mx5cartalk.com

As previously mentioned I have opted to try the Winmax W5's on the Front and the W3's on the rear.

The pads have been supplied by Marty Beckton (Motorsport Brakes Pty Ltd, Gold Coast) 0404 023 535 (marty@motorsportbrakes.com.au) and can be purchased through Automotive Plus.

At the moment I have only installed the W5's on the front as a rear caliper has a dodgy adjustment screw and if it plays up there are no spares available. As a side note I have another set on NB8B calipers being rebuilt as a spare. The rears still have the A1RM's installed for the moment.

Being in Blackwater there is nobody close by that can machine slotted rotors, so decided to do as suggested on the forum and give them a good sand down with 120 then 240 grit emery paper.

From one disc





This was washed off a disc (Brake cleaner)


The one on the right has been sanded, left one is untouched. Theses slotted rotors had Green Stuff pads on when last used.




The pads
Compound: Metallic
Friction: 0.40 – 0.43 μ
Temperature: 100 -750°c



A1RM and W5's. Note the chamfer and the slot in the middle to help release the vapours the pad produces.


A1RM's after a few track days


Pad install. A small mechanics stool makes a great caliper stand. Can anybody pick up my error in this photo?


Off topic but this is how much of the spring that is uncaptive at full droop


Bedding in. This is the last test. 10 runs at 80k to 20k every 500m, then 10 at 120 to 80 every 500m then 10 at 120 to 20 every 500m. After the last test and coasting down to a stop the rotor was at 310 deg c temp so hopefully I did it right!

As the test went along the brakes got better and better. Very responsive and heaps of initial bite on the last few tests, very good modulation and feel. The only bit of lock I got was at 29.74 on the picture hence the brake pressure reducing. I will find out in the morning what they are like cold and give some feedback on what they are like if you were to use them on a daily. The car now has its FZ201's on in readiness for Time Attack round 2

The yellow line (measure) is the TPS that I finally got around to wiring up. Instead of tapping into the existing TPS the Jenvey ITB's allow two TPS's so I installed the second one and now have it being logged.

The W5 pads from cold are not as predictable as when I was bedding them in, they do lack inital bite when cold, however there was no noise or howls of protest.

I have kept a measurement of the discs and pads so I will check them after a few track days and see what the wear rates are.

Plan is to test the W5's out Time Attack round 2, Jap Nats and the MX5 Car club QR day 26/05/14. Possibly the W3 pads will be installed in the rear before the Jap Nats. However as the stock brake bias is more to the front I can't see the A1RM's being better or worse than the W3's. Maybe it is time to adjust the brake bias and get more rear braking, another topic I feel.

Cold Friction - High Friction - Temperature (C) - Compound

A1RM - 0.40 - 0.48 - 0-780

W3 - 0.34 – 0.37 μ - 0-600 - Semi-Metallic

W5 - 0.40 – 0.43 μ - 100-750 - Metallic

Based on the above stats it would appear that the A1RM's, at least on paper, are the best choice. However, looking at my brake pressures I'm using less effort with the W5's and stopping in a shorter time than the A1RM's.

Thanks for the write up. I've been talking to Marty about going with this set up on our car so keen to hear your feedback. Just nor sure if the set up is a bit 'aggressive' for what is a predominately road car.

In context my daily drive is about 20 km, with 17 of this is in 80+ zones. So i don't get to use the brakes much, however I just make sure that I brake a little earlier than normal to make sure they will work effectivley. What the W5's would be like in city peak hour traffic I can't comment, just yet. On Friday I may take it for a punt in Brisbane and see if the W5's are streetable in city traffic.

Another issue with the W5's for street use is that when cold they cause more rotor wear, hence they need to be kept on temperature for max performance, life and wear.


You could go W4's at the front and W3 in the rear for a less agressive setup or W3/W2 combination. I will be catching up with Marty at Time Attack round 2 on Thursday.

Quick feedback from Time Attack round 2. Awesome!

Marty observed that I was braking too early before turn 6 (clubman) during the second session. I agreed. Once the pads came up to temperature they had heaps of bite, great feel ans excellent modulation. A quick look at the video I was getting 0.9g braking into turn 6.

When I get back to Blackwater I will post some photos and some data on the pads performance.

Marty and I did discuss if the W3's on the rear would add much more braking improvement over the A1RM's. Unless the brake bias is adjusted the rears would not improve greatly over the current set up. W5's front A1RM's on the rear.

All up very happy and I think that they also contributed to a 1:09.10 on the clubman. This time was below my target of a 1:10 so a very happy lad am I!

Photo after Time Attack Round 2. I will post some of the brake data logged next weekend, need to find the previous QR data to compare.

Close up of a front rotor

IMG_0597 , on Flickr

Close up of dust from 74 laps

IMG_0601, on Flickr

Front wheel showing dust

IMG_0599, on Flickr

Here is a quick overlay of Turn 6 (Clubman) at QR. The dotted lines are with the A1RM's, the solid is the Winmax W5's


Turn 6 QR, on Flickr

Ignoring the different start braking speeds, that I was not just before lockup and it could be argued that I applied the W5 brakes harder... after 1.39 secs the W5's had scrubbed off 44.4 k's of speed and the A1RM's 37.6 k's at about the same brake line pressure. However the W5's had 0.1g more force and the wheel speed (FR) shows no lock up.

Turn in with the W5's happened 6 k's slower and almost 1 sec earlier than the A1RM's. Tail braked with the W5's for 1 sec and 0.5 secs later steady RPM.

The A1RM's has a similar pattern, but braking was done for 3.77 secs as oppossed to 3.28 sec for the W5's.

Now I may not be consistent enough yet to say that the W5's are better than the A1RM's, but they did feel alot stronger and I could have braked even later looking at the data. There is a period where I had eased off the brakes but had not turned in. But at the time I felt that I was already pushing the limits!

Hope this helps people to make their own minds up about the Winmax W5 pads.

As previously mentioned the W5's are being removed for daily drive use and replaced with W3's so I can provide some feedback between the W3's and the A1RM's for street use.