1.8 brake swap = hell yeah
 

Out with 1.6 brakes, in with 1.8 brakes w/ Hawk HPS pads. The difference is amazing. The "swap" isn't much more involved than simply changing pads and rotors. The extra work involves changing the caliper brackets, which is a matter of removing 2 extra bolts (per corner). The heatshields in the rear have to get bent inwards and trimmed a bit. Nothing to it. And Hustler, there is still plenty of access to the bleeders.

Should have done this a long time ago.

Awesome, i have been looking into this myself but was not sure the best way to obtain parts. Did you get yours from a salvage yard or all new?

Got the entire packgae from a miata specific parts and salvage company, www.planetmiata.com. You need the rear slider clips from the donor car! The front slider clips will swap from your existing brakes.

So...I wonder how much of the difference came from pads, and how much from the actual size difference. Thoughts?

A pretty good difference. I had identical pads on my old 1.6 rotors and switched to 1.8 rotors after experiencing massive brake fade on one of the Santa Monica Mountain roads. Haven't had an issue since.

http://www.rev2red.com/images/cars/faq/brake1.jpg

http://www.rev2red.com/images/cars/front.jpg

Scott's rotor comparison picture is underwhelming compared to reality. When you have the parts in front of you, the 1.6 rotors look sooo much smaller. The 1.8 rotors also look much better sitting in the wheel.

Ben, you are welcome to a test any time you're free.

I ended up with "sport" front brakes, 1.8 rear brakes. I might put those on next weekend if I'm motivated to swap in the 3.90 torsen.

yeah i think i have "sport" brakes all around also. From a like 99-00 model i think some guy from work was like can you use these??? F-yeah free upgrade. I am still using stock pads and i defiently need to upgrade.
With the hawks do you feel that you have to heat them up get operating temp before using them? I need a good pad for the front and rear that have great inital grab but also good when warmed up.

I run hp+ on the track and street on my stock 1.6. They stop fine when cold, and there are no safety concerns. They are totally different up to temp though. I love that pad, and will try to run them on my sport brakes at the track with ducting.

I'm running the HP+ on the street :)

HP+s are great. The first stop is a TINY bit weak, but not dangerously so at all. I'd use something like a Black or a Blue on-track, though. I faded HP+s on the track on street tires at stock power.

I drove Mike's car with HP+ and couldn't stand how noisy they were. I only drove his car for like 10 minutes, but my HPS pads feel the same to me, but without all the noise. Neither pad would be good for open track, but both are probably great for street/spirited/autox/etc.

glad you finally got it done! Did it bring the pedal play back up? It was kinda scary when i went to hit the bakes and nothing happened until the pedal was half way down!

Ben, car is still running great. I tightened the belt and have been seeing 7-8psi now. But i think driving with the ECU in limp mode killed the converter because its rattleing loud. And i still have 2 CELs. Argh.

Oh yeah, my car had HP+ on it. They don't squeal much, just kinda make a vibration/chatter when pulling into parking spots sometimes..... and they make a grinding noise occasionally.

the hp+ is just barely creeping out of its heat range on my 1.6 brakes at 94whp. The rotors are covered in pickup...so they don't squeel just feel like grinding. If I can't make the hp+ work on teh track...which I probably won't, then I'll get a spare set of rotors and blues for the front, then run a cheap dustless pad on the street.

Well, glad it's running right. I'm sure your mileage has improved as well. Lean would kill a cat quicker than rich. A rear o2 sensor will confirm the cat's condition. I'm curious what your other code is though.

I liked the way your car stopped, but the pads were loud. Grindey when decelerating and squealy when coming to a stop. That was my only complaint; they certainly performed well. When I put 1.8 brakes on my rear only, my pedal went down and got soft, compared to all 1.6. Finishing the conversion with 1.8 brakes on the front raised the pedal back up, and it firmed up again. So yeah, the pedal feels right now. And the car stops well, without the noise. They're still a bit grindey, but are tolerable, and they don't squeal. But I'm sure they would fade before yours do. Not sure that it is a street problem, and I'll swap in track pads as needed. I can't remember what I picked up, but it was either a set of Blues or Blacks. Also got a set of EBC Green as an alternate street pad.

I bought those axxis ultimates off ebay. Think it was $82 shipped for F&R. They're great street pads, not really noisy in the slightest.

Thats what im using. Im still on my 1.6 brakes and I've done a few autoX's and alot of heavy street driving and these pads have never faded on me.
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I've got that same setup, but also the Goodridge lines. Overall feel improved dramatically, but I don't know if it stops any quicker. I think where people make the real money is on the track... lots more surface area to dissipate heat.

if you can lock up the brakes, then you have enough torque to stop the car with either equipment.