Subaru Ascent Forum banner

R1 concept brakes and rotors so far so good after 2k

11K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  AirplaneTim 
#1 ·
Surprise, surprise at around 40k my wife’s ’19 Ascent has a nasty pulsation and her pads where worn down to about 3mm. Yes I could have had Subaru turn the rotors and ”lubricate” the pads correctly. But I expected better quality from OEM parts and I doubt they’d warranty worn pads. I ordered the R1 concept Carbon Geomat and Optimum OE pads from them. We burnished them in and went through a heat cycle. They stop significantly better than OEM brakes when the vehicle was new, they almost stop too good and they took some getting used to because they where so damn touchy, now and the vehicle one dives. I figured it’s just new brakes and they’ll go back to stopping like it did before but they only improved after 2k miles. The old brakes stopped just fine but the R1 concepts just stop that much better. I pulled the fronts and measured the pads after 2k and they haven’t even lost .001. Rotors look good with no grooves or discoloring.
 
#2 ·
I doubt they’d warranty worn pads
In fact, Subaru does warranty pads during the 3/36 OEM warranty period. In writing even. :) (Same for wiper blades) That doesn't help you since you're beyond the 36K miles, however.
 
  • Like
Reactions: packout
#7 ·
I am about to have new rotors and pads installed by the dealer (revD) - second time replaced under warranty on my 2019. If a there is a thrid time, I will be asking them to pay for after market rotors and pads and warranty them as well. I am of course assuming that the underlying problem is the poor quality rotor material noted in posts (I personally have no idea).
 
#6 ·
Correction: R1 didn’t have their “carbon geomet” rotors available but do have “e-line”

Their rotors and pads for the front are less than $200 so I figured it was worthwhile to try them out. I’m on my 2nd set of rotors (replaced by dealer under warranty in late 2019) and pads (rev b), and at 39000mi. Totally worth $200 to save the trip to the dealer and I get to tinker!

I’ll update over time how they perform and maybe pick up a set for the rear if I’m happy with them.
 
#8 ·
Their rotors and pads for the front are less than $200 so I figured it was worthwhile to try them out. I’m on my 2nd set of rotors (replaced by dealer under warranty in late 2019) and pads (rev b), and at 39000mi. Totally worth $200 to save the trip to the dealer and I get to tinker!

I’ll update over time how they perform and maybe pick up a set for the rear if I’m happy with them.
I'd love to hear how they work for you. I'm on the Rev C pads and I'm not all that happy with them, but I'm not going back to the dealer, either. Unless something changes, the next pads that go on the car will be from the aftermarket. ;)
 
#15 ·
The parts sat a little longer than I had planned but I finally installed the R1 front rotors and pads.
My first impression is they look nice! I went with the mid-fanciness cross drilled flavor. Of course the zinc coating will wear off the braking surface soon. I put a whole 3 miles on them before this pic:
12926

After buttoning everything up I took it for a test drive to wear-in the new parts. Even from the start they were quieter than my oem (rev B) pads and oem rotors which had only about 14k mi on them. After wearing them in they were even quieter. R1’s site says they may continue to get quieter over the first 500 mi. We’ll see…

On the pads subject, I believe we’re up to rev D? I’m not aware of anyone who’s put a significant number of miles on rev D pads but after both rev A and B caused rough braking I just didn’t want to deal with oem anymore. Here’s a pic of the pads I took off compared to the new pads:
12927

I haven’t driven it since Tuesday and it rained so the surface rust on the rotor is expected. The lines across the pad wear surface intrigued me though. I haven’t seen anything like that before, but I’m willing to bet it has something to do with the grinding noise. All 4 front pads were similar. Thoughts?
 
#17 ·
The lines across the pad wear surface intrigued me though. I haven’t seen anything like that before, but I’m willing to bet it has something to do with the grinding noise. All 4 front pads were similar. Thoughts?
I’ve put another 2 tanks of gas thru these and they’re even better than the first few miles. I’m still optimistic they’ll stay smooth

On the other hand I sent pictures of my oem pads to SOA, which they sent to the local service manager. The response: “The Service Manager has indicated that the scratches in the non-direction of the rotor braking action are fresh and not filled in with dust, he felt that they came from the removal process”. I wasn’t expecting anything other than memorializing the issue but that response irks me. Good thing I love driving my Ascent (despite the negative reviews from all the companies Subaru doesn’t pay off)!
 
#16 ·
Those wavy lines in the pads perpendicular to brake disc rotation are indeed pretty strange. Our Rev C pads, despite a brief period where I'd hear them squeal, have been quiet lately. But I'll likely go to the aftermarket if these get consistently loud again, and I may try these pads. Please keep us updated on how they perform for you!
 
#20 ·
That’s reassuring! I have about 10k on mine and they’re still nice and smooth. The only difference I notice between when I first installed them and now is the zinc coating is completely gone from the wear surface as expected.
I believe it was somewhere between 15-20k it first became apparent on my OE brakes there was something not right.
 
#21 ·
For those of you wondering how the rev D pads are working out. Checkout the thread using the link below. I'm not fancy enough to know how to actually attach the thread to my message. We bought our Ascent in Dec. 20' and the version it had then didn't workout. Subaru installed fresh pads and rotors. They worked great for a few months but then the issue came back. I'm afraid I too will have to go after market as the vibration makes me nervous especially when i plan to tow a trailer.

 
#24 ·
The R1 Geo-Carbon Series should be a good option as well. About the only difference I can see is additional holes. The one thing I cant tell is what the pad is made out of. I have had great success with ceramic brake in the past and would like to go that route if I put on after market pads.
 
#36 ·
Installed R1 front rotors and pads at 40924mi back in July ‘21.
Changed my oil and rotated my tires today at 78975mi so I gave the pad wear a good inspection while the wheels were off.
I’ll save everyone the math homework; that’s 38051mi on the pads and rotors. Still plenty of life left! The angle of the pic isn’t great but it appeared to be ≥3/16” before the wear indicator reaches the rotor.
Tire Automotive tire Wheel Automotive lighting Bumper
 
#37 ·
I put the R1 Geo Carbon Drilled and Slotted on both front and rear of mine towards the end of December, about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Managed to drive around for about 450 miles before making my trip into the mountains last week. So far they are as smooth and quiet as butter and handled the mountain driving a lot better than the stock ones, but then, the stock ones were fine for the first couple of thousand miles as well.
 
Top