So after ruining the EBC Ultimax pads on the last track day (no slight against these pads, they aren’t track day pads after all), I set about researching what to replace them with. In the end, I settled on Mintex M1144s, which are reasonably hard to track down. Hint for those looking in an MX5 fitment, try finishline.

They arrived via first class post, with a franking value of more than I paid for p&p. That’s got to be a rare occurrence!

Last night, I managed to find half an hour spare so nipped into the garage to swap them out. All ridiculously easy of course – so much access with the Westfield! The Mintex pads don’t come with clips, but as the ones currently fitted hadn’t been in that long I simply reused them.

The rather sorry looking EBC Ultimax pads are on the top, with the new Mintex M1144s at the bottom of the photo. Interestingly, the thickness of the new M1144 pads was less than 0.1 inches thicker than the worn EBC pads. Not sure why the Mintex pads come with less material, but to be fair it made fitting a lot easier so I’m not complaining too much.

First impressions are that I’m surprised at the difference a set of pads can make to pedal feel. The pedal is now much firmer than before. You get stories of the Mintex pads liking to squeal but they’ve been 100% quiet so far. Only applied a light smearing of copper grease to the back of the pads, no fancy shims or anything. Braking performance is also considerably improved. I did a small test brake from 60mph and nearly instantly snatched a front wheel.

I’ve got a track day on Friday so it will be interesting to see how they perform, and indeed, how I adjust to the change in braking performance.