I'm looking for information about upgraded pads for the Works Cooper S brake kit. I get that the kit is an upgrade, but the pads still have to be street pads. Does anyone know what is available for racing or heavy track use?

Email JCW and ask them. They usually respond in a day or two.

Do you have their email address? I have no clue...

Tried it but the address was rejected.

go here and pick an email address (it should have worked)

http://www.johncooper.co.uk/JohnCoop...ct/contact.asp

Made a correction and got it sent.

They do answer ....

It might take a day or two ...

Dont expect too much for them other than their "official line"

Good Luck!

I would recomend the Hawk HPS, front and rear. But make sure you remove them for the street or else you will wear out the rotors rather quick.

Are there any Hawk Blues for the Works brakes?

I would think so. Aren't the JCW pads the same size as the stock ones?

I don't think that 'Blues' do so good. I find that they just don't seat right and they clatter like crazy. I think you'll find that the hps are more then enough for the track.

Onasled,

I think the HPS pads are okay long term on the street - High Performance Street. The HP Plus pads will definately wear the rotors but are more suited to the track.

I thought you installed HP Plus?

No.
Pads are about 1.5 times as large. Also, how they fit into the anchor bracket is different.

Hi there.. this is an important topic for those considering jcw brakes who track their cars... I didn't consider the jcw brakes b/c I knew of no venders selling race/competiion brake pads them when brakes first came out... I have had success with the PF97 pads on stock brakes... but would like a slightly larger disk and dust booted system for about a grand, that had race pad availabilty..

If you do find a vender who sells full race pads... could ya let us know??

I am getting an '06 JCW MCS in December (it is paddling across the Atlantic right now). So, I too am getting JCW brakes, whether they are worth a damn or not . So this is a VERY important issue to me as well.

Our worst case scenario would be if NOBODY wanted to design/build/stock a new series of pads for such a small group of potential customers.

However, some brake pad vendors such as CarboTech are very open to creating custom pads for ANY application, no matter how obscure. You send them your FACTORY pads, they remove the friction material from the backing plates and replace it with their stuff - be it for endurance racing or HP street or anything in between. This way, they have a very accurate template to work from (the originals), they have NOTHING invested in backing plate manufacture (at least until demand warrants the investment), and the customer is guaranteed a perfect fit because the resulting pad is 'the real thing', just with new material.

I had CarboTech create custom pads this way for my 2000 Boxster S, since Porsche does not give out pad information to the brake industry very often, and I couldn't wait around for that info to trickle into the aftermarket. They were expensive, but worked out great, and are still on the car to this day. They don't squeak or rattle, and dust FAR less then the stock Porsche pads.

In some cases, the vendor will keep an accurate copy of the dimensions of your pads as a template so he can make more sets later - assuming he goes ahead with a full pad design to create his own backing plates, of course.

I have had some other owners write or pm me with information. No one knows of any aftermarket pads for the JCW kit. The kit is a street setup, an improvement over stock MCS brakes, but not good for driving schools or racing. Almost everyone who creates high temperatures has either gotten a larger rotor & pad combo through aftermarket kits, such as Wilwood or Brembo, or has modified the stock kit. On my MCS, I have had to replace inner seals on the calipers twice, melted the outer dist covers and used the brass retaining clips instead of the rubber boots on the caliper pin, used several higher temperarure pads (Ferodo 2500 and 300, PF 97's), steel lines and high temp fluid (ATE or Motul), and, finally, installed custom ducts.
If I decide to buy the new GP, I will upgrade to a competition kit and sell the Works kit. Thanks for all the input!

Hey Charles -

I'm a little late on this thread, but I've been melting stock dust seals due to track use too. Of course, I don't have any brake ducting, and I plan on doing something to that effect, but reading that you're still having issues has set the wheels in motion for looking at a big brake kit.

I'm going to looks for something with a much bigger rotor diameter. That's the single best tool to combat too-high pad temps. I'd like to get Stoptechs again like I had on my A4, but they would necessitate spacers or a couple new sets of wheels, and I'd prefer not to run up the already expensive cost of upgrading the brakes.

One more note - not a good idea to run Hawk HPS at the track, unless by track you mean autocross. They're a street pad. Even the more aggressive HP+ sucks for serious track use.

I've run Hawk HT10s and Blues in my stock calipers. The HT10s were better but are a set of brand new rotors in one weekend :-/

See you in the spring, perhaps at our three day event in April at Autobahn?!