My model of MX-5 is: __2013 NC 3.5. sport tech. retractable hard top.
I’m based near: __Grantham
I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __brake pads.
so I had my tires changed recently and I got a look at the pads.
they will need to be changed sometime in the next 6 months max.
however.
I shall soon be taking my mx5 into MK Refinishing in Grantham to have the calipers painted, headlights refinished, and some other little jobs that need to be done and it occurred to me that if they are stripping the calipers right down anyway. i might as well have them rebuilt with new pads.
so I went to look up the price of new pads!
and was horrified at the number of different options.
and in a field of choice that big there are bound to be scalpers that produce pads that look good, cost lots but are complete ■■■■.
there is also going to be very high-performance pads that just aren’t suitable for everyday normal road use.
now I use my car for work, delivering pizzas. so I NEED good all-around stopping power and at all disc temperatures. because when we get busy we speed about and the wheels get hot and on quiet nights we don’t do enough to even warm the wheels but because I spend so much time driving onto the housing estates where children are playing I really need good all-around stopping power whether it is from 30 mph with hot discs on a council estate or from 80mph with cold discs on some backtrack country road in the middle of the night when a deer, cow, sheep, etc stands/walks/runs across the road whilst I am trying to find a farm in the middle of nowhere.
so basically I need a high-quality pad for standard road use for both front and rear!
This isa bit like tyres, 100 replies and 75 different answers. Personally for all round use I have always fitted Pagid pads - usually on offer from ECP - although othe suppliers are available. Seem to work OK, not too much dust, and at a reasonable price. I’m sure that there are plenty of other good quality all round pads available which no doubt will be recommended by others. There are always the OE pads availabe from Mazda or MX5 parts which are obviously the factory choice.
I forgot to mention that a service of the slider pins at the same time may make all the difference to your stopping power. Presume that the brakes will be bled after the refurb. This is likely to improve matters as most fluid have probably not been changed for a while…
after looking at and reading the sales blurb on mx5parts.
it seems iv got a choice between the genuine Mazda pads or the EBC Greenstuff pads!
from what It seems to say the greenstuff is an all-around road pad that’s better but dustier than the genuine Mazda pad!
dust doesn’t matter to me as my wheels are graphite-colored anyway and because i regularly wash the car as I have to keep it clean for work anyway
as to brake fluid, I’m presuming that all the mx5’s have dot5 in them as standard.
i remember upgrading the fluid in my manta from 4 to 5 but that was 20 years ago.
Ferodo high end pads are absolutely perfect and OEM quality.
Likewise, Pagid are also OEM quality.
Most of the quality manufacturers will have a fitment page for your car.
Just an opinion don’t be drawn into the hype by MX5 parts. Yes a very informative site and company but not always the best parts or even prices for the same components.
Shop around.
PS DOT 4 for the NC 2013.
green stuff are fine, I’ve used them in several MX-5s, but they do make a bit more dust from what I can recall. Some of the other EBC pads are a bit more specialist and again, from recollection, need a bit of heat in them to really bite. Check out Club benefits we had a deal with EBC at one point.
I think you are making this more complex than it needs to be. You are going to end up with new fluid as your callipers will be coming off for painting. Just put Mazda pads back in, which is probably what you have already. I doubt if you went to a dealer and bought the car new you would be worried about this situation.
I’am sure he wouldn’t be worried in any way shape or form as it would have new pads in. But that isn’t the issue or what the OP is asking really in my opinion.
Like everything including tyres, people like a choice and ask opinions and recommendations.
hey all, thanks for the continuing input.
some good points and things to think on.
as to my car.
iv had it a month.
It’s 8 years old but only 33700 miles and never driven in winter
it doesn’t need a huge amount of stuff doing to it.
it just needs a bit of TLC and some refreshment parts + a few things to make it my own.
in order of importance
rear springs, oil and water change+new plugs, underseal, paint the rusty calipers and replace pads, headlight’s demisting.
I want to get all this done b4 the winter
once that’s done I will probably replace the front springs. all 4 shocks and all the bushes.
tho in the case of the front springs I may do them at the same time as the rears as there quite cheap.
I am currently trying to find a set of the standard Bilstein rear springs. mx5parts have the fronts but not the rears.
the Bilstein shocks, on the other hand, are ridiculously expensive and so they will have to done later on.
also quick micro question. oil ? mineral or synthetic?
Thanks you will have some fun with all that!
I may be wrong but with that mileage the plugs won’t need changing until at 60000 (from memory) miles. (No time limit). Sure someone will have the exact mileage on here.
Two schools for thought, check not seized and might as well replace. Leave well alone. Never use copper slip grease on the threads.
Any quality fully synthetic 5w-30 will be fine.
I use Total but many others use Mobil, Shell, Castrol or whatever. The worlds your Oyster as they say. Enjoy.
Well, as the post was about the confusing choice, we currently have, Mintex, Pagid, Eicher, Ferodo and EBC in various flavours and we are only up to 14 posts. There is which brand of brake fluid and how much graphite will be in the cast iron discs to come yet. I am not seeing that the OP is going to be any less confused any time soon.
As I said at first -This is a bit like tyres, 100 replies and 75 different answers. Not sure we are any further along the decision making path. Maybe we never will be with these sorts of questions?
right now, I’m leaning towards genuine Mazda pads.
tho the ebc greens look interesting.
and then of course iv also learned what grade of oil I want and to stick with dot4 brake fluid.
and that my engine coolant should be ok for another winter or 2
oh and also that my plug’s are only halfway through the lifespan.
so yeah for me its been a real good thread!
that being said i just had some bad news on the spring front.
it is begining to look like i am not going to be able to get the proper bilstien springs.
i even went on the bilstien site and all they got is lowering kits.
so i might en up having to get something else but il will make a thread about that once i have exhausted all avenues on the bilstien front
Hi @Thibor like you I have an NC with low mileage, I changed my plugs this year, after 11 years and 36K miles using the correct NGK ones from MX5 parts. I only did it as I did not want them seizing in at a later time. Easy job and no real signs of age to the ones I took out, so probably not necessary, but I do not see the point of taking them out then putting the old ones back in, they are cheap enough.
As for pads mine were changed for budget ones at a track day six years ago, (Its all they had, not my choice). They work just fine, can lock the wheels at any speed, no problems. MX5’s are light and easy to stop, I would say unless you are regularly track driving any reasonable pad will work.
yeah i really wanna pull the plugs out and just check the state of them so i can get a rough idea of engine health.
then as you say i might aswell put new ones in as there, as there not an expensive item…
edit. finally managed to find somewhere that can get me the bilstien springs.
the Mazda dealership.
i find it rather odd how I couldn’t find them from any mx5 parts places, online or normal parts places or even bilstien themselves.
Blimey!
Now chaps…I think it’s time for a woman’s opinion.
Mmmm…perhaps not?
Actually, SWMBO usually just pops into our local main dealer herself with my Post It note and asks for whatever for her 2002 5 Sp…
Thats as far as she gets. They know her and the car…they sold it 15 years back,
Life can be so much simpler…
