1st Gen | R52 Convertible MINI DIY R50 Two-Door Hardtop (Cooper) R53 Two-Door Hardtop (Cooper S) R56 Two-Door Hardtop
Official JCW Brake Kit DIY
DIY Friday is back this week with the official retrofit PDF for the R50, R53 and R56 JCW Brake kit. It’s a fantastic upgrade that we can’t recommend enough for any R50/R53 owner looking for a bit more stopping power without braking the bank. However for the R56 owner there’s a little less benefit since the rotor and caliper size is the same. You do get slightly grippier brake pads and bright red calipers though.
[ JCW Brake Kit DIY ] Official MINI PDF
Any possiblity of a new “upgraded” upgrade for the R56 stage one JCW? The red calipers look great but a pricey expenditure for no significant improvement in stopping power.
I assume you have no information on the availability on the stage one. I have seen elsewhere on the net that in Europe you get much more for your $ than just the 192HP but also the JCW aero kit and brakes/suspension upgrade. I hope that’s true and will come to the states soon.
That’s a lot of money to pay for red paint and pads.
Even for the stock Cooper (R50) brakes, that’s too much investment. The stock braking system is more than adequate, and with stainless lines, better pads, and better fluid, there’s no need to upgrade to anything else (I had a Wilwood 12.19″ kit on my car for almost a year, and now I’m running on the afore-mentioned improvements, and the difference is minimal).
Save your money and just buy some red paint.
Wow so you took the Wilwood kit off of your car and put the stock stuff back on?
Do you track your car?
Can R56 MCS front calipers, rotors and pads be fitted to 1st Gen models?
Note that this bulletin doesn’t have quite as much as much information as others.
Basically it only ells you want parts need to be used and in what order, but it refers to other tech bulletins for the nitty-gritty
It’s funny that it lists the 18″ R107 (from the GP) as one of the wheels NOT approved to use with JCW brakes.
<em>“looking for a bit more stopping power without braking the bank”</em>
LOL. I love puns.
Anyone that says the improvement isn’t work the cost either, 1. paid too much for them 2. doesn’t use their brakes hard enough 3. doesn’t have good enough tires to support their brakes or 4. doesn’t have enough power to get up to high enough speeds where fade will be an issue with w/ repeated quick stops.
Not only is stopping power much better, but the pedal feel under extreme braking is immensely different–much more controllable.
I got my first set of JCW brakes when the pads wore out on my ’03 JCW w/ standard R53 brakes. Talked my dealer into giving me a sweet deal on pricing for the JCW kit, since they were going to have to do brake labor & replace parts anyways. So, shop around, you’ll find some great deals out there. Plus you can sell usable old parts.
If you’re going to mess with pads, lines & fluid, you might as well do calipers & rotors–that’s where you’ll get the most bang for your buck in non-fading, controllable stopping power. At least, if you’re tracking your car at all.
A much recommended upgrade, esp if you have an older JCW car, where you need much better brakes for the extra power.
The drawback? It’ll make you want to upgrade your tires. I ditched the runflats only a cpl days w/ these brakes. My ABS was going crazy trying to keep the brakes from overpowering the lack of grip with the stock tires.
My best experience with these brakes is doing the Dragon last summer. My girlfriend & I were on our way to DC with everything we needed to live for the whole summer. This was the most loaded down my car has ever been with three hundred pounds of super tightly packed junk loaded into the back with the seats folded down. I don’t have to tell you guys how much difference there is just having a passenger in our cars, much less an SUV’s load of stuff.
Needless to say, she’s usually pretty cool about me racing around w/ her, but she had her head out the window for fresh air & was carsick at the end. I got out to that great smell of burnt rubber & brake to notice that my JCW discs were so hot they were blue & had visible heat waves emanating! And, smoke was pouring off my pads! Looked like an Le Mans pitstop or something.
I hopped back in the car to drive for a mile or two w/o the brakes to help them cool off. But, throughout the whole Dragon experience w/ all that extra weight, I never noticed a bit of fade. My normal R53 brakes not only would have been less controllable, but I could make those fade on a normal interstate off-ramp.
I took the car to the track with the Wilwoods, and used them on the street for about 10 months. I also used them on autocrosses and on mountain runs with long downhill sections.
I haven’t done a track day on the stock calipers, but I’ve done that same mountain run and several more autocrosses. The stock system performs better in an autocross, better on the street, and about the same in the mountains.
Fade is not a problem with better fluid, lines, and pads. When Zack compares his stock ’03 brakes to his JCW setup, he’s comparing worn-out stock parts to brand-new parts.
When the temperature dipped below 40F, the Wilwoods required 5 or 6 hard stops from 60 to get enough heat to slow the car–it was terrifying on the highway. The stock setup has much better initial bite, and unless you’re actually on the track, you won’t reap the benefits (well, except for the envious slavering looks from the Honda drivers…).
To give you a proper comparison, I’ll rehash some testing data I did.
60 – 0 tests:
Wilwoods, 215/45R17 Kumho MX: 115.5′, -1.11G.
Wilwoods, 215/50R16 Avon M500: 128.5′, -0.98G.
Stock calipers, Axxis, stainless lines, ATE, 215/40R17 Kumho MX: 130.8′, -0.98G.
I got the <em>same benefit</em> from changing my tires that I did from changing calipers.
I used the brakes from when they were new, until they wore out at 25K miles. Same fade situation from beginning to end.
I think your numbers back up the reason to upgrade.
131′ on the MX’s w/ stock calipers & upgraded parts.
116′ on the MX’s & Wilwoods.
That’s a huge difference, esp if you’re on a track w/ repeated high-speed braking sections. That’d almost be a car length per brake zone (depending on entry & exit speeds).
No cold temp bite probs w/ the JCW brakes.
More control, no bite problems, better stopping, no fade, safer in emergencies, full warranty by MINI. I can’t think of a reason not to get them if you shop around for a good price–unless you don’t do very much hard braking.
I did the JCW Brake Upgrade and the JCW Suspension Kit last weekend on my ’05 MCS/JCW. I drove it pretty easily for the first few days to properly break-in the brake pads and rotors. Several months ago, I had installed an R-Speed 21mm rear sway bar in its softest setting.
Luckily, my daily commute takes me over 3 different mountains; so I have ample opportunity to evaluate suspension mods.
First, the suspension definately rides smoother than the stock 05 MCS suspension. Turn-in is dramatically improved on the street and on the autocross track (I autocrossed yesterday). Both ultimate grip and transitional response are dramatically improved. The 21mm rear bar is bordering on too much for the stock suspension, but with the JCW Suspension, the fear of lift throttle snap oversteer is gone. The only downside I can think if is that the car didn’t come with this setup on day one!
On to the brakes…
I also added stainless brake hoses when installing the JCW Brake Kit. The ease of installation is remarkable. It just fits with no hassles at all. Once the pads and rotors are broken in, the braking response is very linear and controllable. It is much easier to drive deeper into corners before braking, and the bias feels more correct for me than the stock brakes. With stock brakes, a hard stop from high speed yielded some uncomfortable tail “happiness” that I’m glad to say is now banished. Before, it was obvious that the ABS was keeping the car from locking up the rear brakes. Now, the car just stops straight and true. The only downside is that the car didn’t have these parts on day one.
Are there better setups available? Sure there are. But the JCW stuff is pretty cheap if you mail order it from a Motoringfile Sponsor and you mention that you’re a Motoringfile faithful reader (as I did). It also has the advantage of long term replacement parts availabiility.
JCW. It fits. It works. You can get parts (pads, rotors, shocks) years down the road. All in all, a great upgrade!
Thanks Gabe for your initial reviews of these kits. You were my deciding factor! This was my MINI’s 2nd Birthday Present
Rawhyde
’05 MCS
JCW Engine Kit(from the beginning), Suspension Kit, Brake Kit, Stainless Brake Hoses, R-Speed 21mm Rear Swaybar
gotta second rawhyde’s comments on the suspension…
amazing how much better the car behaves, along with being smoother over the bumps around town.