Currently this is a well talked about subject and I have been trying to decide what would best upgrade form my 2002 Mini Cooper S. Right now I am only looking to upgrade the rear brakes of my car due to the rear brake pads being down to the last 1/4 inch of pad left. I was looking to this upgrade without the purchase of a new set of rims and tires currently I have the s-lite 17 inch wheels. Here are the items I have been looking at for the brake upgrade. If anyone has better suggestion please let me know.....

1) New crossed drilled and slotted rotors with ceramic pads.

2) The R56 rear calipers and rotors with ceramic pads.

3) The R56 rear calipers with crossed drilled and slotted rotors with ceramic pads.

Of course from what I have been reading the rear R56 swap can be very expensive on the MCS 2002 because of the trailing arm issue. If I understand correctly the later models R53 use a different trailing arm than the 2002 MCS R53 so the swap for the later model R53 is almost a bolt on swap with little to no cutting of the trailing arm. The Items I know I will need to complete this swap for my 2002 R53 are rear trailing arms from a R56, the emergency brake cables and the R56 brake line hoses. Now for the big question... Is the R56 upgrade even worth the time and money or will I see the same stopping power with the R53 brakes with better rotors and ceramic pads?

 

Just go with some good quality rotors and pads. No real benefit to upgrading the rears.

RSR has to run the stock calipers in the Grand-Am series and they win races so they can't be that bad.

 

I agree. I'd suggest there's really nothing wrong with the 02 MCS brakes front or back if you are just driving on the street. I've had my rotors/pads replaced with stock components and remain very pleased with their performance.

 

For upgrading your brakes don't waist money on drilled and slotted you won't feel any gain.
And don't bother upgrading to rear R56 calipers, again another waiste of $$.

I'd suggest either going with some new good pads, and rotors with good fluid. If you need suggestions, call us.

Or go with the R53 JCW brake kit, it's good value for the price and you will definitely see and feel an improvement in braking.


RSR actually uses the JCW R53 front calipers the rules only allow them stock, or the JCW.

 

granted i'm light on power, but on my 03 i'm running centric oem replacement rotors + stock lines + hawk HP+ + rbf600 on the track and I'm not running out of any brakes. My friends following me around Buttonwillow and Thunderhill said I'm on the brakes for a brief moment...really just enough time to shift weight, turn and get back on the gas

I do have lines waiting to be installed and i'm sure that will fix my fading issue on hot hot days. But my moderate power (15% pulley + intake) just doesn't warrant any bigger brakes. In fact, the only reason why I'm not using stock pads is because I killed a set of stock pads in a weekend @ thunderhill.

 

is the R53 JCW brake kit still available?? the link above just goes to the main page of your site. Just wondering what the price would be compared to a wilwood bbk

 

As an extension to some of that plan you could also do the DP6 "Caliper Kit" on those R53 JCW rotors as a hybrid brake kit of sorts.

All the benefits of the 294mm disc combined with the performance of the DP6 calipers and capable of fitting 16" wheels.