Hi guys,
I was looking for some advice around a new brake setup. Everything is stock currently, I’ll be doing 4/5 track days a year and wanted to see what kind of setups everyone is using. Any help much appreciated
Cheers
Stick with the stock set up.
Put the money to some track tuition - it will be far more rewarding.
New brakes = a (probably) increase in your insurance premium.
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Hi C,
Ring Rodders on 0114 244 5300 and talk it through, he will be able to sell you his pads. All the info is here Brake Pads | Mazda MX-5 Performance Parts | BOFI Racing
BBR themselves say changing the callipers on a Mk3 is a waste of money. Discs and pads at most recommended.
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Presuming you have stock engine? Set of rodders pads, new brake fluid and make sure your existing calipers ie slider pins and piston seals and rotors are in good condition. Plus get some tuition, it will improve your track times better than any upgrades.
Have fun.
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A contradiction from them as they seem happy enough to sell big brake kits to people 
I’ve never found the stock NC brakes lacking but I have improved them with Rodders pads (now back on Mazda OEM) new EBC discs. Braided steel brake lines a calliper clean and lube and fresh fluid. I’m doing my first track day this autumn so it will be interesting to see how my stock brakes hold up around Oulton Park.
Cheers for the info guys, I’ll give Rodders a call. I’m on a stock 1.8 engine atm.
Also I’m doing my first trackday at Oulton Park in September Jimbo, I’ve got some track tuition booked.
Any extra braking forces generated have to go somewhere in the overall suspension system.
I’m also going to get some Meister R coilovers fitted 
Might be worth looking at the suspension bushes. Let us know how you get on. Great cars aren’t they 
That will make a huge difference to your car as well. I’m on Michelin Pilot 4’s that have 10k miles on but I suspect they might need replacing after the track day. Did you book the instructor though MOT or the owners club? When I made my booking I wasn’t able to select an instructor but hopefully by the autumn the world will be getting back to normal.
The Rodders pads are excellent BTW and last really well with a great feel and no obvious fade when driven hard on the road. I put fresh OEM back in as there was a good deal on Mx5 parts at the time, the Rodders were part worn and I was swapping the discs out for EBC. If your discs are tired I’d recommend changing them as well, mine were worn to limits and I was starting to get pedal judder and some steering vibration during heavy braking.
Fine if you have a BBR conversion of some sort but a bit over the top for a stock 1.8? Maybe better spending the money on a 2.0 with the engine and chassis work already completed…
I considered starting with the 2.0 but the car was my dad’s who’s had his licence taken away for medical reasons, so sticking with it
You need to know your wheel size, you won’t fit much under a 16".
We sell a lot of Stoptech pads for std brakes and a budget big brake kit, but I think you’re better off having a go with some better pads and fluid before doing much more.
There are less obvious advantages to fitting bigger brakes that people who have never had them don’t realise. Because you’re not standing on them to stop the brake pedal assembly is less likely to break, nor do spigot rings melt, fluid boil, discs go blue, get buckled etc.
Also because they’re not being used at 120% they last longer and you don’t have to fit uprated pads and discs. Both big brake kits i’ve fitted and used have nothing more than std discs and road pads. I think I paid about £30 for a set of std Mintex pads and they’re fine on the most demanding of tracks and last for many trackdays.
So whilst there is initial investment, after that you reap the rewards in many ways.
The APs simply look so much better than stock. Isn’t that a good enough reason on it’s own?
No not really.
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Ah well, each to their own.
At least on my car they are more than just good looking.
Hi, I am wondering could you help me with a problem I am having?
Just trying to install V max big brake kit to my MX5 2012 Roadster the 17in wheel will not sit back as it hits the caliper it needs aprox 15mm more, the disc size is 330mm I have noticed that the wheels on your car, look similar to mine, however the spokes look like they curve out away from the caliper allowing for clearance, I have no problem in buying wheels If I know the correct ones to by, or the correct spacers to buy, I have spoken to DP motor and V max who sold me the kit, but no-one seems to be fully knowing what to do?
It would be great if possible you could advise me on what I would need to do
Thanks
John
Hi John
I’m more than happy to try to help, although the 15mm that you suggest is necessary in order to provide clearance may not be achievable simply by buying different wheels, adding spacers or wheels of the same model as you currently have, but with a different “offset”.
To put things into a bit of context, the Reyland designed AP kit that’s on my car can be run with the OE 17" wheels, having been specifically designed to do just that.
As a first step I would ask you to look at the clearance between the new disc and the lower suspension arm. Essentially this is the constraining aspect of how the disc will sit relative to the hub ie how close without hitting. On my car the gap is barely 3mm, whereas I suspect the gap on yours may be lot more. Please check that and let me know. And, of course, the vertical plain of the disc itself will determine how the caliper has to sit.
In terms of the calipers, I’m not familiar with the V max, but it’s entirely possible that it’s overall width is greater than that of my APs, and that wouldn’t be helping matters, but should only be a few mm at most.
The wheels on my car that you refer to are 17" x 7.5" Rota “Torque” (or might be “Force”) with an offset of +45. I chose them partly because they meet the MX5 Supercup regs, but also because I knew they were unlikely to give any arch or other clearance issues (which is true at the front, although they are very tight against the outer arch at the rear). The spokes of the Rotas do have a relatively convex shape which certainly helps to provide clearance from the caliper bodies.
Although it’s jumping ahead a bit, if the main clearance dimension I’ve asked for above is significantly more than a few mm there might still be and solution to your problem, although it might need to involve having to buy bells and caliper brackets. This is entirely doable and not desperately expensive, but it really shouldn’t be necessary if in good faith you’ve bought a kit that was advertised as suitable for your specific car.
Let me know what you find, and feel free to call, text or WhatsApp message on 07957 880205 (I’m retired, so available pretty much any time).
Phil