Today was the first time I've had a reason to really have to jam on the breaks.. twice in fact. Both times both the wife and I were amazed at how quickly the car snapped down in speed.

While in the fast lane doing approx 80 we had a car roughly 20 car lengths in front of us either throw their dog (a small black lab?) out the window or it jumped... kinda slow motion event but I did hear the tires chirp pretty good and the car just seemed to stop. We had cars behind us pass on both sides (against the wall and in the center lane) with their tires locked up and smoking... very surreal moment.

Adding to it was the owner of the dog slowly cutting across all 4 lanes of a major interstate to sit on the side of the highway, open his windows, and clap his hands at the dog. The dog himself just trotted across the road and straight to the car. Appeared to be fine... I didn't see it hit the ground but it definitely jumped out the car window.

Now I'm mixed between being amazed that the dog survived and how well Ruska stopped on the proverbial dime. Throw in the desire to plant my foot in the **** of the guy driving the car from which the dog originated and you've got the weird feeling now present in my gut.

Bleh.

 

The brakes are freaking amazing. You are more likely to end up with somebody in your rear end, than run into somebody because you could not stop.

 

That's waht I was thinking reading this... YIKES!

and the dog MADE IT!?! Weird.

A good outcome all around.

 

Aah the beauty of low weight and ABS. What tires is Ruska sporting?

 

The 17'' Contisports AS...stock

Yeah... am now VERY concious of people riding my tail. I'm confident in the MINI's ability to protect me, but I'm not going to push it either!

 

Ditto on the brake remarks. Very nice improvement over the R53 OE brakes. Nice modulated pedal feel, progressive and good stopping force.
Very impressive.

 

I do agree the R56 MCS brakes are an improvement over the R53 in terms of stopping power, they have poor pedal feel, IMO. The pedal effort is not linear, having an overwhelming braking force for essentially no pedal effort. This is both on my car and the demo I drove at the dealership. I'm used to proper linear-feel racing brakes on my R53, so this is a strange Toyota-esque downgrade in pedal feel for me. Stopping power should be in direct proportion to pedal effort, and the R56 MCS brakes do not represent this mantra. I'll be looking for a pad that dusts less and has better [linear] feel before I give up and replace the stock brakes with a big-brake kit. It's almost as if the brake booster is improperly matched for the brake rotor/caliper size. I'd venture to guess MINI is using the same booster for the Cooper and S, at the expense of "sensitive" pedal feel on the S.

 

Ryephile I noticed the same thing on my test drive. My MA turned to me and said, "good brakes huh?" and while yes they can stop great, i dont want to come to a screeching halt when i am barely pushing. keep us updated on the search for a pad. BTW how much dust are you seeing on the R56?

 

The brake dust level seems to be marginally less than the stock R53 pads. This means I'm still cleaning my wheels every day!

The only pads I've found so far are from Grassroots Garage, there is a line of Carbotech pads that fit the R53 JCW brakes, aka the R56 MCS brakes. I'm thinking of getting a set of Bobcat compounds for the street.

 

My two former MCS Works car's both had Brembo Grand T. big brakes kits (dual floating 320mm.+ rotors, 4 pot calipers w/ Ferodo pads sports street pads. All stainless lines & etc. ) Same as my BMW & all my previous cars. With this is mind I respectfully disagree that the R56 brake's are unimpressive. The R56 OE brakes represent a major improvement over the R53. From my perspective I don't feel compelled to do a thing to the brakes & find the R56 brakes to be nicely suited to the MCS's overall character.
Very linear, not grabby, nicely modulated and even work well w/ the R56's overly reactive brake software (ABS.)
-As a track car I doubt the new brakes will be up to the task.

 

The pads do dust quite a bit - noticeable after just a couple miles and really bad after a week of city driving. Brake dust never really bothers me that much, but this is more than I'm used to.

The brake assist does seem a bit over boosted to me, especially at light to moderate levels of braking. Different pads may change this some. Does the 07 use a regular vacuum brake booster? In the 5 days total I've driven the car, I've not had a chance to really look.

-JL

 

--->marksmith: You're used to the Brembo BBK's, which are on the opposite end of the effort spectrum, and don't find the R56's brakes grabby? The Brembo BBK for the MINI, as well as the OEM Brembo brakes on the STI and EVO, all require massive pedal force for proportionally little stopping power. The R56's brakes require very light pedal force for high stopping power. You're saying you can't tell the difference? I'm not talking about track duty, I'm talking about driving around town; to and from the grocery store. With the Brembo's you're afraid you'll smash into the back of the car in front of you unless you stand on the pedal, and with the R56 brakes you're afraid your milk carton will jump out of the boot and smack you in the head when your foot barely touches the pedal. Perhaps the Ferodo pads dramatically change the characteristics of the Brembo brakes, but all the Brembo's I've driven feel practially unboosted.

 

sounds like they wanted to do that dog in, first it makes it out the window somehow, although it is not unheard of that animals jump out windows, then they pull off on the other side of the road so the dog has to go across traffic! what a turd!

 

sure!

 

Have you read any of the Carlos Castaneda books? This sounds like the psychedelic, mind-altering vision of a shaman! For the dog to go out the window, survive, then trot back to the guy is just too bizarre. I bet your gut feels weird. My head feels funny just reading this! :impatient

 

Can't say that I have...but it was definitely a surreal moment!