Best Brake Discs

[cen]

Took the wife's Mk3 Sport in for its four year service on the weekend and was informed the discs on the front are corroded badly and on rear and the rear discs are corroded both sides.

I was somewhat alarmed considering the vehicle is garaged and have only covered 23,000 miles. I was also informed that it is a common problem.

I want now to change the discs although not with Mazda parts if this is a common problem. Anyone had the same problem? Whats the best disc to change to. I would prefer to change to a german manufactured disc if there is one available.

Whats the general opinion of the best after market disc

[Earl Grey]

I find rounds one's always work best..

If its for the wifes car i would say it dont really matter. sports car maybe drilled and sloted.

As for the make of disk this all depends on the above ... but its somthing that ive never had issues with on any of my cars when swaping brake discs.

Spend the money on the new brake pads if its for a sports car !!!

[LuS1fer]

I'd say Brembo but having a quick scan, there doesn't seem to be much out there for the later MX5s.

[996nick]

I had a similar problem, mainly because I didnt drive my car frequently enough - the discs got wet, and I didnt dry them out/wear off the corrosion quickly enough (I was only driving the car every 3/4 weeks at one point unfortunately, and it was stored in a garage in the meantime). The garage was able to skim my discs - dont know if that could help ease the cost here?

[cen]

LuS1fer said:

I'd say Brembo but having a quick scan, there doesn't seem to be much out there for the later MX5s.

I would normally agree with you however, the wife drives her car to minus 25% of the speed limit therefore, it seems a waste of money. The fact that there is not much out there for the later MX5 does not help, I dont want to go for the manufacturers discs if they only last 23k (4 years).

I have never had such an issue with any of my former vehicles including the old hanging models that I've been awarded back in the 70's TR4 etc (actually I wish I still had that car)

[LuS1fer]

I'd get a second opinion to be honest. I had no such problems after 35k on a Mazda 5. When my old Golf GTI was MOT'd, I changed out the rear discs for new Brembos as the old ones were knackered and scored after 109k miles. I thought the fronts with a bigger lip than Mick Jagger would get an advisory but not a sausage. I sometimes think these dealers get an urge to replace parts when they strictly aren't necessary.

[SwanJack]

My rear brake discs have been advisories for the past two years at the same MOT station. Thought I'd better get them sorted before this years MOT so took the car to a different garage that skims discs and does MOT's for an opinion - 'a bit of lip but neither a fail nor an advisory'.

[cen]

LuS1fer said:

I'd get a second opinion to be honest. I had no such problems after 35k on a Mazda 5. When my old Golf GTI was MOT'd, I changed out the rear discs for new Brembos as the old ones were knackered and scored after 109k miles. I thought the fronts with a bigger lip than Mick Jagger would get an advisory but not a sausage. I sometimes think these dealers get an urge to replace parts when they strictly aren't necessary.

I don't believe I really need a second opinion in that I had a good look at the discs and they are well pitted obviously made to a poor quality. I have communicated with Mazda UK who are currently investigating the issue having had one of thier main dealers reporting the matter and although the vehicle is now outside of thier three year warranty by a year I still would push for free replacements with the vehicle only having covered 23k and has been garaged throughou since new. I don't believe the discs should have gone this way either in the age or the mileage for which the car as done.

I would however, prefer an alternative good quality disc though if this is the rubbish they are sticking on thier vehicles.

[LuS1fer]

cen said:

LuS1fer said:

I'd get a second opinion to be honest. I had no such problems after 35k on a Mazda 5. When my old Golf GTI was MOT'd, I changed out the rear discs for new Brembos as the old ones were knackered and scored after 109k miles. I thought the fronts with a bigger lip than Mick Jagger would get an advisory but not a sausage. I sometimes think these dealers get an urge to replace parts when they strictly aren't necessary.

I don't believe I really need a second opinion in that I had a good look at the discs and they are well pitted obviously made to a poor quality. I have communicated with Mazda UK who are currently investigating the issue having had one of thier main dealers reporting the matter and although the vehicle is now outside of thier three year warranty by a year I still would push for free replacements with the vehicle only having covered 23k and has been garaged throughou since new. I don't believe the discs should have gone this way either in the age or the mileage for which the car as done.

I would however, prefer an alternative good quality disc though if this is the rubbish they are sticking on thier vehicles.

Fair point. Don't be put off by mazda UK either as we had an issue with excessive wear on the rear tyres of the 5 which was hugely publicised all over the internet yet which mazda doggedly denied. Luckily Victoria park mazda took our side and we got the rear tracking done at their exopense and pro-rata payment for the tyres (annoying as it meant an earlier outlay for tyres that inevitably lasted far longer than our ownership of the car). Ultimately, this "lying" by Mazda UK lost them our repeat business.

[cen]

LuS1fer said:

Fair point. Don't be put off by mazda UK either as we had an issue with excessive wear on the rear tyres of the 5 which was hugely publicised all over the internet yet which mazda doggedly denied. Luckily Victoria park mazda took our side and we got the rear tracking done at their exopense and pro-rata payment for the tyres (annoying as it meant an earlier outlay for tyres that inevitably lasted far longer than our ownership of the car). Ultimately, this "lying" by Mazda UK lost them our repeat business.

I can assure you I will not be put off by Mazda UK, in fact I would take it all the way. We have had two issues with the vehicle since purchase from new at Victoria Park.
1. The vehicle was sold with a sticker clearly marked on the sterio MP3 however the sterio
would not play MP3. Exchanges in communication (many) and the introduction of civil action
eventually got us a new Bose system installed that did play MP3's
2. The soft top would not fold back correctly whilst still under warranty the muppets at FR
Swansea Mazda could not see the problem which was so simple it was daft. Mazda UK got it
sorted at another dealer and expenses were sorted.

I must say I did not want her indoors to buy the MX5 in the first place however, hers was the final word. I think she would now agree with me and would have bought an alternative with hindsight.

[GLLHG]

If it IS the discs/ rotors themselves, then EBC will give you good heat dissipation and prevent spotting but they are very prone to pitting, so that's something to bear in mind. I also removed the set I had on my car ( not an MX5 I admit) because I couldn't stop high speed judder but I suspect that might have a been just a bad batch.
Brembo do both a drilled disc and a slotted disc for the 1.8 16v MX5. The part number is FD084000 but obviously you'd want to check out whether this was the part for all models

[cen]

GLLHG said:

If it IS the discs/ rotors themselves, then EBC will give you good heat dissipation and prevent spotting but they are very prone to pitting, so that's something to bear in mind. I also removed the set I had on my car ( not an MX5 I admit) because I couldn't stop high speed judder but I suspect that might have a been just a bad batch.
Brembo do both a drilled disc and a slotted disc for the 1.8 16v MX5. The part number is FD084000 but obviously you'd want to check out whether this was the part for all models

Thanks but Brembo dont manufacture the discs for the 2.0ltr. I agree with you about EBC pitting. There is not a lot of choice out there for the Mk 3 2.0 sport.

[GLLHG]

I know this isn't exactly on- thread and it may not be the way you want to go but I had a specific problem with my discs because I run a Morgan so there is no such thing as 'an off the shelf part' I wanted to ugrade my brakes but didn't want to use EBC discs because I'd had such bad results with them. That left me with the problem that only a very few disc types would fit my calipers

A couple of mates who I compete against ( including two who run MX5s in their own MSA class) recommended this guy and what impressed me is that not only does he have a great background but he really knew his stuff and came up with a great solution for my brakes whereby I could use AP racing calipers ( which I'd swopped for the HiSpecs which were there previously but he also sorted out some vented discs which actually fitted.

Might be worth a quick chat on the 'phone and he's very helpful ( but not cheap)
Usual disclaimer, no connection,just a very satisfied customer:

http://www.bgdevelopments.co.uk/

[Evil.soup]

Give CRN Products a call: 01246 55 99 33

I picked up a full set of 40 groove discs and mintex pads for the impreza front and back for £360ish, cant recall exact cost as it was part of a group buy i was running at the time and i had an additional discount.

If the car isnt going to be pushed hard just go for standard replacements that they can add a few grooves to for you. They are very reasonable but i would opt for zinc coating just to protect from the elements. My mate didnt have his done and was very sorry, mine still look like new with no rust!;)

[GLLHG]

I think the problem with disc faces is that "drilled/ grooved/" or whatever, covers such a lot of variations and it's important to know what each pattern will give This might be of interest if you do decide to get grooves etc added:
http://www.apracing.com/info/info.asp?section=Disc...

[cen]

Thank you chaps I will be following up on the most recent posts.