Uprated front brakes

[james7]

I am thinking of getting a Wilwood big brake kit for the front of my mk1 mx5.
Just wondered if anyone is using these? And if so what size wheels or what make (if they vary much) etc would I need to get for them to fit?
At the moment it has the standard 14" wheels which i assume wont be big enough but will 15" be ok? I was mainly after 15" wheels due to the nice choices in tyres etc and didnt want anything too big!

[piefacemate]

Wilwoods fit fine under 15's. I'm using them; they're very good and take a lot of punishment to cook them.

[james7]

Thanks
Are they like http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeKitsProdFron... ?
Where did you get them from? There are lots of places in the us selling them but not much choice in this country

[Richyvrlimited]

james7 said:

I am thinking of getting a Wilwood big brake kit for the front of my mk1 mx5.
Just wondered if anyone is using these? And if so what size wheels or what make (if they vary much) etc would I need to get for them to fit?
At the moment it has the standard 14" wheels which i assume wont be big enough but will 15" be ok? I was mainly after 15" wheels due to the nice choices in tyres etc and didnt want anything too big!

What are you doing with the rears?

Just because the car doesn't brake enough on the rear when stock, so you're only going to make it worse if you don't touch them...

[piefacemate]

james7 said:

Thanks
Are they like http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeKitsProdFron... ?
Where did you get them from? There are lots of places in the us selling them but not much choice in this country

Afraid that link's not working for me.

Mine were fitted many moons ago when the car was owned by Flyin' Miata in the states. They are a pain to get support for over here as it's just the yank site that seems to have any info on it.

I'll be refreshing the pads and disks soon and can let you know part numbers and what I end up using. I believe, from the previous owner, that Corrado G60 disks are used with them, and are half the price compared to officially specified Wilwood stuff.

[james7]

Thanks
The wilwood kit i am looking at uses the discs which have the separate aluminium hubs that bolt to the discs.
Not sure what to do with the rears till I try it out and see how it goes. Hopefully with some decent pads it may be ok. If not I will get some bigger discs.

[piefacemate]

Mine is a 1.6 and was converted to have 1.8 brakes on the back. With decent pads you should be fine, provided they're all balanced up correctly.

[worldwidewebs]

James

Just get some Carbotech XP8 pads

[PGD5]

As said above, try the Carbotech pads before you go down the Wilwood route.

I run the Wilwoods too with a 'big brake kit' on the rear which simply spaces the standard caliper/braking surface further away from the hub, allowing bigger discs. These kits sometimes come with an adjustable bias valve so you can tweak your front to back braking power to suit. Fits ok with 15" wheels too

[james7]

Hi Andy

I have tried the uprated pads/fluid etc and they work really well. Infact much better than I thought they would.
But due to age and that I only use the car for trackdays then it stands for a month or more means the front calipers are sticking slightly which tends to lock one front wheel very easily. Especially in the wet which while fun is a bit scary
The costs of standard calipers,carriers,discs etc as well as needing a new set of tyres has made me think its the right time to change to something better and probably no more expensive in the long run as the Wilwood kit is $600 plus taxes etc from the us.

[jonstable]

Looking to uprate the brakes on my 1.6 at some point soon. I gather the Carbotech stuff is well rated. Are there any reccommended dealers for their stuff?

[worldwidewebs]

james7 said:

Hi Andy

I have tried the uprated pads/fluid etc and they work really well. Infact much better than I thought they would.
But due to age and that I only use the car for trackdays then it stands for a month or more means the front calipers are sticking slightly which tends to lock one front wheel very easily. Especially in the wet which while fun is a bit scary
The costs of standard calipers,carriers,discs etc as well as needing a new set of tyres has made me think its the right time to change to something better and probably no more expensive in the long run as the Wilwood kit is $600 plus taxes etc from the us.

That doesn't sound right James. I bought another 5 last year which is only used for trackdays too and is sat on the road the rest of the time - the brakes are fine on that and never had a problem at all with sticking. Btw, did I mention Carbotech pads? lol

[worldwidewebs]

jonstable said:

Looking to uprate the brakes on my 1.6 at some point soon. I gather the Carbotech stuff is well rated. Are there any reccommended dealers for their stuff?

There aren't that many places that sell them - I think I got mine direct from Carbotech Europe.

They are expensive but utterly fantastic

[jonstable]

worldwidewebs said:

There aren't that many places that sell them - I think I got mine direct from Carbotech Europe.

They are expensive but utterly fantastic

I shall pursue that avenue then