Dave T-S

Jim
Re the brakes, assuming it *might* be pad knock off, check the wheel bearings - worn ones can allow this to happen.

[Edited by Dave T-S - 9/1/2002 8:10:34 AM]

Chris L

Geometry is a must - Powerstaion did mine when they fitted the Eibachs. No uneven tyre wear in the subsequent 10K + of driving. I did start to see the outer edges wearing before the geometry was adjusted.

Clutch - judder seems to be a Subaru thing. I had the clutch on my old MY00 replaced under warranty (yes they are covered) for bad juddering and the new car (MY01) is getting progressively worse. I think there will be a trip to the dealer soon.

Brakes - the 4 pots on the new car are an improvement over the old car. I've done an airfield driving day and was only experiencing fade after giving the brakes a serious workover. Compared to almost all other cars (possible exception of the better BMWs), I think they are pretty good - only once had the ABS cut in when I was required to an emergency stop. Compare them to the standard brakes found in most main stream cars. As Dave says, get them checked as it doesn't sound right. Uprated discs and pads (I used Pagid discs and Pagid Blue pads on my old car - much better) would also be worth considering.

Chris

[Edited by Chris L - 9/2/2002 7:52:21 AM]

Dave T-S

Jim
Wheel bearings are a known weak point on Imprezas

Hard brake use putting a lot of heat into the hubs can accelerate their demise.

[Edited by Dave T-S - 9/2/2002 8:45:14 AM]

JIM G.

Hi, I was wondering if any other wrx drivers shared any of these problems?
1. Ate the insides of my front tyres within 7000 miles. Dealer said it was my driving style and adjusted the tracking and I have now eaten the outside of my front tyres within 6000 miles.
2. Had a new clutch put in at 3000 miles due to shudder first thing in the morning. New clutch was nice and smooth for a few thousand miles and now its doing the same thing.
3. The brakes very often scare the hell out of me: If you are approaching a corner fast on rough ground while applying moderate braking the brakes fade and at the same time there is a vibration through the brake pedal (not an abs shudder), at this point you have to step hard on the brakes before going over the hedge and you have probably **** yourself.

It is a hell of a good fun car but these things are spoiling it slightly. Any comment appreciated.
Jim

Type_RA

Yep they eat tyres if you corner hard. You can have the geometry setup but to get the extra grip you will wear tyres out. Trouble is, its a no win situation if you buy harder wearing tyres then you wont get the grip and if you go for a better geometry setup to give you more grip then the tyres will wear out quicker .



My UK 98 did it from new and I never bothered it was only when it was cold and occasionally. My import has done it twice only but I think it running an uprated RA clutch and gearbox. the fix to the classics was to fit an STI/P1 clutch


Brakes have never been the scoobs strong point and do fade. They did improve from MY99 as they went to 4-pots but the OE equipment can be improved upon.

You maybe better upgrading the discs and pads as astartign point as it a cheaoper way to go. I run OE Subaru 4-pots and OE discs and DS2500 pads with goodridge braided hoses and a good silkolene brake fluid. When the discs wear out I am going for Group-N spec discs but will stay with DS2500 pads and OE calipers. There are plenty of brake upgrades available but you are talking 4 figures for the whole kit ie. it aint cheap.


Yep a fun car but it can be tweaked and improved upon if you have a big enough wallet .

Welcome to the world of modified imprezas .

Cheers

Chris

edited 'cause it was a big reply and my typing is bad

[Edited by Type_RA - 8/30/2002 8:29:44 PM]

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I thought that the clutch wasn't covered in the terms of warrenty? I'd say if my tyres last to 6000 I'll be chuffed

I have also had this sort brake problem in the wet, due to lack of grip, bump amd the good brakes, hitting bumpstrips/pot holes etc , ABS pulls in and wont stop the car do the opposite instructions for ABS take foot off and reapply regain wieght/grip and braking IMHO this seems synonminous with the STi7 as never occured with the old scoob.

Tony

hades

My MY02 tyres are wearing more on the outside, which I think means I drive harder than my geometry is ideally set for, and even so at 3.5k I am expecting 10-12k from the OEMs, although time will tell.

IIRC The later classics were renowned for clutch judder, much more than the new age. I think a couple of "spirited" starts (4-5k rpm and slip the clutch when pulling away hard) tended to clear that up? Worth a try.

Several people have commented on ABS cutting in very early for no apparent reason on new age cars. Fortunately, I haven't had that problem yet. With the 4 pots, the reinforced new age bulkhead for the master cylinder etc, the brakes should be pretty good, although the weight and speed of the car does mean you can make them fade.

LoFi

Hi Jim

1) Sounds like you drive quite hard and would probably benefit from having the geometry done properly by someone like TSL. This might help the tyre wear become more even. However, IIRC they will still wear unevenly if you do a lot of motorway miles.

2) They all do that to a certain extent. A new clutch does cure it but only for a few thousand miles. I did read somewhere that Subaru had developed some new parts to try to help. Mine certainly does when cold but not to a degree to make it a real pain. About twice it has been very severe and if it did that all the time i'd probably take it in for a fix.

3) Although you say it is not the ABS I think you'll find it probably is. It seems very agressive on the MY01 particularly on rough roads. Apparently improvements can be made by replaceing the OEM tyres to improve the physical grip. I tend to find it happens less the harder you brake and I have to say the Eibachs and geometry I had done recently has improved confidence under braking no end.

Piers LoFi

stevejohnson511

I had the same problem with inside of tyres being badly worn after
6000 miles,dealer tried to tell me it was driving hard and fast cornering but that would wear the outside of the tyres,and my wife had driven 5000 of the 6000 to work and back in traffic.I also noticed the same fade with the brakes and had a slight clutch judder when cold.I cured all my problems in one go by trading it in for an sti7.
Steve.

Reffro

This brake problem might not be oversensitive ABS. From the original description where it was said the ABS was not cutting in, I'd be having a closer look at the pads and calipers. It sounds like the pads and calipers are vibrating over the rough roads and pushing the cylinder back into the caliper, so that when you first press on the brake you are just pushing the cylinder back out and not actually getting much pressure on the disc with the pads, it feel like brake fade, so you come off the brakes and push again and then they work, as you will be applying normal pressure to the pads again.

This is just like when you get a tank slapper on a motorbike, you can if the vibration is harsh enough force the cylinder back in to the calipers and have no brakes when you use them again, so you have to pump the brakes to get them working again.

I would be looking closely at this, because like I say it really doesn't sound like an ABS or brake fade problem. Let me know what you think.

wrrjones

I ahve a 02wrx and have all the same problems the breake problem is
downt to the abs ovwr bumpy road on the entrance to bends but thy do fade bad v quickly the cluch judeder has now gone .

JIM G.

Yes Reffro you could be right it does seem like that: as if the pressure on the disc fails. I'm no mechanic but it feels like when you apply soft pressure on the brake pedal the braking force isn't constant... as if there is a loss in pressure for some reason. True if you stand hard on the brakes then there is no problem. What about this humming feel through the pedal, it feels like a pump struggling somewhere?
To buy an sti to solve the problem would be nice but I expected less trouble from the wrx as imprezas have always had a great reputation of being able to handle tracks etc. What I'm saying is that I'm not convinced that the sti would provide the perfect driving experience either. I have driven my bros sti and there are no such brake problems right enough but are all you sti owners perfectly happy?

JIM G.

Here is the car in question!

Type_RA

Nope they are all complaining of the torque below 4K rpm and a narrow power band and they all want a PPP NOW funnily the PPP is exactly what the MY01 owners wanted NOW. Infact soem of them are the same people LOL. Deja vu . Then again ask an STi7 owner and its the best car Subaru have ever made .

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

[Edited by T5NYW - 9/1/2002 10:34:14 AM]

skiddus_markus

If there is vibration through the brake pedal all the time,you may have warped your discs.

Josh L

Get the geometry correctly set up on Hunter gear. This will not necessarily result in greater tyre wear.

Subaru's tolerances are as wide as the grand canyon, and even having one front toe-in and the other toe-out could still be 'within tolerance'.

I had the P1 geometry set to the middle of all the tolerances, and it completely transformed the handling. I tend to run slightly higher front pressures anyway, to even out the tyre wear on MK's roundabouts, but the wear has been pretty much even since the adjustments.

Having said that, I still only get 8k out of a set

Josh

JIM G.

The vibration in the pedal is more of an electrical vibration rather than a mechanical one skiddus

JIM G.

dave, the wheel bearings should be fine at 12000miles should they not?

BOBBY G

Dear Jim,

I have recently heard from a reliable source, that all black wrx's are crap............... is this true?

STi 7

lol@Bobby G

swan

Jim G, I have a similar problem with the brakes but in a different situation. The circumstance I've found is that if I'm slowing down while turning over a bump, as I go over the top it feels like ABS is kicking in (it's not) - not very confidence inspiring.

Makalu

Yep... I had my clutch replaced and I also had the uneven inside Tyre wear. Dealer changed clutch under warranrty (thanks Subaru!) and checked geo to find it was 'within tolerances'....

I will be booking it in elsewhere for a more accurate setup.

Re brakes - I have had a couple of scary movies but on the whole they seem ok - perhaps I have not hit the exact same braking environmentas you yet though (rough ground etc...)

I have got a humming rear nearside brake though... anyone else got this?

Mak.

JIM G.

Dear Bobby G.
That thing you heard about black wrxs isn't true but I think the rumour that sti drivers need a faster car to keep up with wrx drivers is!
Jim

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I do get Front Pads clunking whilst doing Parking/3 piont turns Etc. Is this natural or signs of loose wheel brgs???

A loose wheel Brg will cause wobbly steering/Braking but will last 10X's as long as an overtight one. IMHO

On prodrive day 2 Group 'N's' had wheel Brg faults.