30 replies to this topic

[Raggedroy]

Hi all,

I'm look at bit of a upgrade to my Mini starting with light weight (alloy) hubs, flanges and 4 pot brakes. Does anyone have experience with the quality of these products from Minisport or KAD. Products from both companies look similar with Minisport being cheaper on most items but I don't want to buy an inferior product just to save money.

 

Thanks

[Northernpower]

The KAD products are very good but why do you want to fit them. If its going to be a competition car I understand but for a road car they're not appropriate. For one thing you'll never warm the pads up enough for them to be efficient on the road. There are far better ways to invest that sort of money.

[Ethel]

4 pot calipers have sound advantages, it's vented discs that can be questionable. I've no experience of the other bits, but if you don't fit heavier discs and wheels would the weight savings be worth the likely losses in strength and durability?

[mini13]

I'd steer clear of minisport, have a look at minispares instead, generally a better product and service.

[Spider]

If you are thinking about these products, only look at the KAD gear. There's a very good reason for the price differential.

[greenmini1275]

What's wrong with vented discs? Every other modern car on the road has them on the front these days?

[Spider]

What's wrong with vented discs? Every other modern car on the road has them on the front these days?

 

In general - and NOT Mini specific -, nothing wrong with vented discs, but there's also many smaller cars that still run solid discs.

 

With the Mini in particular, it's a case of what's necessary and really, they simply don't weigh enough to warrant vented discs.

 

Also, going a little further, with most vented disc conversions, they also require the wheel be further off set outwards, this increases the scrub radius, putting more load on the ball joints & wheel bearings. The other aspect to keep in mind, is they increase the un-sprung weight, which will reduce ride and handling.

[absx2]

Wise words from Moke spider.

 

I used to get sucked in the hype in the glossy advertisements, after all said and done a glossy mini magazine is just pandering to its sponsors needs so touts the latest stuff we don`t really need.

[govig]

I have minisport drive flanges and 4 pot calipers. The quality is perfectly OK imo. 

 

All suppliers have hiccups over quality although I have never had anything questionable from KAD yet. I did spend most of yesterday afternoon stripping the paint off a brand new RH tank from the (on here) more respected supplier. When it had been originally sprayed, they forgot to derust it and the paint was bubbling up in true mini style. 

 

This tank had never been fitted but has probably costs me well over £100 to sort. Never mind....

[govig]

 

Wise words from Moke spider.

 

As is usually the case but on this subject maybe a bit excessive : )

[evoderby]

Minisport hubs and flanges are made to very nice spec in 7075Alloy which is hard anodised after machining. KAD hubs are uni-directional and therefore have unnecessary weight with double caliper mounting flanges each side, they also increase track width to quite an extent.....the Minisport items are considered a better design accordingly. Both designs benefit from using sealed metro ball joints rather than the nightmare inducing mini type that requires extensive lapping and shimming to get right.

As far as calipers go the KAD items win hands down, Minisport ones are really made on a budget and testing has showed them to be flexing extensively under pressure compared to other more expensive designs. Both Kad and Minisport reduce unsprung weight by up to 1.5kg a corner compared to cast Cooper S calipers with a notable effect on handling. Opting for vented discs however completely eradicates this advantage as vented discs are much heavier than the solid type.

[sonikk4]

Although not a mini my mates Caterham is running solid triumph discs and calipers and that stops extremely well (160 bhp). So you can do too much in the braking department. I will be sticking to my 7.5" Cooper S setup and if needed add upgraded pads.

[evoderby]

In my personal experience decent alloy 4-pots give much nicer feel than Cooper S 2-pots....especially when running without a servo.

Both caliper types tested with A032R tires and MS carbon metallic pads which I rate the best pads available over the counter.

Although tire grip often is the limiting factor in both setups, the increased feel, reduced unsprung weight and better cooling that comes with alloy calipers really makes it a no brainer unless you're stuck to strict homologation rules. My 2C

Edited by evoderby, 03 September 2017 - 03:58 PM.

[Raggedroy]

Thanks everyone, it has certainly given me something to think about. I was a little surprised about the increase in track width on the KAD hubs, that is something I didn't expect. I'm leaning towards the KAD setup but I now have the dilemma over solid or vented disks. The cost difference is insignificant, I would save weight on the solid disks but it seems a shame to go to this expense and not fit vented, even though they are not really needed on the road.

[nicklouse]

unfortunatly unsprung weight on a mini suspension unless you start modifying the rubber dounuts profile and the profile of the lip on the trumpet.

 

on a race car sure you could run a softer spring but with greater preload but there are no spring setups for the mini that actually allow this due to poor design.

 

the fact that the KAD ones are both handed shows just how important unsprung weight is. while having a spare part that can be used in two places is just luck.

 

BUT if the object is to get from A to B as fast as possible then less gross weight is always going to help.