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I managed to wear through the inside passanger front pad pretty bad. so much so that the little brass spring things that hold the pad in became the friction surface. Hence I need to machine the disks and new pads.

I have been using bendix ultimates on the fronts and i don't think they are up to the job. can anyone recommed a street pad that does not cost a forture?

also where in brisbane can I get my disks machined cheap?

Expert I am not but if your pads are worn so badly something is not right. If they are checked at each service you should be able to replace them without running the risk of running out of lining and scoring the discs. If the car is being dríven shall we say under extreme conditions then check them more regularly. I would imagine that the pads sold by your Mazda dealer should be eminently suitable for your car. Machining discs has a going rate- just check the local workshops.

due to extreme braking conditions on the race track today. this is there third track day. I checked them prior to this track day but I did brake quite a bit harder this time around. kind of odd considering its only one side

i had the exact same problem (pad worn down on one side, worn thru to backing plate) on my rear right.

i think the problem is caused by a sticking caliper. you'll probably need to take the wheel off, undo the caliper and grease the pins (if you can get to them- hopefully they aren't seized..)

wait for others to chime in to confirm my diagnosis but it seems to be a common problem.

With fully functioning normal brakes..the Hawk HP+'s seem very good value.

For reference I've had sumitomo -> DS2500 -> Hawk HP+ -> DS3000's so far. The DS2500's had a heap of bite compared to the sumitomo's and were brilliant...but they are $435(I got my originals for $180) these days last time I checked. Those however I could not fade. I then went to hawks($195) and started melting them...however they did bite just a little harder than the DS2500's. The funny part is Irwin is now using my old HP+...and he doesn't fade them at all. He's also winning the NSW club 2B class atm so I guess it highlights something is quite wrong with my brakes. When I figure out what's wrong with my brakes I may even go back to them for the price deficit. The DS3000's are even stronger biting again...and can't be faded. I have however had them on fire twice now (my DBA4000's have no thermal markers left )....I got 2 sets extremely cheap (less than half price) however they would be $465 new so I don't think I'll be able to get them again anytime soon.

The DS2500/3000 both require 1 brake to really get bite out of them on the road. The HP+ was really good from cold. The sumitomo's were coming to pieces after my first trackday. The DS2500's are probaly the best all around...but very expensive. The hawks are noisier and dustier..but less than half the price with a little more bite. I know when I talked to some of the guys with turbo cars at Wakefield they said they hadn't faded Hawks either....

Hawk HP+'s seem very good value.

+1 very happy with the HP+s on the track and the street.

hp + it is. can you go into a bit more detail on the sticky pin bit?

You need to keep the slider pins lubricated see pic in link

http://www.miata.net/hakuna/0016/h0017.htm

Easy enough to do when changing pads.

yeah mate at work told of this important maintanence proceedure - thanks all. I will not be able to get hp plus in time so ultimates it is for now.

Would it make sense to use different pads for track and road since the conditions are not comparable. I not sure what is the normal life for pads on road for MX5's ( admittedly we all drive differently but on my sedate sedan the pads are original at 50,ooo km.

To get most of the more aggressive pads to really bite in hard you have to bed them in to the rotor. Swapping pads before every track-day won't allow that to last. So realistically if you want to do it...you need to do rotors and pads together. I don't know if the difference is huge though.

thats what I intend to do. to be honest its no more trouble to change the rotors at the same time as the pads and in the long run cost will be the same so I may just get some new rotors and pads for the track when the next track day comes along. i think its a bit much to expect a well behaved street setup to do the same on the track. new pads are order and I am getting the disks machined tomorrow.

For the caliper slide pins get some CRC synthetic caliper grease part number 3301. It is not that cheap, around $21 a tube from memory, but is the only stuff I know of specifically for the purpose.

Second what hellmun said about the pads bedding into the rotors. If swapping to trackday only pads then you really should have a second set of rotors to match.

i've got a vid of a turbo converted NB in Germany running on Porsche brakes. mmmm ceramic brakes maybe?

I got Permatex Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube. Was $14.50 for two 7 gram packets at South Coast agencies which is a big auto parts supplier down here. Only stuff I could find and it's silicon based. I've been surprised that all the high temp copper grease was gone from 1 auto supply store and 2 brake shops I went to. I don't think our sliding pins are rubber sealed so you can use either (I honestly just didn't pay enough attention last time I had them out) . The copper grease isn't nice to seals like the silicon but I don't know the coppers advantage. I havn't tested this stuff yet as I won't be doing the car until next week. Putting in some Nagisaka auto fender braces at the same time as giving the brakes a bleed.