my brakes suck (2013 2.5 cvt)

[subiesailor]

Classic example of a Domestic product driver moving to a Product known for not over boosting their breaks and also having a softer pedal feel than the hard over boosted Domestic brands.

If a car can lock up its brakes which the OB can do easily - the brakes are plenty strong

[1 Lucky Texan]

what kind of tires come on new Soobs these days? do they have decent grip?

[OBnube]

My 2013 has Conti-Pros, same as my '11 had.

[tommersyip]

I have the same 'issue' but I do not think it is the brakes.
Three things I have noticed
- Brand new the brakes were not very good, after 300-500 miles the brakes were much better. That was all city, btw, so alot of braking.
- I tend to speed in my '13 Outback 2.5i CVT. Something in the way I drive causes me to drive this car at 80 mph on the highway as opposed to 70mph in my BMW - and it takes me longer to de-accelerate.
- +1 on the brake bleeding. The squishy pedal I have totally points to air in the braking system. I might have the dealer do it or I might just bleed out to ATE Typ 200 while I am at it.

[Saint J VT]

I Bedded-In the brakes after I installed new rotors, new calipers and all new pads. I also purged the entire system of DOT 3 Fluid and installed Castrol DOT 4 Synthetic Fluid.

I did ten 60 MPH hard braking down to 10 MPH and QUICKLY (FLOORED) it back up to 60, let them cool for 15 minutes of highway driving and did the bedding-in once more, a set of ten hard stops to 10 MPH, getting back up as quickly as possible, this time to about 75 and hard-stops, to slow speed, not once did I come to a full stop as the new pads would have roasted onto the extremely hot rotors. Make sure you have plenty of safe highway to do it and it is best if there aren't a lot of vehicles around, as people will think you are driving dangerously, they don't know what you are up to.

What I ended up with is the best brakes I have ever had in any car I have owned. Out of all the new suspension work, including all new struts and top mounts, and an entire brake job, my wife noticed the brakes the first time she drove the car after I worked on it for a month.

She said "the brakes are better than they have ever been, I really like the brakes, you hardly need to press the pedal to stop!"

That's what bedding-in will do for you, give you very little brake pedal travel and what braking action there is is really powerful! The closest thing I can think of that comes near those brakes now is the old metallic shoes I used to use on a race car. With those, you could be going ridiculously-fast and the more you pushed the pedal, the easier they made the pedal to push! You could literally feel the car grinding to a stop, no fade, whatsoever!

[1 Lucky Texan]

^^^^^ good post, bedding-in can be critical for some pad materials I think.

what rotors and pads if I may ask?

also, did you use a power bleeder or vacuum? how did you flush/bleed the system?

thanx

[Latigo]

Originally Posted by RobMunach

Maybe you need to go to the gym? :>

Hahaha

All your comment made me think was, "Bro, do you even lift?"

[Saint J VT]

Originally Posted by 1 Lucky Texan

^^^^^ good post, bedding-in can be critical for some pad materials I think.

what rotors and pads if I may ask?

also, did you use a power bleeder or vacuum? how did you flush/bleed the system?

thanx

Aftermarket rotors that were wholesale, about $30 apiece. The pads were also aftermarket, Warner Ceramic Laser Pads - I think it was these:


I bled the system by keeping the master cylinder full and having my wife slowly pump the brakes while I was controlling the bleeder valves. I did it according to the one-year subscription to an online Shop Manual at http://www.alldatadiy.com
I kept going around and around until all the fluid was coming the same color as what I had filled the master cylinder with.

[1 Lucky Texan]

Originally Posted by Saint J VT

I bled the system by keeping the master cylinder full and having my wife slowly pump the brakes while I was controlling the bleeder valves. I did it according to the one-year subscription to an online Shop Manual at ALLDATAdiy.com Leading Source of Factory Automotive Repair Information
I kept going around and around until all the fluid was coming the same color as what I had filled the master cylinder with.

did it matter which corner you start with or the order to proceed?

anyway, sounds like it's working well for you.

[Georgeh]

The brakes on my '13 are much better than my '01. I do have a 3.6r, with larger rotors, and I don't know how they compare to the H4 models.

The only reason I would consider upgrade the brakes on my '13 is if I was going to do some serious towing, in which case I might look for a pad with a slightly higher temperature range. But in general braking is one of the things feel Subaru has made real progress on in the last 10 years.