16" JCW brakes

[Neil - TXJ]

Hi.

Was flicking through the JCW brochure this evening and noticed the 16" JCW brakes. Does anybody have any experience with these? How do they compare with the standard MCS brakes and any idea of costs.

I run 16" wheels and didn't think a brake upgrade was an option until I saw these.

Cheers.

[GCA3N]

Are these the same as the brakes on mine?

[Neil - TXJ]

Don't think so. The brochure has both 16" & 17" brake systems and from the pictures the 17" look like what are on your car. I am on my phone so can't easily search for pictures.

Neil

[GCA3N]

Ah right well the 17" ones are night and day on the MCS ones, seriously a million times better.

[Mon the fish]

The 16" JCW brakes are exactly the same as the standard R56 S brakes (i.e. the R53 JCW's), just red with a fancy logo.

Stick some decent pads, fluid and braided hoses on your R56 brakes and you'll have as good a setup as the JCW 4-pots, plus a lot lighter too.

[Neil - TXJ]

The 16" JCW brakes are exactly the same as the standard R56 S brakes (i.e. the R53 JCW's), just red with a fancy logo.

Stick some decent pads, fluid and braided hoses on your R56 brakes and you'll have as good a setup as the JCW 4-pots, plus a lot lighter too.

Thanks.

[ELFMAN]

The 16" JCW brakes are exactly the same as the standard R56 S brakes (i.e. the R53 JCW's), just red with a fancy logo.
Stick some decent pads, fluid and braided hoses on your R56 brakes and you'll have as good a setup as the JCW 4-pots, plus a lot lighter too.

I agree with the first part, as Mon said, the 'JCW' 16" brakes for the R56 are a purely cosmetic 'upgrade', and IMO a bit of a rip-off - you could get the same effect with a can of red laquer! Not sure I totally agree with the second part though... The R53 JCW/R56 brakes can be improved as Mon described (I know he knows what he's talking about!) and there's the weight issue (maybe not quite so important on a road car?).

I had the JCW brakes on my R53 (which as far as I knew DID have uprated pads as part of the package) and while they were noticeably better than the standard R53 setup, with the mods I had on my R53, the JCW Brakes were OK up to a point, but from my experience the 4-Pots are in a different league altogether - much more confidence-inspiring. I'm not actually very hard on my brakes, preferring to get the speed right by being in the correct gear etc etc. When you do need to lean on them, given the choice between 'uprated' small brakes and the Brembo/JCW's, I'd have the 4-Pots every time, taking into account the price and the wheel fitment issues. I suppose that's why fast cars have big brakes - Ferrari, Porsche etc can't all be wrong!

But I do agree with Mon that as a '£ for £' mod on 16" Wheels, uprating your R56 setup is sound advice. (I've got a fairly minted set if anyone's R53 brakes are getting a bit past it! :smilewinkgrin:)

[Mon the fish]

All depends on the pad compound though - yes, 4 pots are better than 1. But the JCW brembo's are massively heavy, heavier than a lot of other BBK's out there. Put the right pads and fluid in, and you'll struggle to notice a difference in actual stopping distance between the two

[GCA3N]

I can't compare an upgraded R56 S brake system but as standard I found them at times quite poor especially on spirited drives. On driving the factory works as much as the power was so different it was in the stopping power that I found the biggest change.

[ELFMAN]

Point Taken Dr. Mon.

I remember talking to LOHEN a few years back when I was thinking of further tuning my R53, and on the subject of brakes they did say that uprating the 'small' JCW's was an alternative to going for a 'Big Brake' conversion, but it depended on what you were going to do with the car - presumably the uprated single-pot brakes were fine for general fast road use, but the big brakes would stand up to a bit more abuse for anything more? I remember my 'standard' JCW's used to 'go off' after a good cross-country thrash (as Greig mentioned), whereas the 4-pots feel as if they could go on all day - again this is dependent on compounds etc.

On the 'weight' topic, I can't say I noticed any detrimental effects after fitting the Brembos, just better feel and stopping power. I suppose I've helped a WEE bit weight-wise by ditching the Runflats, but would probably benefit from switching to lightweight alloys to further offset the weight of the brakes, but I'm not an expert on chassis dynamics! I do find the 4-Pots excellent in use and they fill the space behind the wheel very nicely while looking dead cool - maybe I'm a bit of a poser after all! :cool::hand:

[Mon the fish]

Certainly, the pads on standard R56 S brakes might as well be made of cheese. The R53 JCW pads are a lot better, but you can get better.

To the OP, stick some EBC yellow's, or Mintex 1144's in at the same time as new fluid, and see what you think - it'll cost you under £100 for the parts, which is a lot cheaper than the JCW Brembo's.

It's the pads that make the biggest difference to brakes

[ELFMAN]

And obviously, the JCW Brembo's won't fit with 16's (and some 17's too).

Mon, just for argument's sake, could the JCW Brembo's be improved? Braided Lines? Different Pads? I'm quite happy with them, but it'd be of interest when it comes time to change pads etc.

[Neil - TXJ]

Thanks guys. The JCW 4 pots aren't an option as although I have got new 17" wheels they still won't fit over the bigger brakes. An upgrade as Mon suggested is however an option at some point but considering my funds position not something for the short term. Out of interest would these type of mods impact my warranty in any way.

[ELFMAN]

That would depend on how pernickety your dealer was if you had a problem... Using different pads shouldn't really be an issue, but basically anything you do to the car could arguably invalidate the warranty.

If you had a problem in the area where you had 'modified' the car, you might find yourself in a position where you had to prove that the mod didn't cause the problem, but if you had the brakes done, and the engine developed a fault, the dealer couldn't really say that one led to the other. It's one of those areas where you take a chance. If you did decide to alter the brake spec in future, it might be an idea to inform your insurer too, just in case.

[Mon the fish]

Changing pads is the same as changing tyres - won't affect your warranty, it's a consumable part. Anyway, the dealer wouldn't even notice the pads weren't OEM.

Elfman - not sure on the 'midrange' options available for the Brembo's, but Carbotech XP8 pads are available for them. They are amazing pads, like hitting a wall, but they squeal a bit, and if you don't clean your wheels every 2 weeks or so the dust will eat your alloys.

EBC yellow (don't try the green!) and Mintex 1144 seem good 'fast road' pads, would imagine you could get them for the Brembos

Braided hoses and ATE Super Blue fluid made a big difference for me, without changing the pads

[ELFMAN]

Cheers Mon! You are a MINI Oracle!