I've heard two schools of thought....

1. Just take it easy for the first 200 miles or so. No hard braking.

2. Go out and find and empty stretch of road late at night. Get the car up to 50 mph, then stand on the brakes hard, but not quite hard enuff to engage abs. Bring the car quickly down to about 10mph but don't stop. Speed up. Repeat this procedure with no rest but bring the speed up to 60 the second time, 70 the third, fourth, and fifth times. By now the brakes could literally be smoking and you'll probably notice fading from the heat and they will stink. Drive around for a while with little to no braking and let them cool off. Some also recommend doing 2-3 more runs after a short break.

So any thoughts? I've also heard of #2 as a way to clean deposits off of your rotors. I'll be installing my redbox pads hopefully this weekend so I wanted to get your opinions. I've done it both ways in the past, but not sure which is best.

Thanks! :smile:

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I thought this would have been a simple question for the Tires, Wheels, and Brakes forum

 

I've heard #2 is better, but I'm not sure... I'll be installing my Mintex pads soon, too, and I planned on using #2. But the speed I read on StopTech's site said 60 mph to 10, repeat?

 

Number two's what I do.

 

I'll be installing Mintex pads and cross-drilled/slotted rotors over the weekend. I'm curious as to how to properly break in them.

So far #2 seems to be the choice.

 

Greetings,

I would divert this question to an expert : Randy Webb at http://www.webbmotorsports.com
I trust this guy to give the straight scoop !! He races and autcrosses MINIs and has the experience you are looking for !! He also has tutorials on how to R&R the pads and rotors !! A real time saver

Best Regards,
Ron

 

I see no reason why you need to do anthing special to break them in other than drive normally...unless you just installed them and are heading to the track I can see where you might want to use the 2nd method to seat them but I'm sure they would seat fine on their own pretty quickly

 

I had Mintex redbox pads installed front and rear. I did method #1 and just drove about 300 miles (nothing special).
Everything works great and no problems with squeaking or anything else.

Now some 4000 miles later everything is still working very well.

 

Has everyone that installed these been happy so far? Have you autocrossed with them, or driven really hard with them on?

I've got a set sitting here that I need to install, but after reading some opinions on the Audiworld forums I am questioning it... I guess there's a bunch of Audi fans out there that hate Mintex Red Box pads - especially in the rain?