2018 Subaru Forester Brakes

[badtlc]

I have a 2018 Forester with 67k miles on it. The rear pads are about at their limit. The fronts are fine but I'm also due for brake fluid so I think I'll just do all brakes at the same time to be done with it for a while. I have some questions:

1) What are some good rear pads with long life and low dust?
2) What are some good front pads with low dust and good stopping?
3) Brakes are smooth with no pulsing. Pad slap OK or should new rotors be a must?
4) Any suggestions on new rotors? Location is Kansas City with some winter road salt but not as bad as the rust belt.

Any useful advice about forester brakes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[edyvw]

I have a 2018 Forester with 67k miles on it. The rear pads are about at their limit. The fronts are fine but I'm also due for brake fluid so I think I'll just do all brakes at the same time to be done with it for a while. I have some questions:

1) What are some good rear pads with long life and low dust?
2) What are some good front pads with low dust and good stopping?
3) Brakes are smooth with no pulsing. Pad slap OK or should new rotors be a must?
4) Any suggestions on new rotors? Location is Kansas City with some winter road salt but not as bad as the rust belt.

Any useful advice about forester brakes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

No dust, no performance. It is simple as that. There are cars that have great dustless brakes, but usually they are called Ferrari, Porsche or M3 and pads are usually as pricy as mortgage payment.

 

[CarbonToast]

I put Bosch Quietcast Pads and Rotors on both axles of our 2015 forester last year. Ordered from rock auto.

10/10 would reccomend them. The rotors are fully coated and look great.

Your front pads and rotors should easily last to 100k miles. You can just clean and Lube the slide pins and save some $.

On ours, I pad slapped the rear at about the same mileage as you. Then at 100k mi did pads and rotors on both axles.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Akebono pads are good stuff. Get the ASP pads for the front (they don't make them for the rear), and the regular ACT pads for the rear. Pair them with Powerstop coated rotors. This is a winning combo. I installed those same pads and rotors on a 2015, and they are holding up great.

While Akebono is the gold standard for ceramic pads with no problems, if you don't want to use the same thing everybody else uses, or if you just want a lower price, there's the Pagid Silver ceramic pads. These are fairly recent and didn't exist when I did the brakes on the 15.

 

[The Critic]

I like the dealer pad kits. They are priced well, have good quality hardware and deliver good performance.

 

[badtlc]

Thanks everyone. I'll look into the Akebono pads. Never tried them. Last time I bought pads I got Raybestos element and they were a bit dusty for my taste compared to other pads.

I'm leaning toward raybestos element rotors but looking into the power stop. never heard of power stop before.

 

[badtlc]

On ours, I pad slapped the rear at about the same mileage as you. Then at 100k mi did pads and rotors on both axles.

I'm really tempted to do this but my front right brake has a super high pitched squeal that I'm finally tired of. Dealer said nothing was wrong with it and couldn't figure out why it was squeaking.

 

[2dogs]

I have a '16 Forester with Akebono pads all around, from Rock Auto. No noise and stops well. Dust seems ok but I don't pay much attention to it. For rotors, I just put the cheapest coated ones on from Rock Auto. I don't remember the brand.

 

[Rand]

I'm not a fan of powerstop.
and the raybestos element 3 line was cheapened.. still not bad but the rotors get the smallest amount of coating possible... bad for rust belt.

I put a set of their front rotors and pads on the 2020 elantra last year and they have been solid.. if the price was good I'd still buy them..
if not I might try something new(to me) such as bosch rotors.
Centric has a bunch of part lines, their higher end stuff is above average.

 

[dubber09]

X2 for Bosch QuietCast.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Thanks everyone. I'll look into the Akebono pads. Never tried them. Last time I bought pads I got Raybestos element and they were a bit dusty for my taste compared to other pads.

I'm leaning toward raybestos element rotors but looking into the power stop. never heard of power stop before.

Raybestos has gotten cheaper in terms of quality. Their rotors use less coating than before, and it seems to not as long as the old ones

Powerstop is usually the cheapest Geomet coated rotors.

I'm not a fan of powerstop.
and the raybestos element 3 line was cheapened.. still not bad but the rotors get the smallest amount of coating possible... bad for rust belt.

I put a set of their front rotors and pads on the 2020 elantra last year and they have been solid.. if the price was good I'd still buy them..
if not I might try something new(to me) such as bosch rotors.
Centric has a bunch of part lines, their higher end stuff is above average.

Raybestos also bought out Centric, and they cheapened the Centric rotors too. The Centric E-coated rotors aren't e-coated anymore, as they replaced it with cheap paint, and the inside hat isn't coated anymore. The old E-coated Centrics were coated on the inside.

The good news is that Wagner still has E-coated rotors, and they are still coated on the inside hat.

Wagner coated rotors would be my second choice after the Geomet rotors such as Powerstop.

 

[Donald]

Akebono pads are good stuff. Get the ASP pads for the front (they don't make them for the rear), and the regular ACT pads for the rear. Pair them with Powerstop coated rotors. This is a winning combo. I installed those same pads and rotors on a 2015, and they are holding up great.

While Akebono is the gold standard for ceramic pads with no problems, if you don't want to use the same thing everybody else uses, or if you just want a lower price, there's the Pagid Silver ceramic pads. These are fairly recent and didn't exist when I did the brakes on the 15.

I also go for Akebono brake pads. I use Wagner E-coated rotors. Coated good for rust belt.

Go to "best' quality pads but only good or better quality rotors.

 

[Glenda W.]

I’ve had good luck with Akebono pads and AC Delco Gold coated rotors on my Subaru’s.