Brake pads Carbotech or OEM Subaru
With the XP8s I had, I left early and bed my pads in on the way to the track.
Running Carbotech XP8 and XP10 here. They’re great on track, and also very usable on the street. I’m currently not switching back to my EBC Yellowstuff pads because the Carbotechs aren’t bad enough on the street to justify me switching pads (yes I’m a being a little lazy). They dust like mad though and are quite squeaky.
The xp12s are beasts. I pulled brake bias 1-click from full rear to get them balanced on level braking. This gives me one click for more rear, which was really enough for the track. I love late braking, and I can hammer these on a 20min session with NO change in performance.
I sometimes daily drive on Carbotech XP10 front XP8 rear, and they’re totally fine but they dust and squeak like mad. First braking when cold isn’t super grabby but totally doable for a daily driver pad. They’re grabby once warmed up on the street but nothing to be worried about. I’ve gotten ~10,000 miles of driving and two TNIA track nights on a 450hp 3500lb car, and i suspect they can last a lot longer than that based on the pad wear I’m seeing.
Just for daily, whatever the best Duralast pads AutoZone had to offer with some centric blanks. For the mountains, I run Carbotech AX6 on DBA rotors and love the performance they offer. They just dust like hell and their expensive, so I don't run them back home.
I have a ~375whp WRX about the same weight as your car and am running Carbotech XP10 / G-loc R10 (they're the same pads) and have had no fade.When I installed my front bbk I ran the Stoptech sport pads and they were not enough, swapped to the R10s and had zero brake issues all day.
I installed Carbotech XP10 brake pads in the front, and they seem to work really well. When I drive the car, it will squeal sometimes when I’m not even pressing the brakes - when this happens, I can make it stop with any pressure on the brakes. I like the idea of keeping these brakes in because I like the added stopping power, and I like being ready for the track at all times.
I keep XP8’s on my track/weekend car full time. For me, the noise is annoying when I’m driving through town or in a parking lot because people look at me like my car is broken.
I have an old groupe A Subaru homologation car. It’s on its 6th engine which is also currently blown. There are NO MORE ENGINES. NONE. ZERO. NADA. NOTHING. So now I have to buy a crashed wrx and swap the whole drivetrain over if I want the car to move under its own power. My frs just……… I mean…… 250 in brake pads and fluid, and 500 bucks in tires. Oh and a 90$ oil change before and after.
How were the brakes? My concern with towing is the brakes. I have not towed anything mainly for this reason. I find the brakes to be a weak point of the car and the rear pads wear out very quickly, on the 2013 version anyway. I am not a heavy footed driver, no fast starts, no slamming of brakes at lights and stop signs. Keep things nice and smooth, no riding of brakes, no fast corners which would engage the rear brakes more due to the vector control system (whatever they call it). Rear brakes wear fast and overall braking is fair. Your thoughts from a trailer perspective? Thx!!!
Write your review
Help others - share your experience with this part.