Subaru Forester Fitted with Whiteline and Wilwood
Brakes… never take them for granted! Although we like to add power and make cars go faster, it’s important to remember to keep in mind how important it is to stop. Brakes are the most important safety system of a vehicle. Being able to slow or stop at a moment’s notice will help to avoid an incidents or accident. If brakes aren’t working properly they won’t be able to do the job that they were designed for. Factory brake systems are designed to function effectively on the car they were designed for, but sometimes a little more oomph in the brake system becomes necessary. Taking a car to any track environment or even driving a car in a more spirited manner, such as AutoX, rally, or canyon carving will demand a whole lot more from the brake system. Compared to the street, on the track a brake system will get extremely hot! Ever watched motorsports and see the brake disc glow bright orange? These systems can be operating at over 1,200OC (2192OF) working hard to slow the vehicle!
Of course factory brake systems aren’t meant for racing or extreme spirited driving, so the owner of this Subaru Forester decided to increase his stopping power and equip a Wilwood Superlite 6-piston front and 4-piston rear big brake kit (BBK)! The Superlite caliper series is the benchmark in short track, late model, modified and open wheel competition. It also enjoys prominence in a variety of road-race, off-road, rally and sport driving applications. The new FSLI model series is the latest innovation to this Superlite family of calipers. It has been redesigned with internal fluid ports that eliminate the external fluid cross-over tubes, along with any potential problems that could arise from a damaged tube. The transfer tube has been replaced with two additional bleed screw assemblies which allows this group of symmetrical piston bore models to be mounted either right or left in a leading or trailing position.
Specifically for the 6-piston caliper, the unsurpassed braking capacity serves as the base of this group of 13”-14” big rotor kits for these popular late model vehicles. SL6 kits are engineered application specific for simplified installation and full compatibility with OE master cylinder output and ABS functions where used. Big brake kits provide increased brake capacity and complimentary style with wheel, tire, and suspension upgrades on show cars and high performance street/track machines. Optional caliper finishes and rotor designs simplify personalizing the style and braking requirements of any application. As seen on this Forester, the front calipers are machined silver while the rear calipers are a glazed black.
On the suspension side of things, this Forester also received Whiteline Sway Bars Front and Rear as well as Whiteline Rear Adjustable Trailing Arms! This series of adjustable trailing arms are designed to modify factory camber - toe & track. As a result of using these trailing arms, there is a greater range and more precise adjustment as well as a more direct connection between the cars body and rear suspension, delivering a more predictable dynamic behavior. As advice from Whiteline, the fitting of bigger Whiteline Sway bars is still the best dollar for dollar handling improvement you can make. Whiteline adjustable Sway Bars allow their stiffness to be altered by increasing or reducing the length of the lever arms. This permits the roll stiffness to be tuned for different situations without replacing the entire bar. The stiffer the bar, the more force required to move the left and right wheels relative to each other. This increases the amount of force required to make the body roll.
Whiteline Sway bars are manufactured using the finest grade Australian spring steel. They are powder coated and supplied with high performance synthetic elastomer mounting bushes in a DIY kit form, ready to simply bolt on. Whiteline adjustable sway bars offer from 2 up to 4 points of adjustment allowing in some cases 10 distinct stiffness settings for precise handling bias adjustment. The Whiteline blade is available across a huge range of applications.
Finishing the car are brand new 17” Enkei EV-5 wheels in Hyper Black. It was important for the owner to make a smart wheel decision because since the new big brake system was installed on the car, the factory wheels would no longer clear the calipers! Enkei’s EV-5 allowed the clearance needed for the wheels to rotate properly.
Modifications:
- Wilwood 6-Piston Front and 4-Piston Rear BBK
- Whiteline Swaybars (F+R)
- Whiteline Rear Adjustable Trailing Arms
- Enkei EV5 (Hyper Black)
Check out the installation of these parts and more on this awesome Subaru Forester in the high definition pictures below! Click a picture and then the link that appears to go to the picture directly to download!
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