is it worth spending the money on jcw brakes or should i go aftermarket? i can get the jcw brakes much cheaper than after market ones but is it still worth spending the pretty pennies for them? any advice would be appreciated.

 

How hard do you push your car? Do you race? Are your brakes fading? Do you want it for the bling factor? These are the questions you need to ask yourself.

 

100% not for the "bling" factor, I'm actually not a fan of the red calipers at all would much prefer black for the more classy look. I have not tracked yet but do have plans on doing so just not sure when. The car is push hard daily and the stock s brakes are just not doing it for me anymore, would like to know if jcw is a good route to go or just spend a decent amount more for some wilwoods. Other brake kits are out of my price range. I am looking for front and back

 

For a street car the complete JCW big brake kit which includes the front and rear kits is a pretty good value, and you know it will fit and work well. Plus replacement parts are easy to get.

 

Thing I don't like about Mini branded rotors is there too soft and don't last long. The Wilwoods larger diameter rotors will give you better braking.

 

Okay, perfect that's the answer I was looking for! So if I was to start tracking the car, would slotted jcw rotors be good or would I want to look at other options?

 

Stock sized "S" brakes are perfectly serviceable on the street and at the track if you are running proper pads/fluid. If you get really into tracking I would skip the OEM JCW Brembos and get an aftermarket kit. Pad options will be better/cheaper and you don't have to deal with the crappy pistons in the JCW Brembos. For the money you're going to spend on brake upgrades you could do probably 2 track weekends + pads/fluid for your current brakes. That's the route I would take.

 

Right now I just don't have the time to do some track days. In the future I will be doing them, but for now I'm looking for bigger brakes. Since my car is still under warranty the jcw brakes would be covered, which is another main reason I am looking at them besides the good price I can get.

 

I have the JCW brakes because they came with my 09 JCW. I don't track the car, etc. But they are fantastic brakes.

That said, look at the difference in price on the rotors and pads for the "S" and JCW brakes. Both OEM and aftermarket. You will see that it costs a good bit more for those big **** rotors and pads.

I'm not sure it is worth it. I run with plenty of guys that play hard and don't have the big brakes and they seem to get along just fine. Plus they can refresh theirs cheaper.

Just sayin......

 

well i still am under warranty so it would all be covered if i did jcw brakes. but for the price i can get the front jcw brakes, i can get front wilwoods exact same price... so I'm kind of stuck.

 

There is a set of front JCW BBK front brakes on the market place.

 

The rotor issue is easily solved by getting aftermarket rotors, even some that are cryo treated. As for the bigger diameter rotor, that may not always be the case either. Braking is more about how much surface area is utilized on the rotor by the pad. So while more surface area is great in dissipating heat better under braking, if you have too large a rotor, all you're doing is adding rotational mass to the hub and not getting any benefit from it.

 

Is the 6 Piston Brembo JCW GP2 BBK available or is that exclusively for GP2?

 

It's available from Way Motor Works, but wheel clearance becomes an issue.

 

I seriously doubt that the larger rotor are going to matter at all, the wheels and tires will play a much larger role in rotational mass than a larger rotor half the diameter and many times less weight than the wheels. With the rotor hub being made of aluminum rather than iron that is significantly heavier.

I always thought that more surface area equals better braking rather than trying to squeeze an area of the rotor so close to the hub, there's very little grip that close to the iron hub.

 

I think some people are thinking braking torque and some are thinking swept area. Both have an effect on overall braking force. The bigger brakes are cool and look great. But I still wouldn't worry about it unless I was building a dedicated race car.

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