Hey guys. I've had this problem for a while, but a few people told me that it is perfectly normal. I have hawk hps pads on my 06 STI. When I apply the brakes i get a thud/click on the front side predominately on the passenger side. I did a little bit of searching and only found the quote down below. Any suggestions on how to solve it? Nasioc "The only things I can think of is that the spring clip is ether not aligned correctly or installed wrong. Since I doubt that all of you did that, it could also be that the backing plate of the pads is in fact to small and does not fit snugly inside of the caliper. My suggestion would be to take out the spring clip and see if it giggles inside of the caliper. I have noticed that sometimes Hawk pads when the backing plate is press cut out in the manufacturing process it makes a knife edge were it will taper in and not be totally flat on the side of the backing plate making the surface area that contacts the guides in the caliper to small and then you will get a "clicking" sound in your brakes because when you brake hard the pad will actually move and "click" against the guide of the caliper. If should only do it once, each time you apply the brakes with some force." Johann @ Girodisc
The pads move around, it's normal. I get it if I reverse then roll forward and apply the brake pedal. The pad shifts and clunks a little. STi's are noisy...turn up the radio.
Mine have clicked ever since it rolled off the lot with 8 miles. I would not worry about it unless you find it a complete annoyance. Last time I changed my pads I cleaned / greased everything including the pins, locking tabs, etc and it did alleviate a certain squeal I had (could have been from the old pads). Honestly, I think that with a brake setup such as what is on the STI or any of the other BBKs for that matter a good proper cleaning is in order every couple of months simply from the heat and dust that they generate.