Brakes Wheels 1st Gen Tires Which Brake pads do you use ?

:cornut: Wouldn't work well for street use as they take a lot of hard and repetative braking to warm up and bite well. On the street we just don't use our brakes hard and often enough to keep them functioning well. Stick with 'RedStuff.'

Jason

 

Ok so red stuff. What about rotors, my front ones are getting a lip on the outer edge. What is recommended for a replacement? Maybe brembo rotors?

 

:cornut: I haven't had to replace rotors/discs yet but the info I have says:

1. No Drilled rotors, they crack at the track or autocross.
2. Slotted are okay and clean the pads.
3. Brand ? Wait for some more 'posters' to come along.


Jason

 

I don't recommend Yellow stuff for street cars. I have had track guys get them and like them though.
Go with the redstuff they really work best, and if you need rotors we have our WMW rotors that are great quality, but easy on the pocket.

 

Seriously, check out the Cool Carbons from Bavauto.com.

Best pads I have ever had on my MINI.

 

Unless you are going to really go nuts with the brakes and compounds (i.e. using red stuff with the occasional "play") stick with decent, reasonably priced, rotors. Nothing fancy.

Me? I goto RockAuto Auto Parts and look for either the "Premium" Raybestos or Centric rotors. Never had any warping issues. Real easy on the wallet and work well with EBC Reds.

Right Now:
RAYBESTOS Advanced Part # 980604 (Rear) $19.44 a rotor. ($38.88 for the pair)
RAYBESTOS Advanced Part # 980605 (Front) $29.89 a rotor. ($59.78 for the pair)

So for $98.66 plus shipping you have have a full set of rotors that will do a yeoman's job for ya.

 

I run Yellow stuff. I think they do well daily and also do well on the track. They produce more dust thamn the reds but it is a difference in braking between the two as well. I am currently running Yellow up from with reds in the rear and like it quite a bit.

 

Well, if you are daily driving it I think green stuff are best. That is what I use on ATE premium slotted rotors. (Both the front and rear axles)

 

What's wrong with OEM stuff?

It's all I've used on any of my MINIs, street, track or otherwise.....

My only complaint is the black dust, but that just encourages me to wash my car a little more ofter.

MINI dealers have kits with all the OEM parts including new screws for the rotors, new sensors and they're competetively priced.

 

OEM's pads are dusty and not that good if you push your car.

EBC REDS are great pads.

 

Currently I am running Carbotech 1521 bobcat pads with SP Performance slotted rotors. So far the stopping has exceeded my expectations.

 

It's amazing how the dealer experience can change your perception.....

So many people have this attitude that no matter what happens at their dealer's they're gonna get screwed....makes me wonder how much of that is true and how much is urban legend passed on because it sounds cool. Like using the term "stealership".

No dealer has ever stolen anything from me, and if I think their price is too high I buy elsewhere, but how does that make them the bad guys?

All I can say is, deserved or not, car dealers sure have a bad PR problem.

To answer the question, competetive means commensurate with what the same package would cost from an aftermarket source, except it included the aformentioned screws, anti-squeal grease and sensors, factory rotors and pads.

I don't buy just on price, as much as possbile I buy on quality, and I find that MINI OEM is pretty good stuff.

I don't know how anyone could be harder on brakes than I am (on track days) and I find the OEM stuff to be great - for street use it's way overkill. That's why I never understood why people were spending big money for big brake kits when they never see a race track. To me (my opinion) there's no way a good driver should over use the stock brakes such that they'd need more performance than OEM - for street driving.

Understand that my track driving is strictly HPDE, I'm not racing competetively...... I know in an actual race environment I'd need different stuff.

I do hate the black dust......but like I said, that just makes me more aware that I need to wash my car!

 

I think that a lot of guys including me have a modding bug; this is why we want more than OEM, but I definitely wouldn't say the OEM set up is overkill especially if you don't have the JCW. You wouldn't have to run your brakes as hard on track days if you did have a bbk.
I have a JCW so the price for pads and rotors were negligible when compared to OEM when you know you are getting something better. That's my .02 :cornut:

 

The OEM pads are a very decent pad for street use and some short term heavy use. I burned thru my oem pads in a single track day. Couldn't handle the temps I was getting. Thus the reason for better pads. Tried a set of both the Hawk HPS and HP+ pads and hated them. Worse fade than the OEM pads and no real "feel" to them. Been using the Cool Carbons and I couldn't be happier. VERY capable track day pad and I have never had a fade problem while twisty driving like I did with the Hawks. And if you are getting more than a weekend on your OEM pads at a track day, I can assure you that you have not been really "pushing" your brakes. Not that you need to push them to have fun, but they won't last very long on my car.

As to the prices from the dealer....they will always be substatially higher simply because they have a large operation to pay for. Parts and service dept's pay for the dealership.

 

OEM's dusty and fade after 1.5 Dragon runs.

Cheap replacement Ceramics from local brake shop not dusty, perform the same, fade after 1.5 Dragon runs.

Hawk HPS even less dusty, perform the same, and fade after 1.5 Dragon runs.

EBC Greenstuffs dust somewhere in between the Hawks and the Cheaps, brake better in town (more powerfully) for a grocery-getter, have not yet been on the Dragon, and based on some educated friends' testing I'll be getting Reds for that task!

Oh, and minidave, you've got bigger brakes than a stock R53.

 

I ran OEM pads and rotors for my first few track days and MANY autocrosses. I agree they work just fine. I used my "free" brake change service in the midst of that. So I got to play on fresh rotors/pads/fluid. :thumbup:

However, on trackdays, I found the pads faded towards the ends of my sessions. Swapping to the EBC reds stopped that issue. Of course that along with new tires lead to boiling brake fluid which was a whole other issue... lol!

Cold I'd say OEM pads brake better than Reds. Once you get a couple stops (normal DD stops; nothing nuts) the Reds grab a tad better (more "bite" I guess?). All things being equal for DD OEM (or reasonable replacements) will do very well.

If yer gonna beat on'em like you and I do then I'd say the Reds are a good purchase. Added benefits of less dust and longer life over the OEM pads are nice extras.

 

I completely agree with the idea of horses for courses, however, running all season street tires limits my cornering speed (unless I only want them to last the weekend! :biggrin5: ) on the track so that's part of why I don't burn my pads up in one weekend. And I can't afford dedicated track rubber, so stock stuff works fine for me, and probably anyone else that runs under those conditions. I also don't see the point of a BBK to run autocross either, given those runs are so short. I also understand people just want to buy stuff for their cars, but for street use a BBK is a big waste of money - to me.

If someone is getting brake fade on the 30 mph limited 11 miles of the dragon, I question whether they are riding the brakes, or driving one hell of a lot faster than 30 mph! Course, if you're gonna do that.....

Getting back to the OP's original question tho, I think stock stuff (pads and rotors) are perfectly fine for the uses he described - street with the occasional event.

But there are some good choices mentioned for alternates......

 

Performance Friction 01 track pads, performed astonishingly well aside from some squeal, no fade whatsoever, new rotors cracked after four days on the Dragon and half a track day.

There's always a trade off. If you want the best performance, use track pads for track days, autox pads for the Dragon, and street pads for the street. Otherwise stop asking for the best pads and settle for less.

 

I think the OEM stuff is crap.... my truck stops better than my MINI :lol:
Next time I need brakes I am upgrading.

As for the dealership stuff? I actually love my local dealer... they have always helped me out and treated me great. I don't get my car repaired there now since it's not under warranty and I am quickly rolling down the aftermarket hill. Helix gets all my business I am lucky to be fairly close to them.

But any oem parts I need I buy from them. They know that dealerships have a hefty markup and try to discount their stuff as much as possible for me. Many times our (Dave.0 and I) parts guy sells us stuff at cost