New Product: CP8350 Competition Brake Kit for Mazda MX-5 Miata NC (2006-2015)

The NC Miata has become a popular track day stalwart, with 2.5-liter MZR and Honda K-swapped examples adding even more fuel to the fire. However, a major weakness of the NC chassis has always been the brakes, even at relatively stock power levels. Mushy pedal, pad fade, boiling fluid, uneven pad wear...the list goes on. These factors all contribute to a lack of confidence when bombing into a brake zone, and your lap times inevitably suffer when fighting these issues.

While there are a litany of aftermarket brake offerings for the NC Miata, there's never been one that can offer the same level of race-proven performance and value that an AP Racing by Essex Competition Brake Kit can provide! Our new NC system is nearly identical to our renowned 299mm 'Sprint' system for the first and second generation BRZ/86 "Toyobaru" twins, except with upgraded 2-piece fully floating disc in the Miata kit (rather than fixed discs). The result is incredible durability for the pads and discs, over 10 lbs. of unsprung weight savings vs stock brakes, a million reasonably priced pad options, excellent wheel fitment, and a rock hard pedal feel that will inspire confidence in every brake zone. We've had many high horsepower cars (C5 / C6 Corvettes, for example) run our CP8350 kits on the toughest braking tracks around the world, so you can be confident that you'll have plenty of brake headroom when you eventually slap that turbo on!

Brake Pad Recommendations: For optimum performance with this kit, we strongly recommend using Ferodo Racing compound DS1.11 on the front axle and their DS2500 material on the rear axle. This combination provides proper balance between front and rear friction coefficients (mu). With the CP8350 caliper up front and OEM NC brakes in the rear, we do NOT suggest running a front pad with a substantially higher mu than the rear, as this would shift the brake bias too far forward for most applications. We also suggest the DS1.11 front / DS2500 rear combo if you’re running OEM RX-8 brakes on the rear of your car.

View more details and purchase here:

Complete front AP Racing By Essex Competition Brake Kit for the Mazda Miata NC (2006-2015)

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Race-winning AP Racing CP8350 four piston calipers
• 299x32mm 60 vane 2-piece floating AP Racing by Essex J Hook discs
• Saves approximately 10 unsprung lbs. on front axle vs. OE Mazda brakes
• Every component designed to resist the heat of extended track sessions
• Pistons sized properly to allow for seamless integration with OEM master cylinder and ABS system
• Designed to work with OEM rear brake calipers and discs, and also works well with an RX-8 rear brake upgrade (see brake pad recommendations above)

The white NC featured here is a K Swap owned by the GM of Chin Track Days. Over the past weeks he and his wife have been helping us put some real-world torture test miles on our new brake kit at tough braking tracks like Road Atlanta and Sebring. Here's what he had to say after pummeling our kit:

"I can't believe how little pad wear there is with no cooling ducts! The highlights of this kit/pad combo are: we ran a full 1 hour double session on these at Sebring in 90 degree weather, never had any fade or change in pedal behavior. We are on all stock braking components(master cyl, abs, etc.). I had one "situation" where I was coming in too hot, and had to REALLY lay into the brakes on a painted rumble strip. The brakes kept composure, didn't lock up, didn't pitch the car, just did what they had to do.
For years we were running a different brand of big brake kit and having issues. We would experience inconsistent pedal feel and squirming. We tried a few different pads with that kit and never had the confidence and pedal feel that we have with the AP by Essex Brake Kit."