After my cars 45K service I was told I need new front discs and pads. The Subaru OEM ones retail for £190 per disc and £120 for a set of pads. With fitting on top of these prices, I decided it would better in the long run if I fitted upgraded discs and pads.

I considered fitting some Group N discs, but their replacement costs would be just as expensive as the Subaru originals. Godspeed supply an upgrade kit for the Impreza, which maintain the original Subaru calipers. The kits have a seperate disc and mounting bell which, unlike a solid cast disc, help to dissipate heat and prevent the discs from warping and it's more economical when replacing the discs.

In order to fit a much larger diameter and thicker brake disc, Godspeed supply some caliper spacers and caliper mounting brackets with their kit. The spacers increase the width of the caliper to accommodate the thicker disc and the mounting bracket pushes the caliper further away from the wheel hub to accommodate the increase diameter.

The kits come with either Mintex 1155, EBC Greenstuff or Ferodo DS2500 pads. I've heard nothing but bad reports from the EBC's and the Mintex ones have tendency to squeal when cold and cause a lot of brake dust. There was nothing but good reports about the Ferodo's, so I've opted for those.

I managed to get the kit through one of the Scoobynet group buys. I also went for Goodridge braided hoses and some Lockheed DOT 5.1 brake fluid.

Fitting discs and pads is a relatively simple job in itself, but with the Godspeed kit, the calipers need to be split and the system completely bled. I wasn't confident doing this myself, so I asked my local garage (The Garage) to install the kit for me, including braided hoses all round and painting my calipers. They charged me 3.5hrs labour, which came to approx £100.

If you fancy trying this yourself, then follow these instructions (1.6Mb Word 2000/XP format, supplied by Jonathan Smith).

The finished result :-)