Rear BBK - Opinions

I am considering a StopTech BBK for my car. Can anyone offer experience or wisdom when it comes to the kit for the rear? Is it worth $2k to put a rear BBK on when 70% of the braking is done with the front?Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

Do you track the car?

No, it's a dialy driver. IF the car were tracked, it would be a rare occasion.

It'll be setup to drive though....Swift/Tokico suspension, sways, lots of urathane, etc...

BBK not worth it then unless you track, or want the bling.

 

You can get pretty good street pads for LGT calipers

I've got an OBXT, so I'm at a disadvantage already with smaller brakes. Wickedly inadequate in stock form...let alone going stage 2

Are your brakes different than LGT brakes? I thought it was just the NA cars that are different.

Yea, us Outback owners got shafted.

 

I wouldn't dump 2k into Stoptech rears. I'd consider $1k into Brembo rears though.

Even in completely stock form, the factory OB brakes are weak at best. Upgrades are a must for OBXT owners who enjoy driving.

What do you mean by "weak?" Are the brakes fading? If so do they fade gradually, or do you suddenly lose all braking pressure? Are you unable to engage ABS at speeds that you think it should be possible to? If so what are those speeds?

 

Seriously, if you're not tracking your car try good aftermarket pads before you get a BBK. Flush the fluid too if you haven't recently, preferably with a DOT4 fluid. (ATE Super Blue / Typ 200 is cheap and more than adequate.) I realize your brakes are even worse than the LGT's, but still, try this first. Many people think that the LGT's brakes aren't good enough for street driving, when the real problem is the awful stock pad.

 

(Why does Subaru use craptastic brake pads with all of their cars except the STI?)

 

Based on my experience with my LGT that still won't get you great pedal feel, but it will give you MUCH better fade resistance. That was a real problem with the stock pads in high speed street driving.

 

With the stock pads I also got uneven pad deposits on the rotors with ridiculous frequency. Switching to aftermarket pads fixed that too.

 

Don't bother with SS lines though, unless you need new brake lines anyways. I put them on my LGT and couldn't tell the difference on the street. I never tracked the car without them, so I can't say if they made a significant difference there, but I'm skeptical.

Also, if you are going to track your car and get a BBK, get the matching rear BBK too. Brake bias is important. I haven't looked into BBK's much, but here's my reasoning:

 

I've done a lot of reading about track pads (which you will ultimately need at the track even with a BBK). A lot of people only swap in track pads in the front for track days, to save themselves time. Some of them are happy with the resulting performance, and some are not. But nearly everyone with a heavy car like ours (3400+lbs) who has tried running track pads only in the front, and then tried using matching track pads all the way around, says having matching pads made a big difference in braking stability and/or fade resistance.

 

My takeaway, beyond running the same pads on all four corners, is that brake bias really matters, and it's usually setup pretty well from the factory. Maintaining that balance would be a requirement if I was shopping for a BBK.

 

If you get serious about track days you will need to look into ducting as well, BBK or no. Even a BBK will overheat and fade eventually without proper cooling, it just takes longer. With a good BBK and without too much power you might be able to get away without ducting for short sessions (say 25-30 minutes). But if you want to do long sessions you'll need ducting anyways.

Thanks for the thoughts Matt. I'll certainly consider your wisdom in making the decision.