Suspension Brakes Walking the line... street & HPDE car build

I was hesitating about jumping in as a number of the guys that have given me good advice have already spoken up lol but here are some of my thoughts

I was in a similar-ish position where my r53 was a second car but still driven on the street from time to time (mainly to the track/shop)
I have used 15x8 wheels with 225/45/15 on the street and haven't noticed clearance issues per say but I don't commute every day with it or take it grocery shopping etc. But that is at almost stock ride height, might look goofy to some folks but I am not bothered.

I have todd's 11.75x1" kit on my car, I would agree that sticking with the .81" wide rotors doesn't get you much over stock other than the caliper (fast swap and much cheaper track pads) that said the 1” will limit your wheel fitment compared to the .81”. As for the pad taper, yes I flip my track pads regularly, not a big deal to me takes <5 mins, it would shorten the lifespan dramatically if you don’t. The street pads won’t do this because they don’t get used as hard. One cool feature is that they change color going from black to purple to light bronze lol but seriously todd is a great guy to work with, always responsive/helpful and it is true tons of shops will have wilwood parts if you find yourself stuck. Not to say the brakeman caliper isn’t stiffer than the dynapro and there are benefits of that kit, just wanted to give my thoughts on being a happy user of the tce kit. Aftermarket pad shapes open up a great door of cheap pads in almost any compound.

I also recommend resisting the r-comp temptation as long as possible, opens a new can of worms as braking will be way later, more body roll, and other things will start to break more easily (like cast wheels) as the forces through the car go up. I used stock suspension for over a year with 225 hankook rs-3 on 15x8 for street and track (I did end up getting sway bars and camber plates after a while to limit the tire abuse but still with stock springs/shocks) and it was a lot of fun, I only upgraded when I busted the stock shocks. I noticed you talked about the 15” enkei rpf1 those are unlikely to fit without mods as the barrel is very small compared to other 15s even other enkeis

I have no idea what your budget is but a higher end shock will make living with stiff rates on the street much less of a compromise in addition to any performance benefits. I was lucky a local dealer had a good deal on the ohlins setup when I broke my stock suspension.. I love the curbs a little too much when going for a hard won pass… I will say the fact vorschlag plates works with stock and aftermarket shocks with a little tweak help me get them sooner as I know they could be adapted to whatever shocks I get down the road.

Whenever someone asks what is the best choice I made, the answer is always sticking with 15” wheels. It is sometimes a pain to worry about fitment etc but, the weight and cost benefits are huge. Heck, you can grab take off spec miata/Honda challenge stuff at the track quite often and it fits! 16s with 205-50-16 could be a good comprise and were what I used on my old mini that was daily as well as track if you are worried about the ride height etc

I probably forgot some stuff but this is getting a bit long, I am not saying my plan was the best by any means, or planned for that matter, just adding some info to the jumble that hopefully made sense. I will say the mini is more fun and easier to drive fast than the other cars I have driven on track, so no matter what you do (at least do fluid and pads) it will be a good time :cornut:

Throwing a couple pics in (I know it is an r53 but might still be useful… 205-50-15 should be a smidge taller sidewall)

Stock suspension with 225 45 15 rs-3 on 15x8 et35 with 20mm front spacer (to clear the step in the barrel of the wheel not the spokes 15mm would work but then no hub length etc)


On my coils (lowered ~1” as per ohlins recommendations) with 225 45 15 nt-01 on 15x8 et35 with 20mm front spacer

 

He's alive!!!! How is the Lotus?

If you want suspension advice, this is the guy. I'm using Ryephile's write up for the R56/R53 rear trailing arm swap this winter, as soon as it's warm enough to use the garage again.

 

The new 949's haven't had any issues, it's looks to be an issue with the first generation rims. I run 15x9 up front, 15x8 rear. Nitto 01 225/45/15's. The rears rub, with a 8mm spacer, I need to do a little more trimming there (no problems with 15 mm spacer up front). They won't be making the UL's again until May however. Hugely popular with the Miata racers.

 

Yeah i didn't mean to imply all cast wheels will explode, just that if running street tires (like i think you were talking about doing) I wouldn't worry as the grip levels will be lower and not punish the wheels nearly as much. Where as if running r-comps I would be looking at strength and stiffness more closely. Also I didn't think the rpf1 was forged anyway just the barrel is flow formed and joined with a cast center like the pf-01 that replaced it.

 

Most people are running R-comps on the 949s.

 

Thanks for the compliments, and I'm glad the rear trailing arm swap write-up is still coming in handy! The Lotus is doing awesome. :devil:

As for the cast + R-compound comment, the most important facet is that you choose a wheel that's designed to JWL standards, and even better if it's tested by the VIA. After that, concern yourself with weight and aesthetics.

BThayer makes good points as always: it's better to have too much braking capability than not enough. IMO the Wilwood 11.75" kit lacks the torque and thermal capacity to handle a stock R56 on the track, driven seriously. The TSW BDM kit would be the minimum since it at least has some thermal capacity, assuming you're running cooling ducts and a serious pad like a Carbotech XP12 et al.

 

I had the BDM, I now have the brakeman kit--it uses a 12.19 diameter rotor, .81 wide, and fits a 15 inch wheel--it's the only 12.19 kit to my knowledge that will clear 15's. It's much lighter than the BDM was, and has held up condsiderably better with regard to rotor life, but it does need cooling big time, just like the BDM did. It out performs anything I've ran to date (but everything I've run was for fifteen inch wheels, I haven't run any of the 13 inch rotors), and pads are relatively cheap. I was a little concerned going back to a .81 rotor, but this kit really shines, and the brakes are phenomenal, with regard to pedal feel, consistency, and fade, and the calipers are light years stiffer than the Wilwoods and Outlaws I've had. The only downside is it ain't cheap.

The reason I got out of the BDM was Outlaw's lack of support, despite Way's best efforts after he took over the TSW brand. Maybe it's better now, but we're not exactly top priority with them.

 

You want ducts that go from the fog lights (some people have put ducts underneath the bumper, but those don't work for me), and direct air to the hubs, preferably with a backing plate--air goes from the center out to cool the rotors. Some people run a duct that blows toward the caliper, like Way's duct, and they help, but cooling directed toward the hub is optimal. Best of all are ducts like challenge ducts, that direct toward the caliper AND the hub. It's what I'd like to do, but I haven't figured out an easy way to do it yet, it would require some front bumper modification, but a few people have done that.

Way's ducts are ok, Sneeds are better, I want to get the RMW ducts on, they have the advantage of a backing plate, but I'm still working on getting bolts for them.

One of the disadvantages of 15's is cooling, everything is tight and subsequently insulated, tires/rims act like a shield and a heat sink, so you really have to work on getting adequate air back to the rotors.

Last year I used straight vein rotors, and could get 3 track days out of them (the rotors aren't that expensive, but swapping them is somewhat of a chore), and I'm ok with that; this year I'm going to try curved vein rotors and maybe hurricane rotors, see if I can get more out of them.

 

We had quite the discussion on Brake Ducting back in this thread. http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/brakes-tires-wheels/824-brake-duct-kit.html#axzz2purPGaDe

You'll find lot of pictures over those pages as well.

 

Oh yeah, 2nd Gen MINI we are talking about here.

The guys over at Sneed Speed Shop have a kit for you.

MINI Cooper S R56 Brake Cooler kit

 

I'm a hack though, and both me and the tracks are hard on brakes, others a much better with rotor life, it's what I aspire to. I can't chase down cup cars, except in my dreams, just M3's, many Porsche's occasionally a Z06, and the highlight of last year, a GTO. And one of the places a MINI catches those types of cars besides the turns is in the braking zones.

 

Like I said, it's a compromise, you have to make a choice. There is nothing wrong with running a bigger diameter, especially when you're first starting.

The solution is easy though--15 inch for the track, 16 or 17 for the street……..

 

I have KW V2's and I like them muck better than my old beat Koni Coilovers.
After a year or so the KW springs got a little soft so I replaced them with Swift springs. (400's front 450's rear) and now the car handles great. Went to the Dragon this on the new set up and my car was totally different (much better)than it has been the in the last 5 years at the Dragon. They are also very comfortable on the street.

As for the little OEM air damn, I cut that thing off after I got my areo bumper within a week since I like my cars low but not supper (tires tucked) low.

My version of low is still very functional but still looks good and does not rub.
Good luck on picking up the brakeman set up. :ihih: