I need your opinion on brakes. My car needs to change rear brakes on everything im just wondering, would it be good idea to get a rear brake drilled slotted performance kit? Or rear factory kit?

what do you think is better on your experience? Is it really worth a try to do performance brakes?

 

Wait when you say everything you mean pads and rotors or pads, rotors, calipers?

Drilled rotors are terrible. If anything do solid or slotted. But the rears don't do a lot of the braking anyway so as long as you have good pads you'll be fine.

 

thank you for your response. A third party shop here quoting me for $470 on rear brake rotor, pads, sensors all inclusive.

And ive been seeing online drilled performance kit for less than $300 for front and rear so im wondering whats the difference? Seems like the performance is a better deal?

 

Where are you seeing that online? Chineseium is abundant and cheap but rotors made from it tend to crack. Best safe bet is always OEM and the only aftermarket companies I know offhand are all performance oriented. EBC, Hawk, Brembo, SP.

Also, if you do a bit of research you'll find drilled rotors made by anyone are not great. They reduce braking surface area and the holes make stress lines in the rotor under load that can lead to cracking.

 

I aint gonna lie seen it on autozone and did a discount code for 20% it came down to 280$ power stop performance brake pads / rotors kit.

and pepboys are willing to offer that same kit with labor for estimate $700 for front and rear?

 

Solid rotors with aftermarket pads will be your best bet. EBC, akebono are good brands that perform well and are low dust. If you wanted better than stock you would need a larger diameter disc and multipot calipers which may require bigger rims to fit it all in there, but that would be for the front, not the back since most of the braking is done front.

 

And mini dealership is quoting me $1300 for front and rear.

 

Brake rotors and pads are very easy to replace yourself, if that is an option for you. Hardest part is compressing the caliper back with a clamp. But if you must take it to a shop, the dealer should be the last place to go for such a simple job.

 

Pep Boys Rotors: https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledi...boys_to_do_my/

 

I called Midas and they are pricing me for $380 on the rear, lifetime guarantee on the pads? Or should i just buy genuine mini rotor, sensor and Akebono break pad for $206 which will arrive by next week?

 

oem

 

Find a different third party shop, that's about what the dealer charged me for rear oem brakes.

As others say, unless there is some need for it, just stick with oem.

 

Thanks for all the response. I have no idea about cars and this is my firsr car. So, if you may, emphasis whats are oem? That would be appreciated highly.

 

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. In other words, parts originally used by Mini. Sometimes sold by third party..

 

Save your money and just go with plain face rotors. You won't notice any difference with drilled and slotting.

But do go with quality parts as these will be quiet, low dust, and last longer. If you came in our shop we would do:
EBC red pads
https://www.waymotorworks.com/ebc-re...rake-pads.html
WMW rotors
https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-br...-cooper-s.html

 

Agree with everyone! I wouldn't spend money to OEM but for good brand. Stay away from Chinese brakes. Its like butter when you need them!
Do the job yourself! Its super easy! You will be done in 1 hour. Spend labor money for better quality parts. I use brembo brakes all around. Great stuff!
Keep rears stock size. Front ones you can upgrade for bigger ones but it's pricey. Great upgrade is braided brake lines. You will feel the difference right away.

 

Well, don't listen to me, that's for sure. My drilled and slotted rotors are doing just fine. I don't track my car, but I do drive very aggressively on mountain roads. No issues so far. Nothing has cracked nor broken, and my brake feel is just fine. I went with a Powerstop setup. I have had good results with that particular supplier on everything from my MINI to my buddy's 2008 Chevy 3/4 ton 4wd which he uses to tow a rather large toy hauler with his toys inside. He warped his factory rotors, lost most braking while in the mountains of somewhere, I don't remember where, and boiled his brake fluid. New Powerstop drilled and slotteds on, and their ceramic pads, along with a change to DOT 4 synthetic fluid completely changed his braking feel and abilities, and his trust in his brakes. I also had a 94 Pontiac Bonneville before my MINI, and could warp brake rotors in 2 weeks. Went to Powerstop, no issues after that. Granted, a much different ride, but with rear drums, the fronts were under hard use. Brake pad technology may have come a long way, but my feeling is that without proper cooling and off-gassing, a solid rotor will warp given many heat cycles. I will let you all know if I see any cracking on my rotors installed on my MINI. So far, so good. Long rant, sorry. Just throwing my 2 cents out there.

Oh, and I DO have the stainless braided lines waiting to go onto my MINI, as soon as time allows. I agree, much better feel, based upon having installed those on previous rides.

 

Listen to Way, the guy knows what he is talking about.

 

Yours may not have cracked, but the big problem with drilled rotors is those holes create lines for stress fractures to propagate on. Ask any engineer, they'll say all you're doing in perforating the disc like a "tear here" line in a piece of paper. Like this: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...r_BigCrack.jpg

 

If cost is a big factor ditch the wear sensor. I dont know about the rears but my front sensor started bothering me every startup about the pads. A visual check revealed lots of material left. I drove 2000+ miles and still had paf left when I replaced them. I just cut the sensor off, stripped the wires, twisted them together and moved them out of the wheel well as far as they would go. You should visually inspect inner and outer pads on all 4 wheels every tire rotation (5k miles). Or tell the shop to do it if you go that route. Akebono pads are awesome, great feel, stopping power, way less dust than oem.

 

Those pictures seem to be associated with race cars. While drilled/slotted brakes may have issues under those types of loads, not to say that normal rotors have not failed in those conditions as well. I see enough drilled/slotted rotors on FACTORY BMW/Porsche/Mercedes, I see no reason not to have them on a street car. If you're driving that hard, you need to be on a track. I have Drilled/Slotted rotors on my car with painted calipers. For me, it's purely aesthetics and will not make your car less safe..

 

Rear:
Ceramic brake pads
Plain & ventilated rotors

Front:
Ceramic brake pads
Drilled & Sloted & ventilated rotors

The day and the night after changing to this from OEM parts.

 

You think the brakes on a street car aren't going through significant heat cycles like on a race car? Maybe a street car is not going to be as extreme, but the heat cycle fatigue can crack drilled rotors even on a street car, and if that happens when you need to brake in an emergency situation it does make your car less safe. And I'm not saying solid rotors can't crack, but drilled rotors are simply more prone to it.

Companies put them on their cars for the same reason you put them on yours, they look nice. The average consumer doesn't know they actually decrease brake performance and are prone to cracking moreso than solid rotors.

 

Way definitely knows WAAAY more about MINI's than I ever will. I will not dispute his advice. I was simply relating my experiences with drilled/slotted rotors. I did also install all 4 corners Powerstop drilled/slotted with their ceramic pads on a neighbor lady's 2005 Tahoe. She was very pleased, and if she were displeased, I would hear about it, trust me. One correction to make.....I used drilled/slotted and ceramic pads in 4-wheel kit form from a company called Harts Brakes on my MINI. As I stated, no issues, and I have approx 20k miles on them now. I was simply trying to provide the OP with another option. I am not an engineer, nor did I intend to step on any toes. And, I will certainly let you all know if any cracking issues occur.

As an aside, I work on Police vehicles for a living. I have been seeing factory solid rear/non vented rotors cracking at an alarming rate on our Ford Police Interceptor AWD twin-turbo sedans. One of our Ford Interceptor AWD twin-turbo SUV K9 units was chewing up brakes quickly, along with glazing, squealing, and warping rotors on all 4 corners. I installed all 4 drilled/slotted and pads (I don't remember the brand), and no issues since then. I am using this unit as a test for future brake solutions on the rest of our PD fleet.

Once again, all personal experience, and your mileage may vary. Rant mode off. Motor On!

 

I'm not trying to step on toes either, so no hard feelings meant if they were felt

Of course the quality of material will have as much if not more to do with cracking than design will, which is why I mentioned buying from reputable brands.

Anecdotal evidence just grinds me the wrong way sometimes, admittedly. But, to throw in my own though I had a friend who did his own brake job on his Mk 4 GTI and he bought parts off a website at my recommendation. But he went the drilled route where I said plain or slotted. Within 6 months his were getting hairline surface cracks along the holes. And this kid does not drive hard at all, he was in a car accident (no fault of his own) that nearly killed him. He had to contact the manufacturer and got plain rotors. Granted, the GTI probably goes through more extreme heat cycling than Minis ever do, the brake discs on the Mk4s are as big as an R53's and have to stop more weight. But he was just astounded and afterwards I showed him the exact video I linked and told him what's up.