Brakes Wheels 1st Gen Tires Brand difference?

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by Naughty_Dog, Jul 30, 2013.

  1. Naughty_Dog

    Naughty_Dog New Member

    Jul 20, 2013
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    First and foremost, I am pretty new to learning the ins and outs of car repair and matinence, so help a mate out. After looking at two big brake kits from Wilwood and Brembo, I noticed that the Brembo kit costed a lump sum more. Is there any major performance/quality/design difference that makes brembo brakes more effective than Wilwood? For someone who wants to Auto-X, what is your recommendation?

    Cheers.
     
  2. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Neither of the ones above because most of the cost is the name.

    Loose some of the weight from those HUGE calibers and get a set of "the brakeman" brakes.
    They also make the RMW brake kits.

    The Brake Man - Home
     
  3. Naughty_Dog

    Naughty_Dog New Member

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    Right on, that makes sense. Thanks.
     
  4. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    I think cct1 has had almost every big brake kit on his car and he like these.

    May he will chime in on this thread.
     
  5. beaner

    beaner New Member

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    I would also recommend calling Todd at TCE. he has many options available for MINI's. I had one of his BBK's on my street car and currently run one on my race car. He live brakes and can get you what you need.
     
  6. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    Todd is great guy, I had one of the Wilwood kits.

    I have the stock brakes, JCW brakes, Wilwood, with 11.75 rotors, and the TSW BDM (Outlaw calipers, essentially the same as Wilwood, 11.75 diameter, 1.25 inch wide rotors, and finally the brakeman kit.

    I won't even bother with the stock or JCW brakes, they didn't hold up (These were the JCW brakes that are the same as the stock R56 brakes). The Wilwood kit was better, but both the Wilwood kits and Outlaw kits suffer from the same thing--the calipers aren't as stiff as they could be. This leads to some pretty impressive pad taper. The 11.75 Wilwood kit shredded 11.75 x .81 rotors like a hot knife through butter. The TSW kit was better, with those wide ass rotors, but I had quality issues with the Outlaw calipers--they leaked like sieves, and support was horrid from Outlaw (Way actually tried to help, and did all he could, props for that, but Outlaw as a company just sucks). I think Wilwood has upgraded their calipers somewhat, but I'm not sure if it's helped or not as I never ran those. I wouldn't bother with anything made by Outlaw because if you need something fast, it's not happening--customers like us are their lowest priority, they simply don't give a rats ass to the average guy running on the track.

    Brembo or Stoptech--can't remember which, it might have been both, actually has copied some of the Brakeman design concepts--there won't be a lawsuit over it, it would cost brakeman more than it's worth, and taking on Brembo and all their resources they'd be right and still possibly lose. But both Brembo and Stoptech especially are HEAVY--you'll be amazed at how light the Brakeman calipers are, and how stiff they are. Plus, if you like running a 15 inch rim, which IMHO is ideal for the track on a MINI, you can actually fit 12.19 inch diameter, .81 inch wide rotor, and the calipers are such a low profile, they'll clear. It's a pretty sweet setup.

    Other plusses--Brakeman rotors are now pre-scrubbed, and are cheap--100 bucks a rotor. The Brakeman pads are also damned good--you can get a street pad which is a milder but similar compound to the track pad, and switch to the track pad without worrying about resurfacing the rotors. I have had zero issues with pad deposits, unlike carbotechs which I'm kind of down on for the track (although their bobcats for the street are great). They bite more like Raybestos ST-43 than anything else, which is a pad I really liked on the Wilwood kit.

    The only downside is you do have to safety wire the hat bolts, but you need to do that on the Wilwood kits too. It's not a big deal though, after a few times at it, it goes quick, 5-10 minutes or so.

    As for support--Brakeman is like Todd, who although I don't use his kit anymore, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for. You can call Corey at Brakeman anytime and he'll help you out--he's sent me spacers at no cost, and will help with any installation questions or tech questions, or proper pads, as will Jan. I've been bailed out big time by both those guys.

    For what it's worth, when the brakeman rear kit is sorted out, it's going on. It's a no-brainer really. I have had every headache you can with brakes, these are by far the most consistent, best performing ones I've had on the car.
     
  7. Naughty_Dog

    Naughty_Dog New Member

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    Well I'd say that's a pretty damn fantastic pitch if I've ever heard one! :Thumbsup:
    Thanks for clarifying everything and explaining it all so well! Maybe one day I'll be able to get some brakeman's on my mini... :drool
     
  8. UKCoopeR

    UKCoopeR Active Member

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    I have a semi custom setup from Todd (11.75x1" rotors with dynapros) and echo cct1's glowing customer service review. The guy is awesome to work with and always steered me the right way even when it was a product he didn't sell (ti backing plates).

    if you do end up tracking your mini, 15" wheels are a huge help and i am grateful that people like todd and brakeman offer something that fits! those brembo gt kits and similar kits do look like ferrari brakes but i wouldn't use them from a performance point of view as Dave.0 said massive (17"+ wheel requirement) and heavy calipers! Even for autoX i would say the lighter you can get the brakes the better as they wouldn't get stressed enough to need wide rotors, hardcore autoXers sometimes go nuts will cross drilling there is even a rule for how much of the rotor you can void lol i would only do that for an autoX only car tho haha
     
  9. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    Unfortunately I've spent quite a bit on brakes--just trying to prevent people from making the same mistakes I did. Would have been sooooo much cheaper to have done it right the first time.
     
  10. RicWRX

    RicWRX New Member

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    I read a lot about Brakeman on Subaru forums, great brakes. What kind of prices for a street set up, front only compaired to Wilwood?
     
  11. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    If you put a big brake kit on your MINI you will be out of stock class is that matters. Are you running out of brakes at an auto x?
     
  12. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    They're going to run about $2000, not including pads--not cheap, but they're worth it on the track.

    After another full year with them, I've grown to appreciate them more. If you're running street tires, they're overkill--you'll get to the ABS very quickly. But if you're running R-comps, they are awesome. I can go in deeper than most, mainly because I can brake harder at threshold before the car gets squirrely, and they are so consistent.

    The cons are price--but the flip side is rotors are relatively cheap, as are pads, so it's big initial investment, but the disposables are cheaper compared to many/most big brake kits, and by a fair margin.

    The pro's are they clear 15's, which is one of the reasons why they're so expensive. There is almost no pad taper due to the stiffness of the caliper--I don't have to flip pads, like I did with the Wilwoods.

    They are not a bling kit (they're nice looking, but not nearly as attention grabbing as red calipers, for example), and they're overkill for the street, or on the track with street tires. But if you want to run 15's on R-comps, there's nothing else out there even close.
     

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