 4 brake jobs, feels way better than my 2021 Ascent
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