will the discs off a vw polo work? family member has a 1998 model and i noticed the wheels were only 13" .

By the way, would a pair of Cooper S disc brakes be better in terms of the braking power? Are they dearer then Honda Disc?

Why would people always like to put disc brake in the front and drum at the back?

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1964 Morris Mini 850 - G13b gti powered - classic yet practical
1968 Morris Minimatic - 1100cc - classic & breakable
Sun Certified Java Programmer v5 310-055

i cant answer the first part but i can the seccond! people can correct me if im wrong but i believe its to do with the face that the front brakes are the ones that require more stopping power since when u brake all those physics laws and stuff say basically the majority of the weight of the car still wants to go forwards so itll be pushing against the front brakes...something like that im sure someone else can explain is better than me

judging by the fact that the honda disks are bigger and calipers are bigger, that probly means the pads are bigger which means (lol) the surface area of the pads are larger therefore i assume (never assume because it makes an ass out of you and me yeah yeah) the brakes are more effective.
also im sure the honda weighs more so they should pull up the mini nicely

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real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

Honda discs will most likely be cheaper to assemble onto mini hubs than cooper s discs but will require engineering to be legal so the end cost may well be similar . Most likely worth it if you are going for serious horsepower and will use it to the fullest potential but then again a set 8.4" ventilated discs will be about as good . The expense of mini disc brakes isn't that bad considerring we are talking the brakes off the top end car produced by the factory , it would be like trying to buy the brakes from a GTHO falcon as opposed to an ex taxi falcon .

Nobody worries about discs on the rear because they were never available , there are some specialty makers in the UK making them now but a lot of people there are debating just how effective they really are given the light weight of the rear of the mini and the fact the fronts do most of the work anyway .

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Goofy: Honda brakes were chosen because of their relative abundance. The calliper design is also quite compact. Camira brakes were also chosen by some people for the same reasons. VW Polo brakes would be quite rare and probably nobody has investigated whether they would fit on a Mini. If they are available to you, then you could check them out for suitability. The rotors need to fit over the Mini Drive flange and the calliper mountings (plus thickness of adapter plate) needs to line up with the mounting face of the Mini upright.

Ben_Aus_Mini: As Goofy explained, it's all to do with weight transfer. More braking can be achieved from the front brakes due to the whole car "pushing" down on the front wheels during braking. That's why front brakes are always larger and in some cases are the more efficient disk brakes. Most modern cars have disks all round, but the front brakes are always larger.

Dave

It sounds Honda discs are good stuff to put on a Mini then.





Even for Mini racing, they still use drums at the back, hey? Would it be a good point to argue if the front disc brakes go wrong (e.g. a leakage of brake fluid in the front, therefore no pressure at the piston at the calliper end), then the chance of crashing will be highly increased? since the back is only drums...and as you know drums are kinda useless for braking.

Ben A.

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1964 Morris Mini 850 - G13b gti powered - classic yet practical
1968 Morris Minimatic - 1100cc - classic & breakable
Sun Certified Java Programmer v5 310-055

Ben , if drums are kinda useless for braking then why did so many people race with them in the 60's and 70's , not only in mini's but with big cars as well , they were what was available and they work well . The main difference is with very heavy use drums will overheat faster than discs because of less airflow through the brakes . Also drums need regular adjusting to work best , discs are self adjusting . A lot of racers in the 60's disconnected the rear brakes in mini's anyway because they tended to lock under heavy braking . If there is a brake system failure then as most Aust produced mini's only had a single circuit braking system you lost everything anyway and were left with the handbrake to slow you down .

Ben , you really do need to join a physical club with your mini so people can see and hear what you are talking about and ride in it with you to advise what it needs , there's only so much we can say going on your descriptions .

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Which explains why.

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1964 Morris Mini 850 - G13b gti powered - classic yet practical
1968 Morris Minimatic - 1100cc - classic & breakable
Sun Certified Java Programmer v5 310-055