Brake upgrades bolt in or slight mods

[sliq]

you'll probably fly through your windscreen with it's stopping power

[wun911]

How expensive are the pads and are they hard to come by? For example can you get a set of bendex ultimates for the AP racing calipers?
I do like how you can swap the pads in and out quickly for track days etc. I have heard of pplz fitting the lotus AP racing calipers to the MX5 so they have access to DBA 5000 series two piece rotors.

[16bit]

if you want the best that money can buy I would personally get the project mu billet kit. or possibly alcon custom setup. I got priced about 1800 for the alcon calipers so it would probably work out at 4 something k. sooo many options out there just do heaps of research if you are serious about it and you will find what you are after.

[SPy vs. SPy]

How expensive are the pads and are they hard to come by? For example can you get a set of bendex ultimates for the AP racing calipers?

Not be rude but brakes of this caliber need pads of this caliber, hence LD's comment re price on page 1

I have heard of pplz fitting the lotus AP racing calipers to the MX5 so they have access to DBA 5000 series two piece rotors.

There are a range of caliper's including the original ones that DBA 5000's will fit. There are two main (rather large) problems, getting someone to sell you the rotor(s) and getting a hat to suit your car and the rotor. Once you have solved that problem, you then need someone to sell you the DBA bolts to hold them together.

If one desires stupidly good brakes and price isn't an issue then these or the project mu's would be phenomenal.

To answer the OP

An upgrade to NB8B brakes as per Fatty's reply would be more than ample, again there would be a world of pad choice, which would depend on your driving, OEM would be ample for day to day driving. I'd also recommend a set of DBA slotted rotors at least for the front and DBA solid or slotted rears, the stock NB8B (front) rotors are let's say a bit ho-hum. Add in some good lines a service of the master cylinder and some very good fluid and you'll start putting nose prints on the windscreen. Budget around $1000 a bit less if you can do some yourself or organise a dodgy day and get a fellow forumite to do it for you, we all work for wingszzz and beer

[little decks]

There are a range of caliper's including the original ones that DBA 5000's will fit. There are two main (rather large) problems, getting someone to sell you the rotor(s) and getting a hat to suit your car and the rotor. Once you have solved that problem, you then need someone to sell you the DBA bolts to hold them together.

as said before this is an MX-5 specific kit, and uses the DBA 5000 rotors, and comes with custom aluminium hats that are made to fit the DBAs to the MX-5

[Fuzzlet]

Yea the 3 - 4k I was quoted was due to pad choice. Fairy 'standard' style pads (ie waste of money) brought the kit to around 3.5k, but with decent track day pads along with something for the street it was just over 4k

[greenmac80]

ok its been said thats its not worth it for easthetics. and in my first post i did say that an engine build is planned aiming for 150kw at the treads.
now i fabicate things for my corolla all the time so retro fitting brakes isn't a big deal for me.
has anyone done this? retrofitted something from say like a newish commodore?? i'm aware of stud differences but can be fixed and also theoretically.

[little decks]

your biggest problem with retro fitting brakes like this is the fluid capacity of the caliper.

Its useless to upgade to a higher capacity caliper because your pedal will go straight to te floor. unless you want to modify the brake hydraulics (have fun with that one).

[MX-5 Plus]

your biggest problem with retro fitting brakes like this is the fluid capacity of the caliper.

Its useless to upgade to a higher capacity caliper because your pedal will go straight to te floor. unless you want to modify the brake hydraulics (have fun with that one).

This is not true because the only displacement of brake fluid in a correctly bled braking system is caused by the movement of the caliper pistons allowed by their seals. Assuming that there is no swelling of any flexible lines which would also allow further displacement of brake fluid from the master cylinder.

Cheers,
Danny

[little decks]

This is not true because the only displacement of brake fluid in a correctly bled braking system is caused by the movement of the caliper pistons allowed by their seals.

so what you are saying is that every single bake caliper evermade has the same piston displacement???

[MX-5 Plus]

This is not true because the only displacement of brake fluid in a correctly bled braking system is caused by the movement of the caliper pistons allowed by their seals.

so what you are saying is that every single bake caliper evermade has the same piston displacement???

Not sure how how you got to that interpretation....what I should have said is this..........

Irrespective of caliper piston cross-sectional area, swelling of flexible lines etc... the other main contributor to brake master cylinder displacement is the amount of flex of the caliper piston seal permitted by the brake caliper design when pressure is applied. When the brake pedal is depressed the brake caliper piston seal stays attached at its contact surface on the caliper piston causing the seal to deflect (change shape). When you take your foot off the brake pedal, the brake caliper piston seal resumes its undeflected shape and the piston retracts. Obviously as the pad wears, the piston does move relative to the seal. Brake calipers with coarse toleranced pistons and seals allow more displacement of the caliper piston from the loaded to unloaded position then one with finer tolerances (ie. less piston displacement between loaded and unloaded). So you can have a brake caliper with an overall larger piston cross-sectional area that actually requires less displacement of the master cylinder than one that has a smaller piston cross-sectional area.

In summary, I'm saying that upgrading to a higher capacity brake caliper (larger overall piston cross-sectional area) doesn't automatically mean your brake pedal will go to the floor.

I hope this explanation is a bit clearer.

Regards,
Danny

[little decks]

sorry, i now understand what you are saying.

perhaps what i should have said earlier is that certain calipers require a higher fluid DISPLACEMENT.. therefore your pedal travel will vary from caliper to caliper if you dont do your research.

[RobH]

I have the Project Mu billet caliper upgrade kit on my car. Below are my observations:

Cost approx 3.5k
Bling
The rotor is approx 280mm so it does not fill a 17 inch wheel as much as I thought
However from a performance side this is not bad because any bigger is not required and would just add unsprung weight
Ease of fitment (straight bolt on to MX5 with supplied bracket)
Slotted not drilled (a lot of talk that drilled rotors like brembo's are prone to cracking)
Performance (the important factor) - standard street driving feels strong with great bite but the big difference is once on the track they keep stopping without fade.
Quality - The billet alloy caliper looks the business
Complete package including braided lines
I can hear a bit of pad clatter as there are no springs like in OEM to stop this however this also adds to my LSD clatter which in turn adds to the race car attitude that I like

When I started modifying my car I decided that I was only going to use premuim products even if I had to take my time in saving for them. I did not want to do cheaper level upgrades and then find later on I was still going to want the more expensive upgrade. This is not to say some cheaper options are not the way to go, it is just not the way I wanted to go. This was not a cheap upgrade but as my car sees the occassional track day and my power level is increasing soon it makes a good addittion to the overall package. If my car was only to be street dríven and was being left standard power wise then I would have gone the disk and pad upgrade with some goodrigde brake lines and this would still look great and also increase braking capacity.

[16bit]

pics please, i wanted these but could not afford and had to 'settle' for ap racing.

[RobH]

I have been meaning to set up a post in the garage section for a while now but have not had time. I will try to get something sorted this weekend.

Even if I say so myself, when you look through my Enkei's and see the P Mu's with the PSS9's behind them it looks quite impressive