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

FWIW... Some folks in this thread are comparing apples and elephants.

1st gen stock mini front calipers and pads are tiny, and undersized for performance driving... Leading many of us to seek better pads with much more heat tolerance.

BMW recognized this, and made the 2nd gen stock MCS brakes functionally equivalent to the 1st gen JCW brakes.

For track or dragon use, you might just as well compare 1st gen brakes to Corvette brakes, as to 2nd gen MCS brakes. All are different animals.

So, YES, 2nd gen OEM brakes are good enough for most people. And YES, 1st gen OEM brakes are NOT good enough for many people on this forum.

My 1st gen car has 2nd gen front brakes, with Red Stuff. Bliss.

 

Jealous

 

I have seen a set on FIRE after one full lap of not riding the brakes. While the speed limit was still 45. Not that that has anything to do with it. :devil:

 

Gents, that's not what this thread is about, it's about brakes, we can take our pontificating out back (near the autocross cones) and settle it like men. :beer: I was using the Dragon runs for comparison purposes only, your mileage may vary, etc... and most of the MOTD vets can certainly vouch for my driving safety and making very public the importance of proper safety on the Dragon and surrounding roads.

 

ran those pads and their rotors, expensive and didn't last
there are MUCH better stuff out there we have tested in street and race situations.....

 

Blue whales:



I run crappy Hawk HPS pads and I stop on a dime. :biggrin5:
Pads matter, but there's two other variables to consider: tires and brake hardware. Bigger calipers and rotors will dissipate more heat, and stickier tires will stop you faster. Pads are just something you match to the expected conditions.

 

What are BBK (Front) users using on the rear for mostly street use?

 

Hawk HPS

 

EBC Red Stuff

 

Low Dust?

 

On my R53, I was running Hawk HPS pads all the way around for 20k miles or so. I was pretty happy with 'em as a performance street setup.

After that, I went to the standard Wilwood BBK up front and continued with the Hawk HPS in the rears. I'd swap out the front pads for track work (would leave street pads in for rain track days). I think I was running PolyB pads up front for the street and BP-20 pads for the track when using street tires. When I put on some racing tires, I'd move to the BP-10 pads because the BP-20s weren't keeping up by the end of the session. For Auto-X, I was still unsettled on pads, though I didn't do a lot of Auto-X. I couldn't get enough heat into the track pads early in the course for good hard stopping but the street pads would be hot and fading by the end.

I started with ATE fluids and by the time I got to the end of my 'blue' track training (one step past the green/noob level) it was the weak link in the chain (still on street tires). Once I was in yellow, it was running out on my about 10-12 minutes in to the session and I had a few 'oh crap' moments. I was running an expensive-as-hell $30/bottle stuff (1.25 bottles per bleed) that I can't remember the name of right now, but it was holding up well, even to the higher performance track brake pads and track tires.

 

Oh yeah... I almost forgot. If you are a purely tame street driver (nobody on this forum, I'm sure! ), Outmotoring had a 'budgetmaster brake kit' with pads and rotors all the way around in the $300 range. I put it on my friends R50 when she was a few months away from a lease return and the pre-return inspection had flagged the car as needing new brakes (and they wanted $1200 to fix). I was surprised at how well made all of the components were and the brake pads had slots cut for the pad sensors (which many of the cheap-o pads do not). She only had the car for 2 months after I did the brake job, but they performed nicely for street pads and for $300 or so all the way around, they were a serious bargain.

I tend not to skimp on safety components like brakes, but for a cheap, short-term solution, they performed nicely (and they didn't give her a hassle about 'em on lease return).

 

Hawk HPS pads are indeed crap, but they're low dust and cheap. And they fit everything, BBK, MINI, JCW, whatever, you name it. Besides, if you have a BBK, you don't need fancy pads, you've already got plenty of stopping power.

 

Carbotech 1521

 

Still loving my Cool Carbons!

 

Still like my EBC Reds.

 

Running Greens now, a set of Reds is in the mail (with rotors) from Way...looking forward to the switch...

 

HOW DO I TURN OFF MY BRAKE PAD WARNING LIGHT AFTER REPLACING PADS?

Does anyone know how to turn off your brake replacement lite after you change pads???

 

What model MINI Austin? R56 or R53?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FwJz2KSD4M"]R56 brake reset - YouTube[/ame]

R53... http://new.minimania.com/article/2365/Resetting_the_Brake_Wear_Service_Light

 

Has anyone tried StopTech pads? They are aramid fiber just like EBC and almost half the price.