So I have done most of the bolt on power upgrades to my 2006 r53. I have the cold air intake, 15% reduction pulley, craven crank pulley, md ignition, borla exhaust but before I start with the internals I figure I should think about improving my stopping power. I was wondering what people thought was the best upgrade? Brembo or Wildewood or is the r56 brake conversion the way to go? Any thoughts or ideas?

 

First we need to know, if you are going to track the car! Brembo or Wilwood, will set you back a great deal. Cheaper would be JCW front brake calipers and rotors and buying slotted rotors, front and back! Pads of your choice, I like carbon myself!

 

https://www.waymotorworks.com/tsw-mdm-brake-kit.html

Personally I'd go with this kit for the front axle, and go with one of the larger rear discs that utilize the OEM rear calipers to gain some meat. Perhaps we can petition ECS Tuning to release some of their aluminum-hat lightweight rotors for our cars like they have for various VW / Audi applications to get the rear rotor weight to come down with the size increase.

That kit is only $1000 and appears to include everything except for the apparently-required longer wheel bolts (a stud conversion is a smart idea regardless, I use parts that Turner Motorsport used to sell).

 

It is my daily driver but I am pretty much a nut who lives right next to some very drive-able roads in the hills

 

I have been doing some research on the subject as well.
My first step was more aggressive pads. I went to the Hawk HP+ They squeak a bit for street driving but were noticeably better at higher temps.

R56s calipers, 294mm rotors, SS line and decent pads will set you back about $400-$500
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...rake-swap.html

After that, it’s a BBK
good info here
https://new.minimania.com/Mini_Coope...lication_Guide

 

I did the R56 JCW upgrade https://www.waymotorworks.com/jcw-jo...t-package.html. It's a bit pricey and requires some work to get the rears on but I'm very happy.

 

Thanks for the reply

 

it seems that people just do the fronts and leave the rears as r53's with drilled rotors. It looks very reasonable compared to the after market setups.

 

You should talk to Todd at TCE before you decide. He has a really good perspective on cost vs. what you need vs. wheel size.
Just talked to him yesterday.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4141578

 

Drilled rotors are not needed.
Todays pads don't out-gas like pads in years past. Plus each hole adds a location for cracks to develop.

Ponder this -
Every bit of metal removed from the rotor face is less friction to stop you..!

Mike

 

My advice would be to go with some R56S calipers and 294mm rotors on the front. Leave the rears as-is, they will lock faster than the fronts with stock calipers so you don't need anything fancy there. Stay away from slotted/drilled rotors, they look cool but will crack. Get a good pad compound all-round, which will depend on your the level of brake noise you are comfortable with. The better track-day pads like a Carbotech XP10 will get pretty noisy on the street. For aggressive street the Carbotech AX-8 or Porterfield R4-S are a good choice.

This is roughly the setup I have on my '05 MCS which is raced in 8hr endurance races and the occasional track day. I don't spend more than $30/$15 a piece on front/rear rotors and the R56S calipers cost less than $150 for practically new re-manufacture calipers. I do spend over $400 on a set of pads for front and rear (Raybestos ST-43), but these are race pads that need to last for 8 hours of constant abuse. With this setup (and functioning ABS!) you will be able to out-break just about anything.

I'm not sure why anyone would need huge Brembos or Willwoods on a MINI, unless they are pushing very high HP numbers and racing in short sprint circuit races.

 

I run wilwoods on the front of my track car only for cheaper pads and easier pad swaps.

R56 s fronts worked just as good for me, I have a jcw too and it stops fine with the right pad

 

Pad swapping ease is a big plus.

 

You don't get why some of us use Wilwood? Simply pad cost and ease of pad swap and flip. Too bad I let the cat out.


OK, while I like the video I can tell you fram anything is crap. For full disclosure a video promo of "Pay me now, and pay me later" would better reflect their products.

 

I need some st43 for my r53 rear, do you have a part number for those?

Wilwood st47 7816 pads run 100 $ a set

 

"RC940 ST-43" for the rears. They're custom made so they will take a week to prepare. They run about $195/set if you call Porterfield.

 

So my question is do you use regular R56 calipers or do you use R56 JCW calipers?

 

Regular R56S calipers with the 294mm rotors. The R56S 294mm rotors have holes for M14 lug bolts, so the R53 JCW 294mm rotors are a nicer fit with the M12 lug bolt holes.

 

So I have a book that says that R56 calipers are single floating piston anf JCW are single floating and four stationary pistons. I don't understand what stationary pistons are and what the benefit is.

 

2005 MCS hatch. I am running R56S front calipers with StopTech low dust pads and drilled, but not slotted, rotors. (They were on sale, so I figured WTH... After 2 years of stop and go Atlanta traffic they are warped now and I will be replacing them with stock solid discs.) The rears are matching R53S parts and have been no problem. I also upgraded to stainless brake lines at the time everything was installed. The stopping power is more than enough for my needs and other than the pulsing from the fronts, I have no complaints.

 

Late to the party, haven't been on NAM for a bit...sorry.

For a total value purchase the Wilwood factory kits are tough to beat. Pretty much the best of all worlds: differential six pot calipers, aluminum bodies, lighter 2pc rotors, a wide variety of pads, ss hoses.....and fit darn near any wheel MINI has chosen to sell you. All that goodness can be had for under $1100 to the door. (US) If there's a shortcoming it's the thinner pads for those of you looking for hard core race builds. But....that's addressed in the TCE 13" kits with 20mm pads.

Combine that with the 11.75 rear kit and you'll have more brake than you know what to do with! The packaged 4X kits are all inclusive to the door for under $1900. .

Nothing against the R56 stuff here but it's a pure stop-gap purchase you'll outgrow in time only wishing you'd done a real BBK (any brand...) from the start. Don't be that guy.