As some of you may have noticed, my tag has changed, I bought a four year old Impreza to replace my 12 year old Legacy!

 

How do I fix the Imp's long travel brake pedal? The pedal doesn't firm up until it has gone about half an inch lower than the throttle, and this makes heel-and-toe gear changes nearly impossible. In the Legacy, they lined up perfectly, and throttle "blipping" on downshifts was a cinch

 

A new MC is a possibility, but I would rather do the relavtively easy job of replacing the brake hoses - should give other benefits too.

 

Anyone care to share their experience?

The pedal travel can be set. On most Vaccum boosters the rod that comes out and pushed the piston in the master cyliner is threaded for adjustment. The problem with this is that you have to get the master cylinder out of the way to adjust it. I just helped a friend replace the master cylinder in his 86 300Z a month ago and was amazed at how off the pedal was between the two master cylinders. Adjusting that part made all the difference. BE WARNED that you can over adjust it to the point that you always have pressure on the brakes. That is bad!(We did it. The car seemed lsuggish and when we started smelling burning brake pads we knew what we had done. )

 

Anyhow, adjust the rod coming out of the vaccum booster. Braided brake lines will firm up the feel of braking, but not how farr the pedal travels before the brakes engage.

 

Keith

I wouldn't touch that rod.....normally they are adjusted ok, and like keith mentioned, if you misadjust it....it'll really screw with things.

 

I've played with more bias, pedal travel issues on my car and am quite familar with the long pedal travel. The correct solution is a larger bore MC. SS lines may help, but won't solve the problem. Look on the MC and see what size MC you have. Also, do you have ABS or non-abs? Are the calipers all stock? Have you bled the brake lines?

 

Lastly, the newer imprezas may have a more slightly boosted brake booster, so you get less brake assist. Some people have swapped to the single diaphram brake booster to improve brake feel vs. the tandem booster.