bros0000 et al.,
Some great input. I ran with stock brakes and using Valvoline synthetic DOT4 fluid with Hawk Blue brakes for quite a few years before the modification bug sunk it's teeth into my wallet. What I'd like to say is that this will work just fine for a relative newcomer to road racing/DE/Track type activities. However what we are looking at is "margin." With that early setup and running some decent hi performance street tires I could get ABS actuation at up to 100mph. Therefore the system was *TIRE* limited not brake limited. Similarly, with the Mandevilles (Hawk Blues) running Yokohama A032Rs I could get ABS kick in at 100mph also. Again things are *TIRE* limited not brake limited.
Ok BIG step to wider grippier hoosiers. Now I get NO ABS kick in pretty much no matter where I brake from. Now it's all pretty much brake limited. THIS is where better bigger brakes become a factor. That's the first point.

The second point is one of design margin. Stock brakes *may* work fine at *some* tracks but 1) they will wear out quicker and require more frequent maintenance and 2) if really REALLY stressed they WILL fail - cracked rotors, boiled brake fluid, melted caliper piston seals - I've seen ALL of these symptoms with lesser brakes than what I have now.

As for brake pads I have two observations. Consider that some pads impart more heat to the rotor than otehrs and this may be less rotor friendly from a heat soak perspective than other pads. And secondly I also had a friend use the EBC Reds at VIR a few years ago. Great bite but as noted above he was down to the backing plates midway through the **second** day. This with a Wilwood 6 piston front caliper setup.
More to chew on.

And for Damon the full extent of my webpages some older and less detailed and some more recent with "better" content:
http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/rx7main.htm

Use the drop down menu for links to everything I've written up.
HTH
Crispy

 

I take it easy on my stock brakes when at the track and I can feel when the pads begin to go away so I don't push it; I can only run 3 really hard laps at Motorsport Ranch before I have to back off due to brake temps. My biggest fear is the caliper seals, just as Crispy says. I had cooked the dust covers earlier so they no longer fit correctly and I replaced them. Seals seem to be fine but I'm going to rebuild all the calipers soon anyway; parts are ridiculously cheap from Mazda Motorsports.

If my main thing wasn't autox I would upgrade the brakes, but I can't do that and run in stock. This car with big brakes and otherwise fairly stock would be a monster.

As for ABS I had the fuse blow on me while on the track. I locked the tires and overshot the first turn into the dirt. The fuse apparently blew as soon as the ABS actuated so I had none. I always run with the ABS and so didn't know what a locked wheel(s) on race tires felt like; I honestly thought I was in someone's oil or coolant as I ran into the dirt. When I noticed the ABS light on (and the loud THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP) I figured it out. Good thing the tires I was on that day were already dead and just for "fun" as I flatspotted one tire through the rubber and at least 2 steel belts

5 mins into Part 1 here (right click; save as) the cam turns to a mb FD that flies off the end of the front straight. Best drift evar!

(...and give the rest of the guys a break; they never go to the track except once a year when the Dallas area guys head to Motorsport Ranch )

 

Where do the RZ groupbuy kits fall between the Mandeville and AP kits in terms of rotor size/calipers/pads?

 

So would any 13" rotor work with the upgraded stock calipers? How do you buy the AP 13" rotors themselves without buying the whole kit?

 

Essex sells AP rotors, but I am sure there are other sources. You can get "AP clone" rotors manufactured by Coleman and others from various race and brake shops.

You'll need a hat (that matches the RX-7 hub and bolt pattern, with the right "offset") that can be bolted to the rotor you are looking at running, and you need to have the caliper both in the right place and (possibly) widened if you will be running wider than stock rotors. You can figure that all out, or you can just buy the kit from Mandeville. Or buy the Mazda RS/RZ big brakes (12.4").

-Max

 

How much is this Mandeville setup?

I'd also like to know how it compares to the RS/RZ setup.

 

So did anyone end up ordering these brakes? Opinions?

 

sorry to bring this thread back up, but does anyone have a contact email address for Mandeville Auto Tech?

the rmandeville@mndspring.com address gets returned to me...

thanks!

 

great thread, bump.