- My model of MX-5 is: _NC
- I’m based near: __Inverness
- I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __Big Brakes
Hi folks
I’m new to the forum and the MX 5 club. I have a 2013 NC MX-5 which I bought last year from BBR GTi. It’s a lovely little red MX5 with a folding hard top and stage 2 BBR turbo, lowered suspension and upgraded pads and discs.
It’s my first ever convertible and I have to say both me and my wife are absolutely loving it !!
I think I need to upgrade the brakes a little as thing is a bit on the rapid side and a good 80% of my driving is on rural and single track roads where braking is essential.
So my question/search for advice is what brake system to go for.
I’ve seen the 3 piston Wilwood kits that come with everything for the front for around £2k.
Then there was the EBC apollo kits from MX5parts for £1800
Brembo kits look good too at the same kind of money.
What would you go for? Which kit is best?
Many thanks and best wishes
Neil
upgraded pads and discs are probably brembo road stuff which is good stuff and relatively inexpensive.
Big brake kits of the likes from brembo and willwood look nice and shiny though imho for road use you dont need it. on the road you wont stress the brakes that much. so they wont get hot. Its the heat that will degrade the road pads.
what you will find is that the NC brakes do get sticky because its a sliding caliper and they are now on your car 11y old. I’d expect the sliding pins to be replaced with aftermarket stuff which wont last long so if you are going to keep using the origlal calipers you should be looking and regreasing the sliding pins on the front brakes every two months or so.
the next option is to buy new OEM front calipers which are 250 each from memory.
regarding pads I found the brembo roads pads decent but there is a lot of brake dust. the winmax w5 pads are literally out of this world but expensive. I use them on track and they last long, there is no degradation and will last ages if you use them on the road. but they will squeak.
so OEM calipers and brembo pads, is cheap work ok, no squeak but will have a lot of dust or winmax w5
some go mintex, some ferodo, some rodinsons but IMHO I think you will get the same performance as the cheaper brembos
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as for what I have gone, its this
This will fit the standard brake rotor but you will need new wheels.
If you want bigger brakes you can also buy and refurbish brembos that were fitted in a Clio 197/200 and were also fitted to the Megane R25/26 from that era. you would need larger discs maybe from a Mazda CX7 and carrier adapter brackets so they’ll fit to NC hubs. Again you will need new wheels.
if you want bigger brakes but cheaper you could use rx8 calipers but they are of sliding carrier design. again you would need the rx8 disks
( I have refurbished rx8 calipers for sale if you want)
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Hi
You don’t need any big brake kit for just road use. Only need to change the front pads. I have used PBS Protrack front pads on my turbo NC and on the road I have never wanted for more stopping power.
I used these pads on track and they lasted about 10mins before they got too hot. To put that in comparison to Bosch standard pads that couldn’t even do half a lap at cadwell.
If you were to track the car then use PBS Prorace.
The race MX5 boys use standard front calipers with Carbotech pads (about £250) a set.
Don’t worry about the rears, they don’t do much
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Thanks for your responses CK, much appreciated.
I suppose the first question I need to answer now, is what wheels do I have on the car. 17" black 'uns is all I know. Are these Mazda or aftermarket, no idea!
I’m going to do some track days, but Knockhill is miles and miles away from my home so it’s never going to be a regular thing, just occasional !. It will be fast road work primarily.
Had a wee peek at your youtube vids. Your MX5 sounds great 
Loving the noise off mine, especially when it reverberates back off a cutting or bridge.
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Get these, dont need anything else. Spend the saved money on a driving tour or multiple track days
PBS ProRace Performance Front Brake Pads For Mazda MX5 NC MK3 1.8 2.0 05-14 | eBay
I have set in my boot ready to go on mine. I will fit them ready for our MX5 Europe tour later this year.
Awesome, thanks guys. I appreciate your advice. Totally new to MX5’s so excuse my ignorance.
I’ve ordered a set of the PBS ProRace as suggested and will give them a go first. 
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I dont think you will be disappointed. My friend in another mx5 was doing 20min stints at Bedford and its heavy braking with no fade issues.
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Just remember to do this quick bedding in procedure.
Bedding in Pads (pbs-brakes.com)
they are mazda wheels but they seem to have been painted? I believe the kuro came with black wheels
The wheels were standard on the NC Sport Black.
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Hello Neil, welcome aboard.
I too have a BBR tweaked NC. For enthusiastic road work and especially track days the stock single piston calipers are not really up to the job. The single piston design is fitted to most mass produced cars only because it is cheap and cheerful. Their design/operating concept is pretty horrible. I’ve ftted the Wilwood 4 pot “Little Big Brake” kit with slotted and drilled rotors. The benefits are far geater consistency, lack of fade and a significant saving in unsprung weight. Downside is a slightly heavier pedal pressure, and the cost of the kit!! The Wilwood 4 rotor calipers WILL fit under standard NC Sport Tech rims with the use of 5mm hubcentric spacers all round. FYI, I only had the engine mods carried out by Brodie Britain Racing. I soon found that the increased grunt generated rear end instability - the tail wagged the dog! To fix that I’ve installed the stiffer IL alloy ARB’s and adjustable drop links.
Removing my Summer only driver from its cocoon a couple of weeks ago and making it ready for the MOT I discovered a broken rear spring. (Not the first time I’ve encountered a breakage on a stored car - my E39 recently did the same). Have therefore ripped out the 40k mile Bilsteins and fitted TEIN Flex Z coilovers. Lowered the car by just 15mm as any further reduction would risk damage from driving on my local Third World roads in the West Midlands/Welsh Borders. The set of dry, useable Bilsteins will go on to Ebay for £100.
Sundaydriver
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