Brake upgrade on the V8Mx5

[topcatcustom]

The most common and easy brake mod on normal 1.6 mx-5's is to fit 1.8 brake discs and caliper brackets, job done. std 1.6 discs are 235mm, 1.8 discs are 256mm so they are a bit bigger, basically just giving more leverage and I guess better cooling. I haven't heard a bad work and everyone I have spoken to who has upgraded say's it's all they need and never shown any signs of overheating even racing and track days etc, including on modified cars.

Obviously mine is going to be a little bit more demanding having a blown 4l V8 up front rather than a puny little jap 4 pot (turbo or not!!), the weight of the engine (without the blower ) is actually about the same as the 1.6, but the blower weighs about an extra 60lbs. Obvoiusly there is the speed issue too

I have now got the 1.8 brackets to put on, but will have to spend a bit on new discs and pads all round, so before I do is anyone majorly doubtful and think it will be a waste of money if I will need to put bigger discs on the front (only I assume) anyway? Dont know what ones will fit!!

TC

Oh- and the main question was suppoed to be- std vented discs ok or go for the flash looking drilled and grooved too?!?!

[topcatcustom]

Found this with pcd fitments, http://www.vwcaddy.com/showthread.php?t=10136, Toyota seem to be the only ones to use the same centre bore, and found these on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Corolla-T-Sport-D ... 286.c0.m14

Which could be a good step?! Not sure about the offset etc though, and what calipers I could use...

[kiwicar]

I would think on a car with as little weight as your MX5 will have, (even with a blower) the 235's will be OK, you may want to go to a hotter pad possibly (say EBC green stuff) but I wouldn't go mad, also keeping it a "parts bin" upgrade will make maintaining the whole set up properly a much simpler proposition. The other thing I would do, when you come to use it on the road is to make sure you change the brake fluid each spring and flush the system through, water adsorbed into the brake fluid is the quickest way to no breaks at all.
Mike

[topcatcustom]

Cool, I suppose if I went too big on the front then I'd have to start playing with balance/bias etc... 256mm it is then, got the brackets now so just need to get some new discs and pads, will drilled & grooved make a lot of difference?

[Ian Anderson]

Is the MX5 master adjustable or will the biigger front brakes upset the balance front to rear?

Yes you want more in the front but you also need the rears to do a load of assisting!

Ian

[kev_the_mole]

will drilled & grooved make a lot of difference?

Not a lot. Doesn't add much to the cooling and if done badly can induce stress cracks in the discs

[topcatcustom]

Ian, I have the bigger carriers for the front and rear, and they use the same calipers so balance shouldn't be a problem.

I guess a set of plain discs (vented front) and pads might be around £90, drilled and grooved about £160, which isnt a massive amount more but all these "not much's" keep adding up!!!

[topcatcustom]

I'm sure I will use std discs all round now, will probably use std pads on rear but I'm certain I will benefit from better ones on the front! Mintex have a good name and I know a lot of people that use them in motorsport as well as on the road, no problems, and I have heard a few negative things about EBC pads.
What do you recon- mintex? When I had my mini I bought Ferodo pads but they sent the wrong ones, never used them and they cost £90 , the material was full of copper type swarf etc to dissipate the heat, Ferodo are supposed to be the best but dont really want to spend a sh1te load on pads.....

Maybe I'l just stick a home made parachute on the back and use std brakes

[kiwicar]

If I were you I would go with the bigger discs as they come out the factory, and OE pads, they will give you the best initial bite and all round performance, when you have had the discs glowing white hot a few times (and boiled the break fluid) then I would go groved discs and uprated pads. Otherwise you may find the initial bite of competition pads on cold discs a little less than you were expecting .
Mike

[topcatcustom]

Mike, I think the Mintex pads are designed for road use anyway as we had a set on our new mini on the road too, just thought they would be better....

[Coops]

grooved discs wear pads quick and if the grooves are not random etc they will cause a noise,
the newer style grooved dics have un equal and not equally spaced to try and stop this,
never liked grooved discs myself thats why i run cross drilled,
and im using EBC pads for the past 5yrs with no probs,
was using ebc red stuff but they were to aggressive and caused terrible accelerated disc wear,
been using ebc greenstuff pads front and rear for the past 2 yrs and recomend them.

[HairbearTE]

We sell these at work and I believe the design of the groves redudes noise over more familiar designs.

[kiwicar]

In that case go with what Coops says. Just I ran comp pads in a midget as an upgrade, after the first trip out where I scared myself silly the first time I tried the breaks I used to trail the peddle for the first couple of miles, changed back to bog stock pads after about 6 weeks because,I just didn't get on with them, it was a few years ago though.
Mike

[topcatcustom]

Hairbear they look frickin awesome

What are the advantages of grooves? Obviously holes actually let air move a bit and I guess there is a small weight saving, grooves look like cutting edges to the pads! I recon I will go with decent quality mintex or maybe EBC road pads, just for peace of mind over dirt cheap chinese pads.

[Coops]

if you go with cross drilled discs make sure the outer holes are NOT drilled right through, as this causes the discs to crack.