As some of you may know, the ones that PMed me in the past about my TCE Wilwoods, I was having some problems that I started to blame on the brakes themselves.
Turned out to be bad front struts though, so I just want to clear up this problem and mostly report on how I like these brakes now.

I have been doing quite a few track days lately and have been pushing these brakes very hard. They are performing flawlessly at this point and I can go very deep into corners and feel 100% comfortable that I can slow in time with relative ease. This is one of my best weapons now on the track as I can out break most cars out there with my TCE Wilwoods. Just this last week a Porsche driver came up to me after a 30 min. run and commented on how deep I was braking and how quickly I slowed for the corners.
I am running the TCE/Wilwood 13" x .81" kit in front and the Rear Plus kit: 11.75" rear rotor enlargement kit.

Todd has been great and at this time I would recommend him highly. Very lightweight and great stopping power.

Check outTCE

 

Could you clarify how bad struts attributed to the sensations (noise, vibration, and performance) you felt when braking?

 

I swore it was a warped rotor as my steering wheel would shutter and shimmy as my brake pedal would pulse, both in the same harmonic. It was irregular and would be fine sometimes, but I would experience this more often then not.
The day I replaced my shocks, it NEVER happened again.

 

Thanks for the kind words Greg. Now we'll look at getting you into the H pads perhaps for your track use.

One question Greg asked me was "what can improve my brakes even more?" The answer to this is always; take weight out of the car. While not always practical it really does have its merit. If an owner can pull 500lbs out of a car that huge. Instead of poulds take it to % and see what can be gained.

As for the struts, I've personally seen both inserts and or valving rattle as well as housings that don't properly fit the pinch bolts on steering knuckles. Granted, not on the MINI but it does happen.

** I'm out of the shop for the next week as we are at Pikes Peak with the first day of practice in the morning. At 5am roll off time that is. Schedules can be found here: www.ppihc.com

 

I too have TCE WILWOODS AND HAVE BEEN TO ABOUT 10 TRACKS THIS YEAR, VERY GOOD BRAKES

PHIL