Subaru Scores 6 New Cars And SUVs With The Best Brakes - It's Not WRX Or BRZ
The Subaru brand is known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles, but how do they score in braking tests? If you have ever had to make an emergency stop to avoid a car, pedestrian, or animal, you know how important it is to have good brakes. A new study by Consumer Reports tests cars and gives the average stopping distance from 60 to zero mph by category.
Subaru has six models that score better than the competition, but it’s not the WRX and BRZ sports cars equipped with standard brakes. The 2021 Subaru Forester, 2021 Outback, 2021 Crosstrek, 2021 Ascent, 2021 Impreza, and 2021 Legacy all score better than average.
In the Small SUV category, the average stopping distance is 132 feet from 60-0 mph. The 2021 Subaru Forester is better, with a stopping distance of 130 feet. In the Midsize SUV category, the average stopping distance is 134 feet. The 2021 Subaru Outback stopped at 132 feet.
The 2021 Subaru Crosstrek falls in the Small cars segment and has a stopping distance of 125 feet (the average stopping distance is 130 feet). In the Midsize SUV segment, the average stopping distance is 134 feet. The 2021 Subaru Ascent stops in 129 feet from 60-0 mph.
The 2021 Subaru Impreza sedan and hatchback models also fall in the Small car category (130 feet) and have a stopping distance of 124 feet from 60-0 mph. In the Midsize Car segment, the average stopping distance is 133 feet. The 2021 Subaru Legacy stops in 131 feet 60-0 mph.
In the Sports/Sporty car segment, the average stopping distance is 120 feet from 60-0 mph. The 2021 Subaru WRX is average with a stopping distance of 120 feet with standard brakes. Consumer Reports does not rate the STI, so we don’t have their figures for the higher-performance model.
In Motor Trend’s tests, they found the STI had a 60-0 mph stopping distance of just 103 feet with the high-performance Brembo brakes. The WRX equipped with the same Brembo brake package, the sport-tuned sedan had a stopping distance of 110 feet, considerably better than the average of 120 feet.
In Consumer Reports testing, the 2021 Subaru BRZ Limited trim has a 60-0 mph stopping distance of 126 feet with standard brakes. They did not test the BRZ tS trim with the Brembo performance braking system. We assume it would have improved significantly.
The 2021 Subaru Forester, 2021 Outback, 2021 Crosstrek, 2021 Ascent, 2021 Impreza, and 2021 Legacy all score better than average brake performance. When equipped with the Brembo performance brakes, WRX, WRX STI, and BRZ all score considerably better than average.
Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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