I'm all about saving money. I was able to get the OEM rotors as new take-offs from somebody that wanted slotted/drilled ones. Double digit miles on them for $75.

 

Nice looking coupe and brakes Rejeme! I heard over my shoulder someone say "wow i didn't know the jcw comes with calipers that nice" so you know it looks like it belongs

and good call on the brakes, Todd is awesome to work with helped me get exactly what i needed to end up with stress free braking at the track

 

Thanks for the comment UKCooperR!

 

Hi Todd, would the 12.2" kits likely clear 16 inch wheels? Also, I've read that some of the Wilwoods wouldn't be sealed or hold up well to higher heat at HPDE's but seem like they are used in tons of racing applications...which calipers would be best?

 

I had the 12.2 on my '07. This setup is widely used in the MINI community for track applications, that is, high heat. The best for that is the caliper with no dust boot. Many 16" wheels will fit over these including the stock Bridgespokes.

 

Thanks Eddie. So then did you have the dynapro calipers or the DP6's?

 

He most likely had the DP4, DynaPro 4, non-booted. The DP4 is also available booted. The DP6, DynaPro 6, is only available non-booted. Even thought it is non-booted, Todd does not recommend it for extended track use due to the thinner pads. Hope this helps.

 

That is very helpful. I appreciate the response.

To take it one step further, do you know if either is a sealed unit such as the Brembo's to prevent the need to clean out and rebuild the units often?

 

Yes, I had Todd's Plus 1 kit with the 12.2" rotors. Much better than the stock S brakes and quite frankly the stock brakes are very track worthy with the right pad. The Wilwoods are that much better. The stainless steel pistons absorb less heat and not having the boots is good for the track.

http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/mini/kits-16/

The Wilwood's have several advantages and in no particular order:
* easy to change pads - about 3 minutes
* even pad wear - the stock brake piston presses more on one side than the other and the inside pad wears faster. This can be bad as heat is concentrated on that side which can over heat the brake fluid in the caliper and melt the piston boot (I have had both happen to me).
* lighter weight - this reduces the unsprung weight which improves both ride and handling. On the track it is like having stiffer shocks without the stiffness. This is noticeable.
* The rotors that come with this kit have directional vanes which improves cooling (don't use cross drilled on the track).
* The available Wilwood pads work well for the MINI and they are relatively inexpensive as track pads go. This is from a friend who runs these. I ran Carbotech pads, but will probably switch to the Wilwood pads give my friend's experience. I plan to get these again for my 2012.
* There is a bottom bleed and top bleed on the calipers. I think flushing through the bottom is good to get fresh fluid though the whole caliper.
* there seems to be no incompatability with the stock brake system.

As for using these on the street, I saw this as one of the few mods that I made that improved both the street-ability of the car equally as well as the track-ability. There are very few mods that you can say that about them.

While this are listed for "light track", I have a friend who is turning 2:18s at Watkins Glen (full track) in a very fast MINI using these brakes with no problems. Todd - did you know than the black turns a very nice shade of purple when exposed to enough heat?

I specifically picked the Wilwood's because they would fit the 16" wheels that I use on the car in the winter time as my track car is my ski car.

Todd - How'd I do?

 

The stories you here about them not being well sealed or holding up to higher heat are probably due to people using the wrong version of a caliper for their needs. Wilwood calipers come if a number of different setups, dust booted aluminum pistons, non-booted stainless steel pistons, various bore sizes etc. For street use you should be using booted pistons (keeps grime out) for track use, the rubber boots can melt and the stainless pistons will keep heat out of the fluid better than aluminum.

I would give Todd a call or email and let him know your intended uses, wheel sizes etc and he can sort you out

Seconded on purple calipers quite a common site in the paddock and happened to mine too. As I am tracking the car I just got black as it will be covered in dust and end up a "custom' color etc anyway The real custom colors do look cool on street cars

 

Changed the Stock R55 front brakes to Wilwood 12.2 kit from TCE and looks like I reduced 8lbs off each strut. Best of all my 16in Enkei RS+M wheels clear without any spacers. In total I have removed 15lbs of weight from each side compared to stock brake/wheel setup. So far the Wilwoods stop at least as well as stock, soon I will be able to push them hard and see if any fade occurs. Next plan is to increase the rear rotor diameter to help get a little more bias.

The diameter clearance was much better than the template showed, I thought wheel weights would need to be removed but they also clear about 0.2 in.

The DP Calipers appear to be top quality design and machine work with very tight tolerances, makes the stock caliper look like it belongs more on a tractor.

 

Be really careful about increasing the braking in the back as that can cause the car to swap end ends. You can do the same with a higher friction pad in the back. I tried the pad route and found the back end wandering under hard braking.

 

Thanks to everyone who has posted and helped me out. Looks like a call to Todd is in order! I'm not looking for an all-out endurance racing brake setup, but would like to get back to HPDE's without worrying about fade. I can basically either go for the JCW Tuning Kit or brakes, but I'd rather have the stopping ability at the track than the extra hp.

 

I will always vote for brakes over Hp. I have seen too many issue, and had a few myself, related to brakes and have never seen one related to not having enough Hp. Make the quick move to brakes and then buy an Accessport off the NAM Market for half the price of the JCW tune.

 

This is good advice, but please allow me to expand on it a bit.

Adding the 12.2 front kit alone will actually shift brake bias to the front about 5%. That's no 'bad' but it can leave the rears doing a bit less work than they could.

Adding a more aggressive rear pad can negate some of that shift and bring things back to a more neutral state.

Moving to a larger rotor can do the same thing. And of course pads and rotors can elevate this even more.

So why do I suggest the rotor vs pads? Looks aside- and yes that's important so let's not make light of it. The other issue is 'mass'. The larger rotor has more mass and a greater swept area. That's important.

If you're new to MINI then you've probably not had open track day experiences with boiled fluid. Sometimes even with a big brake kit installed. Low and behold..the problem was often found to be the rear of the car, not the front. And often because the owner put in "better" pads for the rear- of course; you did it up front only goes to reason you'd do it out back right?

By changing out the rotor to a large one you lower the duty cycle or increase efficiency (your call) and don't over work the smaller iron rotor. Now that poor rotor is simply running too hot from the demands of the pad and use. The larger rotor offers the benefit of lower temps, better balance and there's no need for "better" pads. A dozen folks polled here; what have I suggested to run with the rear rotor kit? Yup, stock pads.

 

Hmmmm....
Interesting concept having recently had that boiled fluid experience. First fix will be better fluid, though. I will keep your comment in mind when I upgrade.
Thanks for the insight.

 

17x7.5 +43 with 5mm spacer clears Stoptech big brake kit. Looks so good.

 

Will I need spacers for these badboys to fit over my Bridgespokes, or do they "just fit"? I just ordered the non-slotted non-drilled 140-8528 kit and 220-8491 line kit. I'm assuming my 17" Infinite stream wheels will fit without issues too?

--Matt

 

Anyone?

 

I'd send a message to Todd at TCE or check out his site or Wilwood's site and get the template that you can print and cut out to test for clearance issues. The Wilwood kit is one of the only options that fits some 16 inch wheels so you might not get many responses as most that go for bbk's have 17" wheels. I'm in the same boat as you though and have a set of 16" winter wheels that I would need to clear the calipers. I'm waiting until my free maintenance ends tho and then I'll be giving Todd a call.

 

Matt, sorry I missed your post/question.

I had the TCE Plus 1 kit with the 12.2" rotor http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/mini/kits-16/

I don't know if this is the same as the part you ordered (couldn't get on the Wilwood site). However, if it is the same (same caliper & rotor dia), the Bridgespokes fit with no spacers. They were close, but they fit.

I don't know about the Infinite wheels. However, I will say that just because they are 17" doesn't mean they will fit. The 17" MINI S-lites won't fit over them if I remember right. They bang into the spokes.

 

Thanks! It looks like the Plus 1 kit uses Wilwood hats, and uses the same 12.19x0.81 dimensions as the Wilwood disc. I should be good to go!

 

While I list these kits as P1 and P2 this is mainly to distinguish the different wheel fit options: P1 for 15" and P2 for 16" (or larger in both cases of course)

The reality is that all these kits are completely interchangeable and you'll see that as it's listed in the options menu on the TCE page.

You can just as easily get a red, drilled, dust booted 11.75" kit as you can a slotted only 12.2" kit with ss pistons and black anodizing. Or perhaps a plain finish, red 11.75" kit with booted pistons...or a 12.2" kit with slotted GT rotors and red, booted calipers, or....

What items are placed in the box is the only real difference. Even the bracket kits come with the spacer for the larger mounting height of the caliper depending upon what rotor diameter is in use.

The only hiccup comes when you require a red caliper with ss pistons. Wilwood does not offer the red powder coat with this option. I can make that happen for you however by special order. And a modest price increase.

 

Thanks for the clarification Todd. Are you aware of any Carbotech Bobcat pads that fit in these dynalite 4 pot calipers that would be a good fit for this car? I'll most likely start with the stock BP-10 pads, but I have always wanted to try bobcats.

--Matt

 

Can't help you there Matt. With as many compounds as we have from Wilwood for the calipers I've never felt the need to confuse my customer base with yet more options and trying to justify why they should run one vs the other. Doesn't mean there are not good options out there, just ample, proven ones here on my shelf. Ask around and see what you find from others.