Hey all,

Unsurprisingly my brake pads are at the point where then need replacing and now I am considering my options. I should have probably swapped the pads out 100 miles ago, but it looks like I have enough left for another few weeks of the mostly highway driving I seem to do. My MINI is primarily a street car, but does see AX use and so I am factoring that into my decision on the new pads, but only in the sense that I found the OEMs to do a perfectly good job and I dont need anything more than that to get the job done (AKA I dont need insane bite just OEM). My school of thought is that if the pads dont fade like crazy during 7/10th's driving and are capable of locking up a set of decent summer tires with a reasonable amount of pedal pressure then they are good enough.

Being a college student of course I dont have a ton of money to throw around, and since I am expecting to have to pick up new tires in the next few months I dont want to go way overkill and get something more than I really need when I could be spending the money on the tires or better yet saving it.

My criteria are as follows:

-Price (bang for the buck is the driving force here)
-OEM or better performance
-Dust (if they perform really well, are cheap, and the dust isnt damaging I dont mind)
-Noise (I obviously dont want them squeaking like crazy all the time, but if they do it before they warm up fine by me)


So here is what I have come up with:

-Mintex Redbox: Currently in the lead due to the fact they have a low price, are said to perform just as well if not slightly better than OEM and provide a slight reduction in dust. I think minihune may have used these for AX at one point, if that is the case would you be willing to weigh in? Price 35/39 at toeoutperformance.

-Hawk HPS: I hear about these a lot on NAM, but I cant say I am sold on them. From what it seems they really perform slightly less than OEM for a higher price than say the Mintex's. The main atraction of these seems to be that they produce less than the OEM's, but that isnt really a huge priority to me anyway.. Price 79/69 at toeoutperformance.

-AXXIS Ultimate: I have only heard these mentioned a few times but I generally here good things about them. I am slightly weary of them because they use a ceramic compound which the MINI's dont seem to do well with, but I would really like to know from someone with first hand experience before I render a serious decision. Price 78/88 at eurosportdesign

-OEM: Anybody know the price on these?

-Carbotech: Outside my price range by $40 dollars on both the front and the back, especially with the Mintex priced the way they are.



So that is where I am right now, any input is helpful, especially from anybody who has used 2 or more of the brands listed. I am also open to suggestion if they come in under or around the $90 per axle mark. Thanks all.


PS: Whatever ends up happening the pads are getting paired up with a pair of Centric blank rotors.

 

Hey fellow college student,

I just recently got my brakes done and here was how my $ was spent:

90 - EBC Green Stuff Front Brake Pads
17 - Front Brake Pad Wear Sensor
90 - Set of 2 Front Brake Rotors from local Autozone
80 - To have them installed on my car.

After I bedded them in... 2 sessions of 60-10 MPH hard braking x8 times with an hour cool down in between, the EBC green stuff is awesome stuff. Good stopping power. Their suppose to be low dust or at least lower than OEM. There's a coating that the pads leave on the rotors while bedding that supposedly increases longevity and decreases noise.

But after my job was done my brake light was on, so now I need to do the rears as well, here's how my $ is going for the rears:

50 - Rear EBC Green Stuff Brake Pads (Bought from another user on NAM for discount) 80~ at Moss MINI.
17 - Rear Brake Pad Wear Sensor
15 - ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid
70 - Set of Rear Brake Rotors from local Autozone
90 - Installation of rear brake pads and e-brake adjustment.

Rotors should be replaced at 60K mile intervals, or at least turned for a smaller fee at 30K intervals. If you get both front and rears replaced at the same time, you can probably save some bucks there. Most people here on NAM seem to suggest replacing your rotors then having them turned as the OEM rotors are quite thin, and turning them or not replacing them can increase your chance of warping the rotor due to heat. Most brake rotors are the same as they meet or exceed OEM standards. The slotted/vented/drilled stuff is more for Auto-X to dissipate heat and etc. Good luck.

 

You listed brake fluid. You got your brakes bled at the same time? That's probably something worth doing given that my pedal feel is less than awesome right now. I am a little surprised at the use of EBC pads given the less than stellar rep they have around here. Then again though I see Miata's and S2000s that autocross with them around here and they seem to do fine. I will keep them in mind now.

I am going with blank rotors from rockauto.com for 3 reasons.

1. Dirt cheap for what appears to be good quality
2. Need the blanks to stay G-stock legal.
3. Slotting just adds to the price and pad wear

But I am definitely replacing my current rotors, not only do they have a huge lip on them but you can feel the grooving in them as you trace your finger outward from the hub. For the price of a set of new rotors I may as well do that.

 

If it is so simple pricing your own set of brakes, what is the point of going with the $1400 Big Brake Kits from Brembo? Ease of ordering? I might go the custom route, for sure.

 

I haven't done the rears yet, as I'm still waiting for my parts to come in. But I do plan to have the brake fluid changed through... I figure it's about that time at 64K miles. I'm the 2nd owner so not knowing what the previous owner did, it's better safe than sorry. As for the EBC's, I did some research and most owners on NAM recommend them and EBC's prices aren't so bad. Good for what it's worth for me so far.

BBK's have much better response and stopping power compared to a good set of pads on stock sized rotors.

 

Well, FWIW I decided to order a set of Axxis Ultimate's for the front of the car. I am skipping the backs for now because their is still a good deal of life left on the pads and I cant justify the expense at the moment (at college, so no job right now). I'll post up what I think at first and after I get some real mileage on them.


EDIT: I suppose I should explain why. Well:

-The price was right (65 shipped)
-Same amount of dust as OEM but easier to clean (supposedly)
-Good cold performance. (This became important after realizing I am spending a lot of time on the Highway now) (again, supposedly)

We shall see how they do.

 

^ I was going to recommend those...I think they'll work well for you. Did you get them from Frank?

 

I order from importrp.com. Saw the website mentioned on a BMW forum, investigated a bit further and saw that they were a vendor on said forum and the rest is history. $55 before shipping was the best price I saw anywhere, and if it comes down to getting the same pad from two different places, the $$$ is king and makes the decision.

 

Got the pads installed yesterday (Axxis Ultimates), was maybe a two hour job, but I honestly cant say as I wasnt timing it. Anyway so far the pads are good. More bite than my worn out OEMs (unsurprising). They are more than capable of locking up the wheels, which means they perform at least as well as OEM, and I find I dont have to get on the pedal as hard to really get the brakes working. They dont bite so hard that they throw your face into the windshield at the slightest touch of the pedal, but if you start to push you can certainly make them do that without too much effort.

The cold stopping power is excellent, first stop felt just as good as my last stop driving around today. They are also quiet, absolutely no squeaking. Some of that is of course a function of having lubed the rails that the pads sit on very liberally, but the pads also play a major role in that. In the two days I have had the pads on the dust they seem to throw off seems to be no more than OEM and of a lighter tone. That said it is a little hard for me to tell given that my wheels are filthy from the last set of pads.

Based on what I have experienced so far, at about $60 for a set of fronts I would not hesitate to recommend these to someone looking for OEM like performance (if not better) at a lesser cost. I'll add more after I put these through an AutoX and some highway miles.

 

Hmm, I'm glad you like your brake set up and glad to hear they work well for you. Did you bed them in?

This is a good read on why to bed them:
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml

Most recommended way of bedding them in:
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

 

I don't think Axxis need to be bedded. They're not racing pad anyway.
I had them on my WRX few years back and I didn't like them. They overheated easily and faded horribly.
I'll probably stay away. The question is, are Mintek's any better ?

 

It says to "break them in" on the box. It is not as aggressive as that but there is still a procedure that should be followed. Working fine for me, keep in mind the MINI is a lighter car with pretty big brakes for it size. After a full season of AutoX the only issue I have had it that the rear end likes to lock up a bit before the front triggering the ABS. Other than that they make a very nice AutoX pad, first stop has just as much power as the 5th (which is quite a bit). I will be fixing the lockup before the winter by putting the same compound and rotor in the back as in front.