MINI F56 TAROX Brake Kits

3 Years on from original development of brake parts for the MINI F56 it seemed a good time to look at some of favorite MINI’s as well look at how kits have progressed and new parts added to the line-up.

You can read about our initial development and thoughts on our own F56 JCW here.

The success of performance brake parts for the MINI F56 we believe is attributed to the commitment we made to the model upon launch. TAROX UK office acquired the range topping JCW model early allowing for an assessment of where things could be improved. The OE 18’’ wheels allowed for the first kit to be a massive 350mm with the then 10 piston variant of our B34 caliper.

The kit was pushed hard on the Black JCW TAROX demo car. With kits being sold the world over it is probably Andrew Hawes’ special edition 210 Cooper S.

The car started out as a stage 1 fast road car with some straight forward mods, but has transformed in to a track weapon. Andy also has the bigger rear disc conversion which just helps balance the whole car when under very heavy braking. With Andrews car so close to race specification, maybe competition is the next stage for it…

Andrew has stuck with the 18” wheels but as you can see space for good track tires is really tight. As the MINI F56 started to fined there place among track enthusiasts not many would keep with the 18” option and its something Andrew has considered changing but at the time he bought the TAROX MINI kit there was only the 350mm, this was about to change…

The use of the F56 MINI as a capable track tool has pushed drivers to seek any and all advantages possible. TAROX Korean importer Motion in Motorsport (MIM) found that dropping to a 17’’ wheel from a 18’’ wheel allowed for extra tire clearance which in turn provided space track specific tires. It was felt the 17’’ wheel also made the most of the MINI’s excellent handling and allowed for even sharper turn in.

The issue for Tony at MIM  was the TAROX 350mm would not clear even the most open 17’’ – Tony had spec’d’  the super lightweight Rays ZE 40 wheel in Gold which looks so good on the MINI F56.

So the challenge was set by the guys at MIM to create a kit which fits with a 17’’ with no spacers required with as little braking performance dropped from the bigger 350mm kit, challenge expected.

With only a 15mm drop in overall diameter was created. Calipers were swapped out for the more compact B33 model with a change to 8 piston in line with other product development it was time to get out on track and test.

Tony and the guys at MIM love the race track and their TAROX equipped F56 Cooper S has seen plenty of track action with faultless performance from the brakes and like so many of TAROX equipped F56 using our hardest compound of brake pad the Competizione.

It is no surprise that many F56 owners now want to run the smaller kit as it gives flexibly when choosing wheels but also has a very competitive retail price. You can check out prices and specs of kits here.

TAROX MINI specialist based in the UK Lohen built a really lovely and unique Cooper S. Lohen’s Cooper S is prodemintley a road car so it seemed a great chance to try out the 335mm 17” wheel kit with the smaller B32 caliper, Lohen went for the anodized Gold finish which look stunning behind the OZ wheels. The balance of looks and performance is perfect on this build!