Since i've changed my wheels im now starting to be REALLY antsy about the dam brake dust from my wheels.. thank god my new wheels are alot more open than the x-lites

anyways... i was hoping to get a set of brake pads from williams performance friction, but since they've never really made a set for the mini before im having my doubts as being a guinea pig... a friend of mine is sponsored by them and is running their pads without much complain.. advantage is price... simply unbeatable since i can get them right here in toronto

my top choice would be ds2500 from ferodo.. but since i heard horror stories about squeals i was wondering if anyone uses these in their daily car... since im mostly a street driver (dont see much track action but is getting into it) so will this make any sense for a street driver or will i be stuck with more problems

ebc greenstuff and mintex redbox is another choice.. low dust, but greenbox has had mixed reviews everywhere... the same friend above also told me that greenbox hardly improve performance over stock...

so what does everyone think.. in my calculation i believe my pads will likely see 70% street, 20% autox, 10% track...

thanks for your comments!

-Herman

 

I have the EBC Greens and have no complaints. Way less dust, braking is better than OEM pads. I'd suggest you also up-date to better brake fluid as this will help reduce fade better than replacing pads. I also went with Stoptech SS brake lines. There are better pads for track use (DS2500) but, now your back with the dust problem (Still not as bad as oem). Street & AutoX, low dust, EBC Greens hard to beat.

 

Kyriian,

Aloha and welcom to NAM.

The Ferrodo DS2500 pads and Mintex M1144 pads are good for some street use, autocross and light track use. They perform better when hotter so don't expect really good performance for easy driving on the street. The Ferrodos do squeak some but so do EBC greens.

I had Mintex Redbox and those were good for street with minimal squeaking. But not as good for light track. They were fine for autocross and reduced the brake dust over OEM.

The EBC greens are lowest in brake dust and are OK for autocross, maybe better than stock pads depending on how you drive you might not notice it.

Brake fluid needs upgrading if you get brake fade with heavy use or if you boil your fluid otherwise you might not need to change fluid if you do only street driving and or autocross.

Stainless steel brake lines offer a firmer pedal feel but some owners like the stock pedal feel so you don't have to replace the lines.

Have fun.

 

thanks for the advice so far

i do drive quite like a maniac as my ma would say... i dont hold by brake so more often than not i find myself using what's called 'manual abs' to slow the car down... so basically pumping the brake, braking distance increases, but i find it a good way to stop... at least i aint riding my brakes... and so overall i dont believe i'd get much squeal since most people i hear that get squeaks is from street low pedal contact

im split between getting the cheap williams pads: wpfri.com, or the ferrodos but if someone can convince me to change to ferrodos at a tad higher price then pls do!

yes, i am doing a bleed, probably ate superblue since they are cheaper than motul rbf600

btw, since on most websites they say the ds2500 operating temp is between 150 f to whatever... will i get much problems during the winter or should i keep the stock pads so that i can switch them back on before snow starts to fall (btw i dont care about brake dust in the winter since i run cheapo steels)

thanks again for the warm welcome!

 

ferodo's as great at temp. The through a lot of dust, less than stock but way more than EBC green.

On the track, the Greens/Red will eat your rotor's if you run with a heavy brake foot.

Squealling doesn't bother me, if it did, I would beglaze the rotors, put anti-squeal on the pads, clean the hubs and get rid of it. But I know I have italian pads and now everyone else does.

 

Ubercooper, I'm sure this is discussed elswhere but I'm lazy and tired. What's with the greenstuffs/redstuffs eating rotors thing? I run greenstuffs for the street and AutoX and just bought a set of redstuffs for the few and far between track day. Did I just write a death sentence for my rotors?

 

I had EBC green, way less dust, didn't get squeel but similar to stock for lite track, sold these and bought Ferodo 2500. Switched to motul fluid (higher boil point than super blue)- no other changes -

I'm very happy with brakes- have normal brakes on street (a bit of squeel on lite braking), have been great at the few track days limited to four 15 minute sessions. I've dark rims so don't care about dust.
When squeel gets worse i do a few 70MPH stops and they don't squeel for a week or so.

 

Hawk pads are a good choice also. They are coming out with a line for the MINI and should be available soon. I am expecting delivery of mine in a couple of weeks. I was running the HPS on my Passat at track events and they were excellent. Very predictable, little or no fade, and very little brake dust. The HPS is their high performance street version. They also have the HP+ which is more high performance. The HP+ is kind of tough for street applications mainly because they squeal like a pig unless very very hot. For everyday use they become pretty annoying. The HPS is a nice compromise.

As for price, they are very affordable, about the same as Mintex and EBC.

 

maybe, maybe not
Having probably read almost every post on brakes on this board (apparently I need a life) Mini's are having a mixed experience with the EBC's and their rotors. On heavier cars they will eat the rotors, but the mini rotor is relatively soft and even the stock pads will eat the rotors if you abuse them (the record so far is stock pads killing the rotors in 1 track day, I witnessed it, and lets just say there was an adjustment issue with the nut behind the wheel)

It comes down to what you hate the most:
Noise :stock
Dust :EBC
Fade :DS2500

If you want to make the DS2500 quiet, you can, the dust is moderate (once a week wash will keep them decent)
If you are "easy" on your brakes, the EBC should/may survive track days, but the Mini rotors really aren't that expensive, and it may be worth it too you.

Softer the pad, higher the dust, not sure there is any other way to say it.

 

Thanks ubercooper. Doing my first track day with the MINI July 24. Gues I'll put the redstuffs on and give 'er hell. Order rotors July 26!
http://www.allminitrackday.com/. No financial interest or anything. Just want to see lots of MINI's speed!
Oh yeah, noise? Phtttttt!

 

i was wondering also is anyone running high performance pads up front and stock pads in the rear

the reason i asked is cuze the instructors at the driving school i just attended told me the front is what does the work and changing all 4 pads might throw the balance out of wack

thanks again!

 

I run stock and continue to run semi-stock (Red Box junk) in the rear. Technically speaking the concept of changing all 4 pads that it might "throw the balance out of wack." is flawed. If I were running higher friction in the front, like I am, technically that will change the bias, slightly, as the front has more friction. Running similar pad at all 4 wheels is best. I'm currently looking to change my rear to DS2500 and will be sourcing some dedicated track pads for the front for track days. I don't might swapping pads as it only takes me 30 minutes to change the fronts.

Paul

 

If you want the bees knees pads call Al at patrick Mini in the Chicago area. They are EXPENSIVE, low dust and STOP the beast.