I'm a pad swapper. I use streets (formerly stock, now Mintex) on the street, and I use tracks (Ferrodo DS2500) on the track. After a recent swap, I noticed some "funny business" on my rotors. After a bedding session, the fronts seem normal, but the rears still seem "funny." This is what I mean:



That's the left rear rotor and the right rear rotor, respectively. Notice the clear "score" line as well as the area that's obviously not getting touched by the pads for about 20% of the face of the rotor toward the hub? That's just the rust that normally shows up when it's rainy. But it's not been rainy for a couple of days, and I've been out driving. Right before I took these pictures, I even did a bit of handbrake "squeezing" (not jerky spin outs, but even pulls at speed to drag the pad, while keeping the wheels rotating) to try to bed and clear them. They've been like this for a week consistently, and it looks to me like there is an ample portion of pad not touching the rotor EVER.

Other than this visual indication, I have no other indications of malfunction. No vibration and no noise while braking or otherwise. They actually seem to be working pretty well.

On a simlar subject, here's what the pads that I removed look like:





That's left front and right front respectively (both Ferodos), and then some rears (stock). Inboard pads are above outboard pads in all pictures. Notice the lack of "glaze" toward the center (piston area) of the inboard fronts, as well as the lack of "glaze" toward what would be the leading edge of the outboard fronts. There's also some subtle scoring of the fronts and some slightly more sinister scoring of the rears.

Questions are: is all of this peachy? My biggest worries are the lack of contact in the rears, even though I understand that most of my braking is done with the fronts, especially in high-performance driving. Is there anything that I CAN or SHOULD do to the rotors OR the pads in the future, especially prior to a track day? Should I be concerned about any of this, or is it par for the course? Is anyone still reading this post?

 

I read it with much interest, and will be reading answers with much interest. But, I have no help for you! ops: ops:

 

To me, and it's hard to tell from pictures. It looks like the pads and rotors have seen some heat. The rotors are probably nearing the end of their life - the surface looks OK with good pad deposition but you can see a ridge near the edge indicating that they are wearing down. Bottom photo looks like the pads are getting thin and need replacement
Are you getting much fade? You might try removing the front backing plates to allow a little more air in. Legal warning: you should seek the advice of a qualified brake professional, I'm not liable if you run off the track scaring women and small children.
Hope you had fun!
Mark

 

I don't like how your pads and rotors look.
Don't mess with brakes. If you have less than full contact then you have less then optimal braking power.
I'm going to ask for an opinion from others. Stay tuned.
Your stock pads look horrible.
When I replaced mine they look like new.

Here is an idea.
Put your stock pads back in your MINI and take them to your dealership and site the condition of the rotors and how the pads are not having full contact with the rotors.

I bet you are in good shape for warranty replacement of the pads and rotors no matter how many miles you have on your MINI. Good luck. And don't brake so hard. Squeeze those brakes.

 

You are correct. The rears are all but done; but bear in mind, they have seen three track days, as well as about 8,000 miles. The front pads pictured have seen three track days and about 4,000 miles otherwise. The rotors have seen nearly 10,000 miles and four track days. (Please, don't ask me to do the math!) I had not planned to use the stock rear pads again, except in an extreme emergency.

I see decent reason to see what I can get from my dealer by putting all four corners back to stock (bear in mind that I'm using Mintex now for the street--they're barely visible in the rotor picture and have only seen about 100 miles). I'm strongly considering going to either a straight slotted rotor or some of the new RaceBrake rotors that Pilo has just listed on the site. Of course, it couldn't hurt to have a spare set of almost new stock rotors lying in the basement for the future, which is why I might make certain attempts at the dealership. We'll see.

Thanks for all the info thus far, and I look forward to seeing what others on the site have to say.

 

If you do choose to go aftermarket on rotors consider the following-

No nonsense performance rotors-
Go Power slot. Period. Recommended. Strong, good finish (but it won't last if the rotor is heated up alot) best surface area for pads to grab with only minimal loss due to slots.

Drilled rotors-
While OK for street driving and looking good they are usuable best when the holes are cast not truely drilled. The problem is durability and risk of micro cracks from hole to hole over time. The holes reduce the surface area more than slots do but do provide a little friction for the pads to rub against. Performance is better than stock but you have to be careful about overheating them. Best point is they are least expensive.

Slotted and Dimpled rotors-
The slots are OK but the dimples are for looks and further reduce the surface area of the rotor up to about 10%. While the dimples are not full holes which is good the loss of performance is offset by the nice looks. Again more suited for the street rather than pure performance.

I currently have casted drilled rotors and if I replace them I will go with plain Power slot rotors.

 

I'm no brake expert, but MINI replaced my rear pads and rotors at 24k miles due to inconsistent rapid wear on one rear brake pad.

I agree that taking it to the dealer with a dumb look on your face might be the easiest way to get this diagnosed and perhaps fixed for free. . . . .