R53 brake upgrade

[Mon the fish]

The time attack guys run R56S brakes, I'd follow them. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade

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[Dobboy]

Maybe for an out and out competition race car

The R53 set up I use works fine for Knockhill, the same can't be said about the driver!


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[will69176]

You don't need the R56S calipers on these. Apart from the fact it'll limit what wheels you can use they are a ton weight.

I've recently done my brakes, as recommended by a guy who builds and looks after mini challenge cars.

Mintex 1144 on rear
Mintex F4Rs on the front
High temp racing brake fluid
Good tyres.

You could use standard discs but I fitted Brembo Max.

Costs me about £430 to do.

The cars brakes are excellent, zero fade on track.

They work ok from cold but come in to their own when warmed up, but are a bit squeely nipping out to tescos.

I sold the set of R56s' I had.


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cheers dobboy, I'm thinking the car need a bit of refreshing, its 14 years old after all.

so just to confirm, you swapped from r56 callipers back to the original ones?

[EcosseGP]

Personally have done the BBK upgrade I would agree with the above there's no need not even for track use. I did the upgrade for looks over function and tbh the brakes were OTT for the car but they looked how I wanted them to look.
IMO the R53 brakes will easily handle the power of the car without any issues if the set up is right. I'd go with
Stainless steel lines
Mintex 1144 or EBC yellow stuff pads
MTEC brake discs
Change the brake fluid
... and you'll be good to go.



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[will69176]

they certainly need some kind of refresh, my pick stops better!

[Dobboy]

cheers dobboy, I'm thinking the car need a bit of refreshing, its 14 years old after all.

so just to confirm, you swapped from r56 callipers back to the original ones?

No, I bought the R56S set up but when they arrived and I spoke to the mini builder I decided not to fit them.

No doubt the R56 calipers would be better than R53, with same type of pads and same type of discs.

But I would think my set up would stop an awful lot quicker than R56 with standard discs and pads, and I can batter round Knockhill for 15 laps without any problems.

You'd also be adding weight and rotational weight with R56 set up.

The only downside is some squeel at very slow speeds which I can live with.

My set up also allows me to put a set of 15" lightweight wheels on and sticky tyres when I go on track.

I know the standard R53 set up is garbage, but with the right pads it's a lot better and more readily available.

Not sure how much you can get the pads online but IIRC I paid £200 for them at KH.

You could always drive slower!




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[will69176]

No, I bought the R56S set up but when they arrived and I spoke to the mini builder I decided not to fit them.

No doubt the R56 calipers would be better than R53, with same type of pads and same type of discs.

But I would think my set up would stop an awful lot quicker than R56 with standard discs and pads, and I can batter round Knockhill for 15 laps without any problems.

You'd also be adding weight and rotational weight with R56 set up.

The only downside is some squeel at very slow speeds which I can live with.

My set up also allows me to put a set of 15" lightweight wheels on and sticky tyres when I go on track.

I know the standard R53 set up is garbage, but with the right pads it's a lot better and more readily available.

Not sure how much you can get the pads online but IIRC I paid £200 for them at KH.

You could always drive slower!




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you have given me plenty to think about.

Does anybody know if the R56 callipers fit in 16" alloys?

[Dobboy]

Ask the member Emicen what he thinks of his brakes as he should have the same pads.


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[CiderFex]

I've never taken 1499 on a track but I'd be more than happy to do so with my set up of:
MTec drilled and grooved discs.
Hel braided lines.
Castrol React fluid.
EBC Yellowstuff pads.
After visiting 1320 a few times and looking around various race prepped MINI's, some are 400bhp+, every single one of them had the standard JCW callipers fitted with various combinations of disks and pads.


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[Mon the fish]

Bridge spokes are I think the only OEM 16s that clear the R56S brakes due to the rubbish offsets of the stock wheels. Certainly the only R53 wheel that did, maybe some R56 wheels did.

Pretty much any aftermarket 16" wheel will clear

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