Another brake question
Turbo Mini Forums

Been searching and read a few posts but it's only made me think there are more options I should look at.

I've accumulated quite a few brake parts and I'm looking at brake options for my mini estate. I plan to run 12" wheels all the time, and the cars main use will be trackdays but it will be road legal as well.

I have a set of KAD calipers for 7.9" vented discs (they have the spacer in for vented discs that can be removed), or I have standard calipers and 8.4" discs, or I have cooper S calipers and 7.5" discs. For master cylinders I have a small AP master cylinder with a remote reservoir, and I have a master cylinder and servo off a late mini.

Was never overly impressed with the bite of the KAD brakes, but that could've been the pads. Are vented discs really needed? What about grooved or drilled discs? What combination would be best for braking performance, low weight etc., or should I be looking at different calipers and/or master cylinders?

Cheers

Neil

I'd say that for trackdays, especially with a powerful engine, vented discs are the way to go. I have managed to make solid mini discs of both 8.4" and CooperS varieties fade with hard road use before now, so for bashing round the track I personally think vented discs are a must, depending on the weight of the car I suppose.

Master cylinder wise, I have had good results in the past with the standard twin line set up, split front to rear. This gives you the option of fitting an adjustable brake bias valve to the rear brakes, which is useful if you like to left foot brake like I do. Also cheap enough to get hold of. As for a servo it is down to personal choice I suppose. For an out and out track car I favour non-servo stuff, but it has to be said, a servo is nice for when you have one of those heart stopping moments on the road and need to brake suddenly, as opposed to the track where you brake late for a bend but hard, but you are prepared earlier for braking.
And drilled/slotted discs are a waste of time IMO. All they do is reduce the pad area in effect at any time, and nearly all the current fast road/track pad materials I have tried cope fine with plain discs with no problems with glazing etc.

One point of dissent, if I may. I disagree that drilled/slotted discs are a waste. I have seen issues with drilled discs cracking, but the slotted ones are a good idea because the slots allow heated gases/dust to go someplace, instead of "lubricating" your pads. Yes, you do lose some surface area on the disc, but I believe that your contact between the disc and pad are greater, giving you better stopping power. Note that all high performance motorcycles use drilled discs, and it's not for weight savings... My R6 stopped on a dime! :)

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1967 Cooper 's' Turbo build @ www.drjing.com

i disagree that vented discs are a must

the extra weight of them will comprismise handling and possibly over cool your brakes

personally i would use a slotted disc, with decent (not green stuff) pads and a 4 pot caliper,

with a mini that is built with trackdays in mind it wont weigh much and so fade shouldnt be a problem

anywayif your braking your not going fast enough....