TLDR anybody had experience with powerstop brake calipers?

longer version
I have R56 calipers and discs on my R53, I originally bought some take offs from a junk yard and spent hours scrubbing them, rebuilding them, and painting them, they came out ok, though the expoxy paint has chipped in a few spots and discolored from the heat of track days. I also managed to melt my dust boot on the pistons on my most recent track day. After doing all that work cleaning, rebuilding and painting the calipers, I swore to my self never again, I also didn't really save any money. So I found some replacement calipers for a reasonable price, and bonus, they're powder coated. But they're powerstop remans, I think they're remanned OEM calipers, but hard to say for sure. Anyone had experience with powerstop remanned calipers? these are the ones I'm looking at. https://www.powerstop.com/product/po...ated-calipers/

 

I have used the front disc and pad kit on our C300 Benz with no issues. I did not need calipers so I have no opinion on those.

 

That's what I bought to do my R56 brakes conversion, they're factory reman by Powerstop. Can't say about extreme heat and the powdercoat quality as I only drove the car on the streets until I stored it for winter.

 

Sweet, I went ahead and pulled the trigger. We'll see when they get here, but I figured I will probably give them a shot. After the core return they're only gonna cost me $120. I looked into getting my current calipers powder coated and was quoted between $300 and $500 which was pretty insane, so this may be a way better deal if they work ok.

 

Well I got the calipers a while back and got them put on a couple of weeks ago, just thought I'd update this thread. So far, I'm very happy with the calipers. They are OEM calipers that are rebuilt with new pistons, seals, and pins. They are powder coated and the finish seems very durable and looks nice. The one thing I didn't like was the new bleed valves are really long and seem like they have a higher chance of snapping off, so I swapped them out with the original bleeders that were on my calipers, but that was super simple. We'll see how the finish holds up over time and with the heat from track days, but so far I'm a very happy customer and wish I'd done this the first time around.




out with the old, in with the new

 

thanks for the update they look well done

 

What was the core charge?

I am wondering if it is cheaper to buy a big brake kit from one of the vendors here.

When I had my 03 JCW I only tracked it once but I was pushing it VERY hard. I had stock calipers with cross drilled rotors and track pads, as well as fresh high temp brake fluid. I never experienced any pedal fade.

This was a lifetime ago, there was a John Wicks Mini driving school. It was supposed to my Mini only. There was some guy there with a C5 Vette, said his brand new Mini was in for service so he brought that.

I think he thought he was going to crush Mini's all day on the track. We were all assigned instructors for the day, my instructor was a PCA driving instructor. Super cool guy, we ended up becoming friends and staying in touch. I normally tracked an RX7, his son had just bought one, I helped him and his son sort it out.

Last session of the day, we came on track and the Vette was turning into turn 1 a full straight away in front of us. 2 laps later we were on his behind. He refused to give a point by, taking advantage of the fact that he could out accelerate us. We have a David and Goliath battle forming up.

After 2 laps of riding his butt through the twisties with my PCA instructor laughing his behind off in the passenger seat. I had figured out a better strategy to force a pass. I hung back leading up to the corners then gained my momentum on him exiting the last of 3 turns much faster than he was, using momentum to make up for lack of HP. We forced a point by on the back straight. Much celebration ensued!! I could out brake him and out corner him, the problem was I would end up having to slow down in the turns staying behind him. My strategy paid off.

3 turns later the checkered was waved. I never got a chance to put some distance between us. LOL!! It was a blast though.

I typed all that to say this, with a set of good rotors / pads / fresh high temp fluid, I did not feel the need for more braking power nor did I get brake fade. I did feel the need for 50 more HP!! LOL!!

 

I run Powerstop slotted/cross drilled rotors and ceramic pads on both my Jag XF and my MC40 and love them.

 

I put these Power Stop re-builds on my fronts about 3 years ago and I have no complaints. In fact they are great. When I had stock set up and street pads, the feeling was underwhelming at the track and there were moments of fade for sure.
Here's what I put on:
R56s Calipers Power Stop S3320A rebuilt R56s from Rock Auto
Carbotech CT1204-XP10 pads
Stoptech high carbon plain rotors
Stainless Steel Brake Lines R56 Brake Conversion Kit - Way Motor Works

My Mini is not a track car but I hammer on the brakes pretty hard at the track and I've never felt fade in the front. I've got a little waggle in the rear I'm working on but it's getting better with alignment and camber.

Notes here;
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4482043

 

Jims5543 - since your JCW is an 03, the stock brake setup you mentioned was R53 not R56, is that right?

Racingguy04 - those look great. Congratulations.

 

The core charge was $38 per caliper, here's a link to the calipers on rock auto
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...t=1704&jsn=488

I think it's worth eating the core charge. I originally bought a pair of R56 calipers off a salvaged R56 and I had to spend hours cleaning them and painting them and they still didn't hold up well to the heat and getting banged with wheel changes. these came powder coated and cost me no time for cleaning.

i've done a few track days with the R56 calipers and have had 0 brake fade, I'm not sure how much of that is the hawk dtc-60 pads, the motul 600 fluid, the cooling ducts, or the R56 calipers, but all together it's a fantastic brake system, and I run plain blank rotors.

 

It was a stockish brake setup. I had Zimmerman cross drilled rotors on stock calipers with Hawk Autocross / Track pads, I also swapped in Motul 600 fluid the day before the track day.

I did not have ducting but did have stainless lines on all 4 corners as well as the rotors and pads.

I could not upgrade to the R56 pads because this was in 2005 and the R56 did not exist. LOL!!

I made do with what I had and to be honest the brakes were fine, I just needed 50 more HP to really kick that C5's behind.