complete n00b question but im looking for a relatively cheap brake upgrade..
i do not auto cross or go on track - (100% street car) - ive read through the threads but got me more confused,

any recommendations and what i should do??

thanks in advance

 

Something simple for less brake dust and a little better braking would be to upgrade brake pads.

Talk to alex@tirerack to find out about the various Hawk brake pads.
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/resul...dard&brand=all

Rotors can also be changed but that would be partly for looks.

Other brake pads that are popular are EBC green pads (lower brake dust) or Mintex Red Box.

 

ah ok.. so new rotors (nfi what these are but ill find out) arent necessary then? ( putting aside the looks factor ).

Whats drilled slotted mean then? is this then referring to rotors? (im assuming rotors = those big discs that the brake pads are attached to).

Thanks for the help.

 

Yes, Vented, Drilled, Slotted, (what else is there?) refers to the large metal "discs" which you see behind your wheels. Those are where the term "disc" brakes come from. The discs rotate along with the wheel, and are bolted onto the wheel? (I believe, they're fixed to the wheel somehow anyway), and there are calipers with pads on them, that apply force to these "discs" to slow down the car. If you're familiar with how bicycle brake calipers grab onto the tires, it's sorta the same thing, but much more tech involved.

 

ah ok

thansk for making into plain english

so would these rotors (ooOO new word ) be necessary for street brake upgrades??

if not then ill probably go with bigger brake pads.

 

no they are not neccesary but make a pretty big difference in the cool factor area and any kind of hard braking scenarios will be less likely to have brake fade (less braking power)

 

1) you'll only look cool to the people who don't know any better.
2) slotted/drilled/whatever do not help prevent brake fade

To the original poster - better front brake pads could improve braking performance, but the single biggest factor is the tires you have.

 

I got my brakes from Webb Motor Sport (a vendor here on NAM). I got the Power Slot rotors (stage 1) but if you go to his site you can read about the various pads and rotors and gain some good info.

Earl

 

skuzy,

Lets start with basics.
How do brakes actually work?:
http://www.familycar.com/brakes.htm
http://mypage.direct.ca/k/kdomries/brakes.html

I like this one with more pictures and deals with disc brakes:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/disc-brake.htm

The MINI has self adjusting Power assisted Disc brakes front and rear. No drum brakes (cheaper and not for performance cars).

First off the MINI brakes are pretty good and not something that would be an early upgrade for anyone that drives on the street. The only flaw that most owners notice is too much brake dust which is shed from the stock brake pads through regular use. This causes your rims to look dirty and if not cleaned off regularly/daily will build up and can damage your rims (pit the finish).

So a common upgrade is to install upgraded brake pads. Note that these brake pads are the SAME size as the stock pads, not bigger pads. The material in the pads is different from stock and allows for less shedding of brake dust AND slightly better handing of heat build up which results in better braking with repeated stops.

Each brake pad has a different ability to handle heat and shed dust. EBC green probably sheds the least dust but can cost about $80 per pair of wheels so $160 for 4 wheels. The pads are different for the front and rear.
Mintex red box is a cheaper alternative at about $36 to 40 a pair and they function like the stock pads but shed much less dust- good for lower budget.

Hawk pads are a whole line of products for different needs, from track and autocross use to street use. You don't want high performance track pads on your street car since street driving is usually at much lower brake temperatures than those temperatures seen at the track with high speeds.
Pads that are made for high temperatures and high speeds don't stop well when cold- as is normal street use. Some pads can do a little of both- work for track, autocross and on the street: Ferodo DS2500, Mintex M1144 and some Hawk pads.

Rotors are another upgrade part. Generally the stock rotor will work OK. Under hard track use it will wear down and need to be replaced in about a year but it depends on how you drive. If you are hard on the brakes you will wear them down faster. In order for rotors to significantly improve performance you have to increase the diameter of the rotor disc, improved the materials of the rotor to handle heat better, or increase the mass of the rotor to handle heat better.

A larger thicker rotor also means it weighs more and the stock caliper will not fit anymore. Also with a larger rotor you can use larger brake pads. An upgraded brake caliper can be larger than the stock caliper. All these enhancements are commonly found in a "Big brake kit". While you do get better stopping power from a big brake kit, those kits are usually available for the front brakes and so you have to also upgrade the rear brakes in some way to help improve the braking power in the rear to even out brake bias. Otherwise you are lacking enough rear brake power to balance the front brake upgrades.

For car show purposes, or to make things look nice, so owners add stock sized rotors with:
Slots (straight or curved)
Dimples
Drilled holes
Patterned cutouts
Various finishes

These are basically cosmetic in nature. Anything done to rotors that reduces the surface area that the pad touches potentially can reduce stopping power.
Some of these may help remove boundary gases from building up from the pad hitting the rotors. Drilled holes may be areas under more stress during braking and sometimes micro cracks are seen at the holes over time. Dimples give the look of Drilled holes with less risk of micro cracks forming.
All finishes will wear off with heat from the brakes and over time and it is natural for rotors to rust.

First ask yourself why you are interested in upgrading brakes?
Are your stock brakes not working for you? If they are working OK then leave them alone for now. You can do a purely cosmetic upgrade like paint the brake calipers a different color or do a functional upgrade like change the brake pads to one that creates less dust.

If you want better handling and performance then look first to wheel upgrades. Lighter weight rims and non runflat tires are a common choice.
Go to the tire and wheel forum or talk to Alex@tirerack for more info.

 

I'll agree with most of that.

For the buck;

New pads- Hawk HPS are common improvements as they raise the Cf (think coarse sand paper) and improve the 'bite' over stock stock pads.

Stainless Steel braided hoses- Any brand, do them and you'll appreciate the firmer feel of the pedal. This due to the hose not swelling under high pressure. Think blowing up a ballon vs a basketball.

Rotors- Save some money for now and just do these two items above. There are no stock sized rotor that will alter the results of these two things. They might look better, they may even 'enhance' the cleaning of the pad, but they simply won't make your car stop shorter.

 

Fantastic.. just the info i needed.. Thanks everyone for the informative input

Im upgrading brakes because my stock pads are nearly finished.. so didnt know exactly what was required for a new brake upgrade.

Based on the info ive just read, i think i might just go with the new brake pads and maybe some better brake fluid.. that should be more than enough for my purposes.

Cheers for the help!

 

If your stock pads are worn down and you like the stock brakes, you can show the brakes to your dealership and if you are still in the warranty period you can get new brake pads put on for free. Worth asking for - if you don't mind the stock pads.

 

U legend. thanks for the tip!!

 

1) Better fluid. Many think that the fade isn't the pads, but the fluid. Don't know but it's easy and cheap.

2) Metal caliper bushings. Search on "low cost brake mod" or the like. Also in reviews, there's a review in the brake section that describes these. It will improve (reduce) caliper-rotor mis-alligment, allowing for better force (and heat and wear) distribution over the pad. Better pad life, better braking.

3) Better pads. For street and very mild track, I like the EBC-Greens. Not as good as the rest, but I found that the switch to better fluid and bushings eliminated the fade I had on the track. They're kevlar based, and don't wear the rotors nearly as much as others....

4) SS Lines. Doesn't improve brake distance (much) but improves brake feel. This helps with modulation control.

Fluid ~$25 or so, if I remember correctly.

Bushings $120 front and rear.

Pads: don't remember, but Mini shapes are pricier (that for the BBK I run that takes a Wilwood shape)

SS lines: ~$100, but you can go up or down depending on vendor.

I did all of these, then saw a BBK for $400 that I couldn't pass up (Outlaw). $30 for rotor machining, and some pads (EBC-reds, inexpensive, but I don't think I'll get them again), and I was in 13" rotor heaven for a bit over $500. Todd TCE was running a rear wilwood special a while ago, so there went another $450....

The cheapest improvement will be the stock pads (under warrentee), the better fluid, and the bushings.

Good luck, and save your kilobuck+ and don't buy the JCW. Heavy and expensive (unless you love the JCW experience, then spend away!)

Matt