2006 Cooper S brake upgrade advice

[Woolfie]

looking to upgrade the brakes so can use the cooper s on track days. Seems to be a fundamental upgrade. I would be interested in people's ideas on different options.

Just new pads (if so which ones will work best)?
new pads with new discs?
upgrade the brake fluid

The car will be still used to drive to / back from the track. Still at the novice stage re track days and want to manage the spend on upgrades so matches with experience.

Also interested in other owners views on the cooper s at the track. I enjoyed it especially as swapped out the run flats for some fast road toyos.

[TimCrighton]

We have fitted various pads over the years and the majority work as you would expect really. A lot of it will come down to the use you expect from the car, how hard you are on the brakes etc. You can improve the standard brakes by changing the pads and disks (to grooved or drilled disks) without any further alterations. We would seriously recommend the upgrading of fluid to a minimum DOT 5.1, ideally a specific high temp fluid as the underbonnet temps on the Cooper S and lack of venting can cause the fluid to boil. Brake vents are also available and can help. Alternatively there are lots of larger brake kits available, including the OEM JCW kit, Wilwood, AP etc.

As an allround pad for road and track days I used to get on very well with a Mintex 1144 in my Mini with upgraded fluid and standard disks.

[Brite spark]

Is it an r53 or r56.

If its a r53 a popular upgrade is using the calipers from a r56 jcw

[Woolfie]

Its an r53; thanks for insights. I'll definitely sort out the fluid, and look at the mintex pads with existing disks to see how that works. As we do more track days, we are going to want to brake later and harder I guess, which might mean another change. Interesting to work through the options and makes the track driving even more fun.