There is a little bit too much sideways movement on the brake pedal. I will get around to fixing this at some point.
| I am changing the brake fluid using Mobile Dot 4 initially. |
There are two main types of brake fluids:
The two types of fluid are not compatible and must not be mixed in a braking system. Super DOT4 has a much higher boiling point is better suited to track use.
Our first track day (10th September 2016) was a good test of whether the brakes were up to job. Whilst they didn't fade (even under extremely hard use), they did lose some bite and feel. This didn't come back.
I will look at upgrading the original brake lines to Goodridge stainless-steel braided hoses.
I don't really want to change these any time soon as I bought the car with brand new vented discs on the front and almost new discs on the rear. The discs on front are 240mm diameter and measured at >18mm thickness. A warning on the edge of these discs says the safe minimum is 16mm.
Most multi-piston setups require the use of non-standard wheel offsets that introduce a scrub radius. Mazda designed superb brakes in the sliding caliper arrangement fitted to all MX5s, allowing closer fitting wheels and simpler operation. We have no plans to change the calipers.
The caliper bleed nipples on the from are M8 × 1.0 thread and the ones on the rear are M7 × 1.0 thread.
In June 1996, one of the rear calipers seized whilst we were on a road trip to the Le Mans 24 race. We managed to fix it to get the car home OK but are having all four calipers refurbished and painted red by Bigg Red Ltd.
When I bought the car, it came with recently fitted EBC Yellowstuff pads on the rear and an unidentified brand recently fitted to the front. Our initial view is that the brakes work really well but, after our first track day some of the bite has gone and a lot of the feel too.
July 2019 - All the brake pads were replaced when the refurbished calipers were fitted. I'm now using EBC YellowStuff pads front and rear.
Many people recommend the EBC Yellowstuff pads as an obvious upgrade. The general consensus is that they need a bit of heat in them to work well.
A few people have Axxis Ultimate (now Axxis ULT) brake pads onto standard discs and rate them very highly. These are available from 5-speed
These are my preferred upgrade route.