I wanted to put this question out here in the MC-only forum to see what other MC'ers had to say.

Regarding this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=67732

Has anyone in an MC had any brake issues at the track? I haven't seen any yet. But maybe I'm just not going fast enough.

 

Your post on that other thread is on the right track... since the Cooper and the MCS have the same brake hardware / cooling / etc, and the MCS will weigh more and be going faster, the MCS will have more brake problems than a Cooper.

That said, I have had brake issues in my Cooper, but that's on tracks that are known to be very hard on brakes.

Now that I'm running Motul RBF600 and Ferodo DS3000 pads up front (when time permits swapping the Hawk HPS pads out), things are much better. last summer with ATE Super Blue and Hawk HPS, I did have some brake issues.

 

Snid -
You're still running stock calipers, correct? How bout your rotors. I did start using Hawk


Warning! Double post! Must have finger-checked.

 

Snid -
You're still running stock calipers, correct? How bout your rotors? I did start using Hawk HP+, with decent results, but I know I'm going to need to put new rotors on at some point. Any suggestions? If they work for you, I know they'll work for me.

 

Yup, I've got the stock calipers. I used up the stock rotors last summer and tried the cryo-treated rotors for this summer (and part of last summer? I cannot remember exactly). The cryo-treated rotors I got were the non-slotted, non-drilled ones. I don't notice enough difference between the cryo-treated rotors and the stock rotors to justify the price increase. I'm pretty sure my next set of rotors will be stockers, or whatver is cheapest and still from a name I recognize.

That said, I haven't tried any of the slotted / drilled / whatever super fancy rotors yet. Just stock and cryo-treated plain rotors. Perhaps there is something else out there that is better. Perhaps the cryo treated ones really are doing things that the stock rotors didn't, and I'm just too dense to notice it. They do seem to be lasting very well, even with a few days using race pads on them, which are supposed to destroy rotors. Maybe I'm talking myself into getting cryo-treated rotors.

I was just down on them because I got the same brake pad deposits and steering wheel shudder under braking with them that I did with stock - not from track use, but from daily driving. I was hoping the cryo-treated ones wouldn't do that, but they did, and I was bummed. Running a weekend with race pads works almost as well as getting the rotors turned on a lathe to solve that problem, though.

If I had a spare $1000, I'd get the TCE / Wilwood kit that fits under 15" wheels. Even if all they did was make it easier to change brake pads, it would almost be worthwhile.

Brakes are the make or break (ha ha) thing when it comes to my confidence on the track. I'm going to keep upgrading brake parts until I no longer have to worry about brakes while I'm on the track. I've gotten close.

 

no issues for me on the track, running DS2500 and cadmium plated, drilled and slotted rotors front and rear. I just leave the Ferodos in all the time as the MINI is not my daily driver, but more of a fun toy.

I feel the brakes can out last me and have never experienced heat fade. I do need to switch brake fluid, but have never gotten around to it. I also want to go with SS brake lines, but all our local race tracks have closed, so I am not in a rush to do any more performance modifications.

 

I never had problems, but I switched to one of TCE's Willwood kits early on so I can't say how much performance difference it made.....but I believed it would help so.....
However, there are two BIG functional differences. 1) I get a great selection of pad options and 2) the DP calipers have a spring clip on the back to hold the pads in so it takes all of about one minute to swap pads (after you take the wheels off, that is).

 

kurvhugr -
Did you get the TCE 11.75 kit that fits 15" wheels? If so, what wheels can you use with it? Do most 15's fit?

 

Nope, I got the larger kit - it was the first kit Todd made for the MINI and the only one available at the time.

 

Motul fluid, PF97 front pads and stock rear pads--no problems at all.