[rasterman]

XTs do not have different brakes- one of the weakest points of the XT, given the powertrain involved.

Better pads are a great start. Fresh fluid & better tires help too. I got a nice boost in quickstop stability when I replaced the lower control arm bushings.

You could also convert to Legacy GT brakes- that's an easy bolt-up. There are also ways of putting WRX brakes in but I have no details.

I upgraded to Wilwood calipers on LGT rotors. Expensive and they will only fit with certain rims, and the caliper mount adapters are no longer available. The fabricator is looking into a 2nd production run currently. With this setup, the stopping is incredible- but I am having noise issues which I hope to eliminate with an alternate pad.

A guy i know has also added the Grimmspeed master cylinder bracket, which stiffens up the firewall/master cylinder interface. He claims that it's a huge improvement- I'm thinking that will be my next trick.

 

[rasterman]

Yeah the LGT front swap is very easy. You just need calipers, brackets, pads & rotors from an LGT. Not difficult at all.

I think the parking brake components are identical- I think the rear rotors are identical but not positive, maybe opposed forces catalog will reveal the truth?

To revisit my earlier post- I did put in different pads, and my noise problem changed. As in I still have one, but with different dynamics. Likely to live with it.

I also added the grimmspeed brace and it did add firmness to the pedal.

 

[rasterman]

Thanks for the feedback.

If you don't mind me addressing the parking brake question by linking in the forum to this post where a discussion about this took place - don't want to hi-jack this thread.
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...48-new-07-owner-ebrake-hood-latch-issues.html

But, in short, it makes a loud, clunking sound when engaged, pulls real easily, and doesn't do much at all when applied.

Possibly a busted spring, or it has been out of adjustment for so long that the cable fell off the hook on one side and is just knocking around loose. You can get kits with all the parts and just use what you need to rebuild it.

 

[rasterman]

The swap itself is dead easy, no more difficult than a brake job + bleed.

You may have your cores disqualified by that statement you found. But that's only if they notice. I would call that a coin toss. So there might be that extra expense.