The stock brakes on the MR2 Spyder are really good.  It’s hard to improve over them.  There are kits that have larger calipers with more pistons, etc.  But those add a little more un-sprung weight and they cost a lot of money.  I think most kits start around $1,100.00.  I haven’t looked at prices lately, so there might be a cheaper option out there now.  But still they would be quite a bit of money.  So, to still get some performance and some cool looks too, I chose to replace the rotors and pads.

I went with cross-drilled and slotted rotors.  I know, I know.  They are competing technologies.  Cross-drilled is meant to cool the rotor, where slotted will heat them up.  But, the slotted rotors help to move the heat better and provide a little better bite.  It is important to note that all of the holes and slots are chamfered.  That means the edges are beveled.  That reduces the chance of the rotor cracking.  After thousands and thousands of miles, I can report that there have been no cracks with these rotors.  More on the impressions and usage later…

For brake pads, I chose some semi-metallic pads that are good to be able to drive on the street, but also perform well for autocrossing.  This is in contrast to ceramic pads that only work well, once heated up.  That makes driving normally, a bit of a challenge for the first few stops.  So the semi-metallic ones were the winner for my use.  They also produce very little dust which I like.  Keeping wheels clean is very difficult already.  when there’s tons of brake dust all over them, it gets even more difficult.

Here’s the items I put on the car:

And here they are installed:

Impressions

I didn’t notice much of a difference at all if I’m truly honest about these.  Maybe they stop me a little quicker?  Maybe not?  They do look cooler and they are not worse than stock.  I guess with the cross drilling and slotting, they are at least slightly lighter than stock so I gained a small savings in un-sprung weight and rotating mass.  Granted, a very small savings, but I am trying to justify them.  They were not super expensive either.  I think the set of 4 with the brake pads were about $100.

You can probably find similar sets on Amazon for about the same price.  Just be sure to read the reviews and make sure any cuts are properly chamfered.