Brakes advise please - what are the popular upgrades?

[Matt UK]

I'm looking to have the brakes over-hauled on my Mk1 1.8 as they have not had any attention in the year I've owned the car.

I'm doing about 4 tracks days a year and hence want something that will perform well on these days, but will still also be useable on the road. And I don't really want to spend a fortune, so nothing too extreme - just a 'mainstream' upgrade.

So, what would you suggest in terms of pads, discs and brake fluid?

Also, are braided hoses a worthwhile upgrade? All the hoses are original so could probably so with a bit of attention.

The calipers I'm guessing can stay as they are. One of them needs some work - I'm hoping some copper grease will sort it. If not it'll be a like-for-like recon.

Any else I should consider?

[paul99]

A decent set of Pads is the main thing. The standard pads are fine for normal road driving but they do start to fade quite quickly on track. I have previously used Axxis Ultimates (Good but dusty) and Mintex M1144 (vgood but a bit pricey) ive now got a new set of EBC Yellowstuff's to try as ive heard a lot of postive reviews, they are also a lot easier to get hold of than the Axxis and Mintex pads.

Im yet to be convinced of the need for grooved/drilled disks so i just use standard ones which are cheap and hold up well to abuse.

Decent DOT5 brake fluid and some braided hoses are also worth installing and should firm up the brake pedal for better feel

[GravelBen]

Not DOT5 brake fluid - stick with a decent DOT4 or DOT5.1 which are compatible with the original spec DOT3. DOT5 is silicon-based with quite different properties - it can corrode some types of seals for starters.

To be honest even the standard brakes do pretty well as its a fairly light car going fairly slowly (assuming standardish power levels)- I did a couple of trackdays in my Mk1 1.6 (smaller brakes than 1.8) with no brake prep other than making sure the fluid was topped up. Good firm pedal feel, no fade, stopped hard every time. If you use sticky tyres it might be different, but my road tyres were going off before finding any sign of weakness in the brakes.

Edited by GravelBen on Friday 23 October 13:39

[MX-5 Lazza]

Plain discs are fine paired with good pads. I've had grooved discs before and hated them.

[Raify]

I've ended up with OEM discs, Axxis pads, Dot 5.1 and braided hoses for pretty much the same application as you (circa 4 trackdays per year).

The braided hoses were not particularly expensive, approx £100 inc fitting. They've improved the brake feel a lot. It's now very positive, with good bite at the top. Feels like it could have improved / prevented fade on track but that could be placebo.

Pads are great, might be dusty but then I've got black wheels

I've not had any experience with any other discs, but based on other people's recommendations, and the favourable price I stuck with OEM.

[MX-5 Lazza]

I bought gunmetal grey wheels for use on track for the same reason

[Matt UK]

Raify said:

I've ended up with OEM discs, Axxis pads, Dot 5.1 and braided hoses

This looks like the route I'll go - thanks chaps.

And darker coloured wheels may also have to be added to the list..

[skinny]

i've used genuine OEM discs, axxiss ultimates / mintex M1144 pads (also have a set of yellowstuffs waiting to be tested), Motul RBF600 brake fluid (tho i'm currently using some brembo racign stuff i got from work) but 5.1 is fine too. i use braided hoses but my old lines were getting a little bit stretchy. and a brake master cylinder brace.

[Herman Toothrot]

Either :-

stock Discs & Axxis or Carbotech pads

or if you want even better brakes

mk2.5 Sport discs, calipers & performance pads.

The latters only really necessary if you have a lot more power than stock and track uses is common.

I ran stock 1.8 discs and a variety of uprated pads and the brakes always worked very well however pads didn't last any time at all as in one or two track days. I've now gone to mk2.5 posrt brakes but have yet to test them.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Herman Toothrot said:

I ran stock 1.8 discs and a variety of uprated pads and the brakes always worked very well however pads didn't last any time at all as in one or two track days.

Have you considered the possibility that you might be braking too much/too hard?

[J-Tuner]

Stock discs and green stuff all round. So far they are great - i am at Bedford this saturday so will report back what they are like on an all day sesion

[Herman Toothrot]

MX-5 Lazza said:

Herman Toothrot said:

I ran stock 1.8 discs and a variety of uprated pads and the brakes always worked very well however pads didn't last any time at all as in one or two track days.

Have you considered the possibility that you might be braking too much/too hard?

I brake as instructed, late and hard but short as possible. The biggest difference to braking was the addition of R888's thats what really showed up the stock 1.8 limits.

[Munter]

J-Tuner said:

Stock discs and green stuff all round. So far they are great - i am at Bedford this saturday so will report back what they are like on an all day sesion

Keep an eye on them. I abused the Greenstuff pads at bedford to the extent they just crumbled away. Did get the full day out of them though. Since then I've been through Redstuff pads which stood up on track a lot better, but for road use (90% of our miles) were a bit vague. Got standard pads on it at the moment but not been on track with them yet.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Greenstuff aren't recommended for track use - they can't take the high temperatures.
IMO I wouldn't recommend them to anyone regardless of their intended use but some seem to be happy with them.