Do the new Subarus still lock up the front wheels instead of the rear when the emergency brake is engaged? I found out the older ones locked up the front when i tried to powerslide in the rain and nothing happened. I looked into it and the Loyales and other older Subarus all have emergency brakes that lock up the front wheels. This question has been bugging me for a long time so if anybody knows, PLEASE tell me.

 

Thanks alot.

Do the new Subarus still lock up the front wheels instead of the rear when the emergency brake is engaged? I found out the older ones locked up the front when i tried to powerslide in the rain and nothing happened. I looked into it and the Loyales and other older Subarus all have emergency brakes that lock up the front wheels. This question has been bugging me for a long time so if anybody knows, PLEASE tell me.

 

Thanks alot.

 

I'm pretty sure my 98 Forester locks up the back. I can whip my rear end around when I pull my e-brake.

I think the loyales are the only ones have have front hand breaks

 

 

and power sliding isnt using the hand break

My 89' Brumby (brat) has the handbrake on the front, pising the hell out of me!. Maybe when I get around to changing it I'll post it up here. :-D

All EA71, EA81 and EA82 body styles had front e-brakes. All EJ body styles have rear e-brakes.

What about the SVX? Is that considered a EJ body style? Is the e-brake front or rear on the SVX?

Just so you know, and one of my associates asked me about this on Saturday, the handbrake does not use the disc pads. There are separate shoe brakes behind the rear rotor inside a cast drum housing.

Just so you know, and one of my associates asked me about this on Saturday, the handbrake does not use the disc pads. There are separate shoe brakes behind the rear rotor inside a cast drum housing.

This was true from 90-94, after this they no longer have this set up and do use the rear pads. FYI

Funny, my '96 Legacy has shoes, and I can't figure out how they would activate the pads using a cable either.

The 96 Legacy I drive has cable-operated drum e-brakes inside the rear discs.

 

matt

i would almost prefer to have them in the front just to add on to their already confused look when they see the spair. "The e-brake locks up the front tires too." "What!?" lol

I know that the older gen. Legacys have the E brake in the back.

 

Thanks Steve!!

All Legacy's have rear e-brakes.

 

And DON'T handbrake slide a car with AWD!

I've had numerous awd cars with rear handbrake. The best thing about it is turning around in snow. Pull the brake, crank the steering hard over, back up. The rear wheels slide just a little while the front end rotates around them, I can turn around in a driveway. I've done it with open and limited slip center diffs, haven't tried it with my Suby yet.

i would almost prefer to have them in the front just to add on to their already confused look when they see the spair. "The e-brake locks up the front tires too." "What!?" lol

yeah and if you take out a front halfshaft and go rear wheel drive*(in the ea81/82 generation)* you can do brakestand burnouts with a manual tranny by holding the front wheels

In the spirit of the original post, there is a thread about rear ebrakes in the Old Gen Forum. Basically talks about Nissan calipers that can be swapped onto the back (assuming rear disks ) that allow rear emergency brakes.

 

IIRC, using the rear ebrake gives you a bootleg turn, power gives you powerslides. Power induced oversteer is much easier with RWD.

And DON'T handbrake slide a car with AWD!

 

can you please refresh my memory, why not?

Because the center diff wants both axles to rotate with a similar speed.

 

A manual Sube won't handle handbrake turns for long before the silicone oil in the center diff gets overheat and loses it's ability to transfer torque. Turns the car into a FWD.

 

An auto might put up a more valiant fight, but you'd still fry the clutch pack in the long run.