I would agree with you here. The biggest defect in the stock braking 90% of the time is usually in the left seat. (Right seat if you are in other ex Commonwealth countries). Maintanance doesn't seem to earn brownie point at the local cruise night. Instead of spending money to making sure that the calipers are working 100% instead of being jammed and only working on the piston side decreasing the braking power by as much as half. Guys are looking for bigger brakes because "bigger has to be better" and it is more important to look good. A lot of guys say the car will stop faster with bigger brakes. This is not necessarly true either. Many of these multi piston calipers are not available with cold compound pads. They may stop better hot after a few high speed corners on the track but a panic stop in regular street driving stopping distances are usually longer because the pads are not at the proper operating temp. Cars that come stock with multi piston calipers also come with OE cold street compound pads which may be dealer only at dealer prices. The other problem with aftermarket multi pistion calipers is that they were never made for daily street use. I can't see someone that can't be bothered to service the stock brakes every oil change start strip down and cleaning the multi piston calipers at every other tank of gas.jschrauwen wrote:I'm not sure what the motivation is for a big brake kit. The MX3 being as light as it is really doesn't need a big brake kit for normal or even semi-competitive use. Now, on the other hand, if it's for all out race purposes (solely), then I'd say, sure, it's warranted. I believe that if one was to get some new/reman calipers, upgraded pads, new quality rotors and SS braided brake lines with higher temp brake fluid, you're more than suitably equipped for any type of use, short of all out racing on the track. Have a search for my "Brembo" thread in the pics/vid forum and see if that's a similar route you'd like to follow. My set-up has so much stopping power that's more than capable of anything I've thrown at it thus far. If you're motivated by the "Brembo" appearance, than my set-up may be a comparable compromise.
*edit*
http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.ph ... ght=brembo
BTW back in 1998 I was asked to help develop a kit with 11.5" two piece rotors and OEM type weather sealed multi piston calipers. Projected price was under $CN1100 for the fronts including braided lines but as usual the thing that MX-3er have become know for by the aftermarket industry over the years, everybody wants to play but no one wants to pay. As a result it never sold and faded into history. If people had actually opened up there wallet and bought a few of these kits with the reduction in the price of these componants over the years these kit could have been well under $800 these days.
