Which Brand of Brake Discs and Pads

[PmP]

Well its time to replace my discs and pads, got 41,000 miles out of them, already changed front pads once to oem pads after I cracked them on a track day.

Just wondering what everyones opinion is of the various aftermarket brake pads/discs? As I would like to make my brakes a little more effective than standard if possible. And I dont want to go to the expensive of a Big Brake Kit as I run S spokes in the winter.

Which combination is best performing and why? There are so many alternatives....

Brembo, Tarox, Ferrodo, Mintex, EBC

I only considered Mintex as I heard that was what was in the JCW Brake Kit.

[mGP]

Quote: Originally Posted by PmP (original)

I only considered Mintex as I heard that was what was in the JCW Brake Kit.

Can anyone confirm this....

My Uncle travelled half way across the globe; from Mauritius for a set of Mintex Pads for His Alfa; So I assume they must be good.

Haven't had any experience with any of the others so I can't comment.

[PmP]

Quote: Originally Posted by mGP (original)

Can anyone confirm this....

My Uncle travelled half way across the globe; from Mauritius for a set of Mintex Pads for His Alfa; So I assume they must be good.

Haven't had any experience with any of the others so I can't comment.

Not sure if its the JCW road or motorsport kit tho...

I know they used to offer mintex for standard cars brakes.

[T-bone S]

Have you looked at the GTT spiroslot package or the level one package from Lohen - they do disc and good pads which offer increase performance over stock set up

[PmP]

Quote: Originally Posted by T-bone S (original)

Have you looked at the GTT spiroslot package or the level one package from Lohen - they do disc and good pads which offer increase performance over stock set up

Seen both. My sisters boyfriend works as a mechanic and says he can probably get mintex, brembo, ferrodo etc quite cheap. Obviously he cant get the likes of the GTT ones.

Also when you get to the stage of 400 quid for a brake package when you include postage but not fitting, you begin to think I could have the JCW brake kit for an extra 100 quid.

This is why im wondering what everyone elses thought are. Anyone tried the GTT spiroslot ones?

[T-bone S]

I thought the JCW kit was more expensive than that? - in any case - I don't personally think it is worth the extra as it's still a single pot system - imo you better off getting uprated discs and pads and maybe braided lines and decent fluid and then pocketing the change for something else if you don't want to go BBK route.

There are a couple of guys that have the spiroslot system - TallAndy is one - he posted about it recently

[PmP]

Quote: Originally Posted by T-bone S (original)

I thought the JCW kit was more expensive than that? - in any case - I don't personally think it is worth the extra as it's still a single pot system - imo you better off getting uprated discs and pads and maybe braided lines and decent fluid and then pocketing the change for something else if you don't want to go BBK route.

There are a couple of guys that have the spiroslot system - TallAndy is one - he posted about it recently

Heard of a dealer locally who could get the JCW kit for £500 a while back.

Just found that thread. Sound good, what pads is roland using, or are they his own?

[Haggi]

lohen lb2 as that come wif the mintex pads Ap racing dot 5.1 fluid steel briaided hoses and grooved ECB discs

[Bhozar]

Quote: Originally Posted by PmP (original)

Seen both. My sisters boyfriend works as a mechanic and says he can probably get mintex, brembo, ferrodo etc quite cheap. Obviously he cant get the likes of the GTT ones.

Also when you get to the stage of 400 quid for a brake package when you include postage but not fitting, you begin to think I could have the JCW brake kit for an extra 100 quid.

This is why im wondering what everyone elses thought are. Anyone tried the GTT spiroslot ones?

I'm running the GTT spiroslot system at the moment. I went for it as its front and rear, plus I needed to replace the disks and pads on my car. It works much better than stock, but its still possible to get to the point that you experience brake fade, but it takes a lot more work to do that than on the sock stuff. Overall, I like it. Its a great upgrade without a BBK.

[TimCrighton]

The Mintex pads used are the 1144's which are a soft compound competition pad, but because of the nature of these they are ideal for fast road use and don't suffer from cold running issues in the same way as a lot of the uprated pads.

You could try the EBC Greenstuff (not EBC Green as thats a different pad all together!) this is a kevlar based pad which again is well suited to road use and benefits from producing very little dust compared to a standard pad. If you are track daying the car you may want to consider the Redstuff pad which is a ceramic based pad and is a more stable at high temps than the Greenstuff.

My personal opinion is that groove and drilled disks are nice for look and for track use, but the MINI brakes are very good as standard and upgrades to the disk show little 'bang for buck' gains. I'd suggest changing the pads and possibly upgrading the fluid and saving for a big brake kit if appropriate.