Big brake kits (BBK) are one of the coolest mods you can add to a car. It says many distinguished things about the owner of the car and the purpose of the car itself. Yes, the BBK offers an increase in stopping power, but it also provides a major boost to the ever-evasive swag. In the case of my 2023 Subaru BRZ, which I bought to make into the ultimate new track car, a BBK was always in the cards. It was just a matter of choosing which.
I already upgraded my stock brakes with a set of high-quality track pads from Counterspace Garage (CSG) and Endless RF-650 fluid, and that setup worked extremely well for several track days—but not perfectly. I experienced fade a few times, even with the upgraded pad. I had a stiff pedal, which means it wasn’t the fluid, therefore, the trouble lay with the overall heat capacity of the system. I knew it was time to upgrade.
I reached out to Brembo in search of that upgrade for my BRZ. Brembo hardly needs an introduction; it owns the world of OE-level, high-performance braking and is known for its colorful aftermarket kits. After some discussion regarding my use case, Brembo kindly sent me their newest big brake kit to test: Brembo Pista FF6.
The world of brakes is wide and confusing, and it’s easy to get something ineffective. Don’t be fooled by ultra-budget options and bundles that claim superior performance—more than any other system on a car, you get what you pay for with brakes. Stay away from cheap pads and fluid, and at minimum, use proven, high-quality stuff. Stay away from cheap drilled rotors, too, as they’re prone to cracking. And definitely stay away from cheap caliper upgrades, as they might not be well-matched to your existing master cylinder and may not withstand track use.
That’s not to say there are no budget options. The best cheap big brake upgrades often come from within the genuine parts family. Sometimes, higher trim models get larger, better brakes, and in the case of the second-generation BRZ, there are two options within the family: The performance package four-piston front and two-piston rear Brembo upgrade, which costs around $2,500 to $4,000 for the full set (which is hardly cheap), or the old "Hawkeye" WRX four-piston front brakes, at around $600.
The BRZ has one complication versus its Toyota GR86 twin: You’ll need longer caliper bolts because of its aluminum front uprights. But fitment can be tricky. Some folks even swap to the GR86’s cast steel upright, but it adds around 3 pounds per side, and I’m against adding weight. The WRX four-piston uses a similar size and weight rotor, which doesn’t represent a true upgrade in terms of thermal capacity. And after trying the factory Brembos on the BRZ tS, I decided I wanted more than what the factory could offer.
So I turned to the aftermarket, using the $4,000 street cost of the factory performance pack Brembo as my benchmark. Truly, there are only a few worthy options in the world of high-performance track brakes, and quite a few make brakes for the BRZ.
The three biggest players in the average BRZ owner’s price range are StopTech, AP Racing, and Brembo. All three make more street-friendly BBKs at around $2,500, with the StopTech ST40 and Brembo BM4 offering good performance, and the AP Racing Sprint/Endurance kit being somewhat compromised in terms of rotor weight and caliper stiffness. The Brembo and StopTech offer performance similar to the factory Brembos, but can still withstand track use. Although they’re not ideal for repeated hard track sessions, and would require regular servicing and inspection.
There is a higher echelon of more track-focused brakes from all three: The $4,800 StopTech C43, $5,500 AP Racing Pro 5000, and the aforementioned Brembo Pista. The AP Racing kit is the current king of this segment, while the StopTech isn’t quite in the same league. Finally, the Brembo Pista at $4,100 represented an enticing value proposition. And they fit under the stock 18" Limited wheels if you're so inclined, though I ran my setup with a set of 18x9.5 +45 Wedsport SA-25R wheels for my own pleasure.
The Pista kit is new for Brembo, but it doesn’t replace the colorful and street-focused GT or BM caliper series. The Pista caliper is designed for heavy track use, hence the lack of dust boots and pretty paint. Instead, the caliper is anodized for maximum weight reduction and heat resistance. The entire assembly is fully forged from aluminum with extensive pocketing built into the forging to save on machining costs. With all that effort, the caliper weighs 6 pounds, almost exactly the same as the AP Pro 5000 caliper, for $1,400 less. The bridge is semi-fixed, with a spine that runs along the caliper, and two through bolts with spacers that tie the caliper together and make swapping pads easy.
Included in the kit Brembo sent me was a full front BBK, including stainless braided brake lines, two-piece rotors, brake pads, and two Pista “FF6” six-piston calipers. The calipers are designed and assembled in Italy at Brembo’s main factory in the same room and by the same technicians who assemble Formula 1 calipers, while the rotors and pads are engineered in Italy but assembled by Race Technologies in the US. Brembo won’t directly admit it, but the Pista is aimed directly at the AP Pro 5000 and designed for heavy track and racing use.
Getting the kit installed on the BRZ was as seamless as they come. Brembo boasts intimate knowledge of automaker data, and it showed with the BRZ kit—Everything fit perfectly, with zero issues. All I had to do was delete the factory rotor dust shields to fit the larger 355mm rotor. Compared to the stock 277mm rotor, it’s a huge upgrade. While the Pista rotors at 22 lbs per side are heavier than the 17 lbs of the stock rotors, that’s the point. More rotor weight equals more thermal capacity. The system is also one pound lighter overall thanks to the lightweight calipers.
For the same price, it’s lighter than the factory Brembos and more up to the task of track driving.
I put 18,000 miles and several track days on the Pista kit to test it thoroughly for wear, noise, and long-term reliability. The kit saw rain, snow, summer heat, and below-freezing cold. The only change I made was not using Brembo’s provided pads, which were too aggressive. I used the milder CSG SP1 pads for maximum modulation and to take advantage of the larger rotors’ heat capacity. And despite Brembo billing the Pista as a “nearly full race” kit, with all that could entail when installed on a daily driver, the Pistas performed flawlessly and exceeded my expectations.
Livability was impressive, almost like stock. Brembo’s proprietary rotor slot pattern was whisper quiet. Pad wear was similarly impressive—the pads are at around 40% after 18,000 miles and eight track days. It continues: Pedal feel is some of the best anywhere, with much more initial stiffness than the AP Pro 5000 and incredible threshold feel that follows. It’s some of the best brake pedal feel that my right foot has had the pleasure of feeling, even after years of reviewing sports cars and supercars.
I was worried about using the stock rear brakes in tandem with Pistas in the front, which would normally shift braking force forward thanks to the increased stopping power, but Brembo also insisted that it spent time tuning the system to work with the factory brake bias and ABS. This also felt abundantly clear in practice–My BRZ trailed perfectly into every corner. If anything, it felt as though the car was happier to rotate during trail braking than before. ABS engagement felt seamless and smooth.
The Pista kit is worthy of the highest praise I can give it–It operates as if it came stock on the car. I’ve tried many of the big brake options out there, and almost every single one has a compromise. Whether it’s strange pedal feel, poor matching to the factory ABS, or outright odd behaviors that can feel disconcerting, the Pista never stumbled. It didn’t feel like an aftermarket big brake kit. It only felt better, performed better, and handled wear better than the stock system. Effectively, the kit had zero compromise, and it’s the most-affordable BBK in its class.
Considering Brembo’s considerable expertise in braking, this shouldn’t be a surprise. But the Pista does the job incredibly well, all while costing less than its competitors. Simply put, these brakes are damn good and work better than competitors’ stuff. Sorry AP Racing, this is the new king of the club racer big brake kit.
