Brake Pads for 2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X

twripper

I have a 2009 Subaru Forester 2.5X and have been looking at getting new brake pads but looking to upgrade from the standard OEM pads. I was wondering if anyone out there has tried any higher performance pads and if anyone out there can recommend any specific brake pads? I was looking at the Raybestos Professional Grade Ceramics and the Hawk Performance Ceramic pads...the price of the Hawk's are about double that of the Raybestos and I am wondering if it is just a brand name thing or if anyone can actually vouch for the Hawks that they are worth paying double for. Also any other suggestions would be great, I am just lost with picking out brake pads since I havent tried enough brands to know.

ateixeira

C&D had an article where they changed just the pads and I recall the Hawk pads performed quite admirably.

I'm not familiar with the Raybestos but it sounds sort of generic.

twripper

@ ateixeira

All they did was replace the pads? Just wondering cause usually from what I know you also want to resurface your rotors before putting on new pads. Also do you know if the test was done on a Forester or on another vehicle?

ic_designer

I use Akebono brake pads in my Outback and Corolla. I am very happy with it. You can read the review at tirerack.com or amazon. The brake pads are very quiet. I use ATE slotted rotor on my Outback and Centric rotor on my Corolla. Centric is a lot cheaper. Stopping distance seems to be better with Akebono pads and Centric rotor combination. This is probably because Corolla is a lot lighter.

ateixeira

I can do better - here's a link to the full article:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/02q3/shedding_light_on_fading_brakes-featur- e

Looks like they used a Subaru after all - a WRX!

dcm61

I'm not familiar with the Raybestos but it sounds sort of generic.

Raybestos (circa 1902) is a year older than Ford Motor Company. Raybestos doesn't sound as generic as Ford.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raybestos