Rear brake discs

[Steveti]

Despite the Sport Black only having covered 9.5k miles the rear discs are looking a bit on the rough side, not the usual corrosion on the hub but on the disc surface itself.

Obviously with the substantial hike in power that the car has brakes become mega important and yes, whilst the fronts do most of the braking, around 80% the rears look like they will be operating substandardly (is that a word? It is now). I plan to fit new discs, MX5 parts are doing OEM discs for around the £115 mark.

There is a temptation to go for a full upgrade http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/discs-pads-pa ... -3048.html, for a few dollars more.

Two questions though:

1. are OEM discs available any cheaper than MX5 Parts are selling them?

2. have the issues with EBC pads de-laminating off the metal backing plate been resolved.

I had EBC spotties and green stuff on my old Rover 620ti, (circa 230bhp) and they were phenomenal under braking. I don't want to fit different discs and pads to one end of the car as the Mk3/3.5 hasn't got a compensating valve so does rely on the mechanical balance of the brakes to ensure the car doesn't lock up at the end with the most powerful brakes.

So, my choices are, either stick with new OEM discs on the rear or go for a complete upgrade that again will ensure a balanced braking system.

Any opinions out there?

TIA

[Mazda Mender]

Stick with OE pads, as for prices, phone the lads at Autolink first ,they maybe able to help better plus you can use the Mm discount code.
M-m

[Steveti]

Stick with OE pads, as for prices, phone the lads at Autolink first ,they maybe able to help better plus you can use the Mm discount code.
M-m

What about discs? Better to stick with OEM or go for the upgrade? The OEM brakes are certainly man enough no doubt there, whilst an "enthusiastic" driver I have never ever suffered from brake fade on the road, I suspect that you would have to be doing something extremely silly to get to that point but equally, having experienced EBC gear albeit a while back, the stopping power was literally eye watering.

Also living a mere 8 miles or so from Knockhill there is a fair chance I will be taking a few spins around the track on and off.

Will certainly speak to Autolink though to get prices wit the discount code.

Thanks for the info.

[Lazza]

I'd stick with OEM (in fact I use pattern parts on my Mk2.5 SC with 242bhp). I had the EBC Turbogroove discs on my old Mk1 and hated them. The braking was no better than on plain discs and they were noisy on braking and even just on drive-by (I could hear them when driving past walls even when not touching the brakes). I now use as cheap as I can get away with for plain discs and upgraded pads as I do a number of track days.
As for brake pads - I'd stick with OEM again, If you use the car on track there are some that would be better but on the road OEM is best.
I have just finished off a set of Yellowstuff and they were decent. No fade and felt pretty good. Axxis ULT are way better in every way (except they create a lot of dust) if you can find them. I'm currently trying some Stoptech from 5Speed.

[binarypunk]

For pattern parts, I can highly recommend the Blueprint parts (assuming they've got mk3's covered by now) - top notch quality for a good price.

[Steveti]

I must admit to having a natural reluctance to look at pattern parts for critical systems such as brakes; the reason, fairly straight forward as a time served mech fitter that moved into engineering, part design, part engineering project management, including reliability/condition monitoring finally ending up in procurement, I've seen some horror stories in my own industry when pattern parts have been used and failed catastrophically.

That is not to say their is something inherently wrong with all pattern parts to shy away from them is my personal choice, I'd simply rather stick with OEM or an upgrade from a reputable business such as EBC, Tarox or Black Diamond if there is a benefit to be had.

Also bear in mind Lazza, your model of Mk2.5 is the Sport which came with larger discs and therefore much more braking power even on stock pads. I'm running a Mk3.5 on which without spending £000's to fit a big brake kit i.e. discs & callipers, I'm stuck with looking at upgraded discs and friction material, don't get me wrong, the standard brakes are good not withstanding the corrosion on the rear discs but any additional stopping power is always welcome, ultimately of course we rely on the four little contact patches to give the grip needed to pull us up though.

Thanks again for the assistance though, much food for thought.

[Andrew]

The OEM discs will be fine (as are the pattern ones), I think the mx5parts price is the cheapest you'll get for the OEM ones, we can't better it I'm afraid. Not had problems with EBC pads on MX-5's though, was this de-laminating on an MX-5?

However, a bit of corrosion on the rears is normal, road use isn't generally hard enough on the rear brakes.

[Lazza]

The Sport brakes are only around 10mm bigger than standard and are still single-pot piston sliding calliper brakes of the same size so aren't really that much of an "upgrade" from standard.

I completely respect your experience with pattern parts and there are some good examples on the MX5, for example I'd never use a pattern water pump, thermostat or rad-cap. The main issue with cheap pattern plain discs though is that the discs wear generally out quicker. Do a Google for brake disc failures of grooved & drilled discs. Grooves & drill holes add stress points which are common points for cracks & failures.

[Steveti]

The OEM discs will be fine (as are the pattern ones), I think the mx5parts price is the cheapest you'll get for the OEM ones, we can't better it I'm afraid. Not had problems with EBC pads on MX-5's though, was this de-laminating on an MX-5?

However, a bit of corrosion on the rears is normal, road use isn't generally hard enough on the rear brakes.

Thanks Andrew, I'm on Mk3/3.5 number three at the moment and the corrosion on the rears is beyond the norm. As I say, the car was a demo so I suspect it sat for long periods between uses and whilst the front discs have cleaned up quite well in general road use there is a fair bit of scoring/pitting and spalling of the metal on the swept surface of the disc, they do of course have the "normal corrosion on the hub area. The corrosion is such that it would possibly fail an MOT test. Of course the fact that the car is now laying down the extra power means that it is probably wise to ensure that the brakes are in absolute tip top condition, the rears still contribute circa 20% of the braking force, looking at mine , I'd reckon that they are only getting 75% of their full potential so certainly less than optimal.

Still mulling over the options though regards keeping standard discs or otherwise.

Cheers.