I have a 2005 MCS with 17 inch Kosei wheels. I am considering upgrading the brakes for additonal stoppping power. The car is mainly used for "spirited" street driving. I don't want to spend more than $1200 and would like red calipers for the bling factor. What do you recommend? Stop Tech? JCW? OEM Brembo replacement? Please help solve my dilemna.

 

Cryo'd Powerslot Rotors Front/Rear
Hawk HP+
Brass Bushing Kit
Stainless Lines
Super Blue Race fluid
Red Caliper Paint


That should cost around $400-500. Keep the extra 700 and put that towards grippier tires.

 

The guys at the auto x are using stock calipers with upgraded rotors and pads and they work fine but the runs are 60 seconds or so. I noticed at the Dragon that my APs were strong the whole time and others were getting fade.

If your driving long spirited periods/track I have found that "brakes" are a big help.

As for brand...I like mine....but they are the only ones I know

 

Anyone familiar with Stoptech?

 

I can recommend TCE.

 

I am hoping my tce brakes ship today!! I am keeping my fingers crossed!! I have 13" slotted/drilled rotors with FSL calipers coming with bp10 pads, I have also ordered a G2 caliper paint kit to change them to red!! Looking forward to them coming!!

 

There is a bunch of stuff shipping today. Finally.

As for the suggestions on brakes, your choices will prove quite limited on the budget you list at under $1200. While I can help you with a few options most kits are starting at that point not finishing. Especially with the red option.

< '()'> I see painting in your future.

 

What about JCW? Less than $1,000

 

I assuming this is for the front only, if not please give me some insight on where you can do this for that price. The rotors themselves for all four will be more than $500.

 

It's hard to get a big brake kit on a budget- think about all four brakes and the total cost. You can get better brake performance from upgrading the brake pads and brake fluid to begin with.

If interested in doing brake upgrades talk to Alex@tirerack regarding brake pads, rotor options etc.
see
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AV5&url=/brakes/results.jsp&autoMake=Mini&autoModel=Cooper&autoYea r=2003&category=Pads&category=Rotors&category=Line s&category=BigBrakeKits&autoModClar=Standard&brand =all
There are now cryo treated "plain rotors" for $89 and $74 for front and rear which are a bit less than the cryo treated powerslots for $119 and $106 each plus cost of shipping. Cryo treating helps the rotors be more durable.

TCE has some pretty good brake upgrades as well, give Todd a ring.

 

As a disclaimer, I have picked up (in my hands) a grand total of 5 brake rotors in my life, 4 of them being the new rotors for my car that just arrived.

I remember in the past picking up a rotor at my local MINI dealership and thinking "this is much lighter than I was expecting". I think that rotor was a Zimmerman, but I could be wrong. Definately not a stock rotor, though.

I ordered a set of the cryo-treated plain rotors (not the cryo-treated powerslots). They arrived today, and I picked them up thinking "these are much heavier than I was expecting".

I know weight down at the wheels is considered bad, so... what's the story? Are the plain cryo-treated rotors the same weight as the stock rotors? Was whatever I picked up ages ago something special and extra light weight?

I'm not too concerned about things, just curious.

 

Cool topic. I'll weigh in. (but please wrap your text!)

To compare them we need to know a few very important things.
Let's start with the basics;

OD is the same?
Width is the same?

Now we'll move on;
Is the center hat larger, smaller or the same diameter?
What is the vane count?
How wide is the air gap?
How thick are the walls or cheeks?

A bit more;
Is the far side ID the same? Larger, smaller?
Is the thickness of the vane the same, thicker or thinner?
Are they curved? (directional, doubt it)
What is the cross sectional thickness of the hat face?

Better get you calipers out for this...no, not the brake calipers.