E=MC^2

Im getting some 17 inch rims and my brakes are not the best to look at. im going to need to replace them soon. Does anyone know of any good looking, powerful brake calipers? that DONT cost 1000 dollars? im having trouble finding sporty calipers. All that seems to come up is covers for the ugly oem ones.

Thanks- Brian

Pitt

You could upgrade to 1.8L brakes, they aren't that much bigger, but they are bigger. Paint them Calipers if you h8 them.

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

eBay Motors: 4 x BREMBO TEXT UNIVERSAL DISC BRAKE CALIPER COVER KIT (item 180351500562 end time May-05-09 07:18:39 PDT)

nicacus

iTrader: (7)

I vote you paint them, unless your set on getting better brakes. If thats the case I'd get the 1.8 brakes and do the corrado rotor upgrade.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

It's funny, with my relatively open 15" wheels, I've always found it pleasantly amusing how tiny the stock brakes look. I find it a sort of social commentary on the absurdity of certain aspects of modern car aesthetics, and the elegant minimalism of the Miata's design; enough to get the job done reliably, and no more.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

After debating brake upgrade after brake upgrade, and becoming convinced I needed a 11"/10.9" setup (or more), this wisdom is starting to dawn on me. I'm about to just buy new rotors with some HPS and call it a day.

TonyV

iTrader: (17)

and make sure u get the "type R" one's, they are a lil lighter, and more aerodynamic. Not to mention better clamping force




dude u should know a few things..

1- 17" wheels + this forum =
2- there's plenty of options/discussions about brake upgrades, none of which are for "looks"
3- this is a very bad start to your tenure here. Read up alot more on what this place is about before starting threads like this, and if anything check out Redirecting... where you might find more like mindedness to yours












oh, and welcome

ray_sir_6

iTrader: (1)

Don't worry about them. You can get the Sport front brake setup, and the non-sport 1.8l rear setup (just get the caliper brackets, the calipers are the same). It will make a huge difference in braking. As far as running 17s, please tell me it's cause you want to run tires wider than a 225 or 245 tire. If not, then use 15s, as this brake setup will still fit. If yiou are like me, and want to run a 245/255 or even 275s on a street car, then 17s are the only way you can do it.

E=MC^2

yes, I have the 17s because the tires are much wider, and i got the brand new tires with the rims on and balanced for 400. seeing as how i needed tires anyway it seemed to be a good deal. but thanks for all the feed back i was just wondering if there was a kit there doesnt seem to be i thought it was weird, i suppose not.

curly

iTrader: (25)

The wilwood calipers sold in FM's and other's big brake kits are only $125. There are quite a few of us wondering how easy it would be to R&D a bracket to mount these fairly cheap calipers to the stock caliper brackets and use some 11" corrardo rotors with them. Beyond that, your options are:

1. Just stick with the 1.6 brakes and paint the calipers. They work great if you don't track your car, even then without a turbo they're fine at HPDE days with the right pads.

2. Put on some 1.8 rotors and paint the calipers. Cheap, effective, and the bigger disc isn't dwarfed by the wheel as much.

3. Do #2, then buy the $100 kit to put on 11" corrado rotors on the front, paint the calipers, and now the brakes look even bigger (and apparently better)

4. Buy a $1000 BBK

5. Buy the caliper covers for $5, post some pics, and get laughed at forever.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

Dude... I'll apologize in advance for how much this is gonna hurt... ahem.

By the quoted statement, I need to ask if you believe that 17" rims will perform better than stock 14" rims simply because they're wider. Did you own stock wheels before (14" w/195's), saw that you needed tires, and decided it would be a good performance upgrade to buy wheels 3" bigger? If you did this, then you've made an awful mistake. If you simply bought them for looks and don't care at all how they work, then stop reading. SERIOUSLY, if you bought only for looks (or they're some sweet ultralight carbon-fiber race rims), go add me to your ignore list right now.
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It's going to hurt if you keep going, so stop or add me to your ignore list before it's too late
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The types of tires you can buy 4 for $100 installed in 17" sizes are all absolute and complete crap. I can assume your wheels are some horrible bling-bling chrome monstrosity's you found on Craigslist?

If you needed tires, and were looking for a performance upgrade, THE VERY LAST THING ON EARTH YOU SHOULD DO FOR MIATA IS BUY HUGE-*** CHEAP RIMS AND PUT HUGE-*** CHEAP-*** TIRES ON IT! They're heavy as **** and hard as ****, so you've probably tripled your unsprung weight at each corner, which is going to be very noticeable while cornering in a bad way. Your suspension can't do it's job anymore as it was engineered because of the huge *** heavy rims hanging off of it. Your stock braking system also wasn't designed to be used with those big *** rims. You're worried about "looks" and the solution to this is to buy a huge set of rotors/calipers and add more unsprung weight, further diminishing suspension performance and gaining ZERO better braking because your shitty *** rock-hard tires will just lock up under less pedal pressure than they do on your current stock brakes.

Man, put that **** up for sale on Craigslist... do it right now. Maybe you can recover enough cash:

For 4 of these: Mazda Performance Parts: TOYO T1-R 195/55/14--Mounted and Balanced!

A set of these: Mazda Performance Parts: Miata Brake Lines by Russell--SALE!

A pair of these: Mazda Performance Parts: Hawk Blue Brake Pad Set - FRONT

And a can of this: Mazda Performance Parts: Brake Caliper Paint System - RED

curly

iTrader: (25)

Good post Samnavy, with very true wisdom in it. I considered saying something along the same lines, but the OP's wording made me second guess bashing him, I'd like him to clarify this obviously, but it sounds like his decisions were to run 195's maximum on the stock 5.5" rims, or put something wider on some 6.5-7" rims he was able to obtain cheap. He's also in Minnesota, T1-R's might not be the best way to spend $400 for him. $400 should buy you decent all season tires though.

E=MC^2

ya the snow gets thick up here this car is only for summer, but thank you for the honest truth. I am a newby but i have some taste i would never buy chrome rims ever. they are sand blasted gray. knock off brand with kumho ecsats. I wasnt looking to upgrade my tires or rims just replace my tires but a friend of mine had these rims/tires on his corrado project so i got nice tires and yes a bit bigger but nice looking rims for less than i would have spent on some nice tires for my ugly stock rims.

I think im going to buy some red caliper paint and get to work.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

I got a lot of recommendations for the AST when looking for replacements on my MS6. Which model are your Ecstas?

Performance vs. dollar vs. looks is almost always a compromise. Deciding which one you value most and then acting can be a tough choice. I'm a very strict quality>quantity. I'll always try and buy the best performing part for the money, even if it looks like ***... and especially if it's cheaper. I debate about purchases for weeks or months, doing all my homework, scouring the best deal, and am virtually never displeased with the result. It's when I get in a hurry or find a "super deal" on something I wasn't necessarily going to buy that I feel regret.

Somehow my projects always end up having a quality feel about them anyways... and they work damn near perfectly.