DIY: The No BS Bolt on Big brakes for RS/GS/LS/GSR

[LightningTeg]

Doing some highway pulls in my 500whp car and having the brakes fade with race compound pads was unnerving. I decided it was time to upgrade the front brakes. After looking into the idea for months, I stumbled across a combination of ideas. Type R caliper remans can be had for dirt cheap <$30. This is nothing new.The problem was always finding rotors that would work or needed to be drilled and machining the caliper bracket to clear. I felt, along with my colleagues there had to be a rotor that would fit the bill somewhere.


I found a thread on Honda tech where someone had used a Mini Cooper rotor and it bolted up no problem. The hub bore was exactly the same as our Hondas and the 11” diameter fits the bill for the caliper. I bit the bullet I guess you could say and ordered Calipers, Rotors, Pads, and Stainless lines.
I was super happy when the ONLY modification needed was trimming of the dust shield to clear the bigger caliper. No machining of the bracket is neccesary to center the pad either. These combined with EBC reds just destroy my tires at threshold braking which I don’t remember being able to do even auto crossing.


I have not tried other wheels but I have been told LS meshes clear and 15”x6.5 Rota slips do not. Please chime in if you have experience. My 16” GT3’s are very close.



Basic Parts List: (Rock Auto.com)


Centric Type R Brake Caliper Remans - $ 31.79 each

Brackets COME WITH CALIPERS

Centric Premium Mini Cooper rotors 4x100, 280mm diameter - $ 40.79 Each


Total: $145.16 + shipping + your choice of pads

Originally Posted by JRutski

I have to agree- not pretty...and looking back, I'm pretty rusty (hahahaha) being that this is the most welding I've done in some 6-7 years. But hey - function > form



Indeed!! This has got to be the easiest, most straight-forward big-brake upgrade, ever. And with OEM parts to boot! Here's everything mounted - it just looks plain good:



I was honestly a bit worried about the bolt holes - I think they're 1 or 2 mm larger on the Coop rotors than the Integra's - but then I remembered that the center diameter is exactly the same, so no worries.

Here's the hardest modification you'll need to make - you can see here that the Type-R calipers are clearly larger and interfere with the dust shield:



Just break out the old angle grinder and cut here:



And here you can see fitment is good after the two cuts:



Still need to order the pads and the SS lines...but it's certainly coming along.

[RacerZook]

Hmmmm, may have to try those with my nsx calipers. Make the swap even easier and just toss the heat sheild instead of trimming it.

[stillhere153]

Mmmh that's Def a good way to get it done

[codenamezero]

Nice, i'm going to grind those stupid dust shield lol never thought about it (since i hate to cut anything OEM hehe...) But i thought you need to get the bracket from fastbrakes to line it up? Otherwise you will get uneven wear? Could be wrong. I had to get a bracket for my NASX calipers.

[MeltMan]

I approve this upgrade.

[Esteban8657]

bookmarked!

[ThatGuy]

I've been waiting a long time for someone to figure this out lol Koodos.

Just to be clear, do you know the model/year of the mini cooper that these are from? the 2010 Mini Cooper S perhaps?

[LightningTeg]

2007 Mini cooper, non S. Just check the diameter

[96GreenDB]

Awesome thread. I may sound like a newb but whats the difference in the LS,GS,RS,GSR calipers to Type R?

[RacerZook]

Got a part# for us?

[SniperX]

Know if it applies to rear brakes as well?

[LightningTeg]

Originally Posted by SniperX

Know if it applies to rear brakes as well?

You know Id be damned, the rear type R brakes are 10.25" and the rear mini brakes are 10.23". So yeah, it would probably work.

Problem is the rear calipers are not so common and are $100 a pop without cores.

[LightningTeg]

Originally Posted by 96GreenDB

Awesome thread. I may sound like a newb but whats the difference in the LS,GS,RS,GSR calipers to Type R?

Pad is bigger and rotor is 11" in diameter vs 10.3".

[2000vsmGS]

I read somewhere that you can use rear 2002-2003 civic si rotors and si/rsx rear calipers or vigor rear calipers (not sure). I think you just have to swap the right to the left and flip the caliper. Only thing is your bleeder will be upside down.