NB brakes, mostly street, some auto-x

I can't find the Miata brake thread that I swear was here a couple months ago, so what's one more?

Per the heading, mostly street, some auto-x, no noise, not too concerned about dust, something that's linear modulation (which might seem incongruous with auto-x, but I'm Captain Slow, work with me...)

From what I've ferreted out, stock, stop tech, or HP+ probably the way to go?  Just some good Centric rotors?

Yeah regular rotors (Centrics are good), decent (like any DOT4) fluid and aggressive street pads - maybe Stoptech Sport, EBC Redstuff or Axxis ULT.

None of those will squeak, right?

I had HP+ on the Focus, liked them, but wanted to get inputs on other choices. 

The pads I've just run through were on the car when I got it, and had a lot of initial bite, which I never liked. 

I've seen more than a few references to EBC reds, I'll see if I can find a little more on those. 

EBC Reds are very quiet, Stoptech sports have little to no noise, Axxis ULT is noisy.

It may be a bit aggressive for your tastes but many autocrossers find that you can dial out some of the front brake bias that Mazda puts in their cars for safety by running HP+ rear pads and HPS fronts.

I did on my CSPish car and it really helped balance the car and rotate just the perfect amount on course.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

It may be a bit aggressive for your tastes but many autocrossers find that you can dial out some of the front brake bias that Mazda puts in their cars for safety by running HP+ rear pads and HPS fronts.

I did on my CSPish car and it really helped balance the car and rotate just the perfect amount on course.

 Well, maybe that's what I'm feeling as opposed to the pads?

And I should correct myself, I think I ran HPS, not HP+ on the Focus...

Do the HP+ squeak, or are we back to install instruction?

Can something like that be done with EBC reds and yellows? Only insofar as I've seen a bit on EBC, usually related to auto-x, iirc.

Certainly not opposed to something auto-x oriented ( which I need to do more of anyway).

I'd look at the Carbotech AX6, or whatever the equivalent GLoc pad is. Whatever blanks are fine. 

Just bed them properly. All brakes (street, track, motorcycle) I've ever broken in, I've taken the same approach, and it always seems to work.

Do 60-5 HARD "stops" on the brakes. Quickly accelerate back up, and repeat the 60-5 "stops" until the brakes start stinking and the pedal goes a bit soft. Slowly drive home using the brakes as little as possible and let them cool completely.

Done.

I have porterfield r4s on my Miata and like them a lot. Came from Flyin Miata. 

cmcgregor said:

I have porterfield r4s on my Miata and like them a lot. Came from Flyin Miata. 

I also run the Porterfields. Good bite, last fairly long, no noise. Only gripe is that nothing seems to touch the brake dust that they generate.

OldGray320i said:

And I should correct myself, I think I ran HPS, not HP+ on the Focus...

Do the HP+ squeak, or are we back to install instruction?

I ran HP+ on a RX-8 and they were loud. I liked how the braked, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for a daily driver. I know some people have had different results. I do not think installation was the issue. I repeatedly repeated the instructions, etc. :) I even tried anti-squeal compound, anti squeel shims, etc.

I ran a set of HP+ on my Miata track car and they worked well and they were fine in very limited street driving.

HPSs work nicely on the street, but there may be some better, more modern pads out there.

Snrub said:

OldGray320i said:

And I should correct myself, I think I ran HPS, not HP+ on the Focus...

Do the HP+ squeak, or are we back to install instruction?

I ran HP+ on a RX-8 and they were loud. I liked how the braked, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for a daily driver. I know some people have had different results. I do not think installation was the issue. I repeatedly repeated the instructions, etc. :) I even tried anti-squeal compound, anti squeel shims, etc.

I ran a set of HP+ on my Miata track car and they worked well and they were fine in very limited street driving.

HPSs work nicely on the street, but there may be some better, more modern pads out there.

Sort of a dilemma.   If it's the car's brake bias that gives it that feeling of way too much initial bite, I'd be happy to fix it with different pad compounds, though I'd  really like noise free if I can. 

Don't care that much about brake dust, don't need max auto-x/track pads, though I do auto-x some. 

HPS' fixed the Focus issue, car was much better behaved with the pad upgrade, but the Miata feels like it has plenty of brake, so I'd like to get better behavior, if that makes sense. 

So, what's the consensus on brake grabiness with Miatae?

Is it bias that gives that "too strong" initial bite, or is it likely the pads that are/soon-to-be-were on the car?

The "cheap-o" brake kit on Goodwin seems like it would meet my needs fine, but I want to ditch that initial hard bite feel, and I'd bee happy to cobble parts together to do it. 

The sorta good news is that with the pads at the end of life, that grabiness is gone!

The sorta bad news is that I'll be out of brakes pretty soon...

Here's another possible factor to the front/rear bias question: What kind of suspension do you have? With close to factory springs there is a lot of weight transfer under braking. Stiffer springs really improve the not so great OEM braking performance.

I'd be tempted to try something like the Hawk HPS 5.0 pads. Based on your posts, I suspect HP+ are a bit grabby for the street. Hawk's data suggests it has slightly greater "stopping power", a slightly higher heat range and they're a more modern pad, so probably some other more desirable characteristic too.

Coilovers 400/300.

Reading my own post above makes me think its tne pads...

While I'm at it  thinking maybe "PM" the brake hoses. 

 SS or OEMish, any brand preferences?

Or is it OMG night and day difference with SS lines?  My recollection last time I did SS hoses was they didn't seem fantastically better. 

But I'm old and senile, so... open to corrections and suggestions.

For street and autocross just go with stock.   Doubt you will see much difference.

NAPA has some really grippy pads.