We offer Little Big Brake Kits (LBBKs) for all Miatas, something only available from Flyin' Miata. Our idea is to wrap a stiff, light caliper around the factory rotors. This gives you great pedal feel, a huge selection of pads that are easy to change, a drop in unsprung weight and low consumable costs. It also allows you to fit a wider selection of wheels.
We know from 20 years of Miata brake development that the factory 11" rotors on the ND are nicely sized for a 2330 lb car.
The calipers are four piston Wilwood Powerlites. This is a newer design than the vintage Dynalite, offering improved stiffness and lighter weight. They form the basis of our Little Big Brake Kits for other models as well. Because the new calipers are aluminum, there is a significant unsprung weight savings: 5.45 lbs per wheel in the front and 3.85 lb per wheel in the rear when compared to the standard brakes. That's an overall savings of 18.6 lbs of unsprung weight. The Brembo cars will save 13.8 lbs overall.
Since they're so stiff, they don't flex when you stand on the pedal. This gives a very firm, reassuring pedal with no springiness. We can't overstate how great the pedal feels. The piston sizes were selected to match the factory sizes, so your brake balance is retained. The swept area of the brakes is also the same as stock. The calipers ride on machined aluminum brackets designed at Flyin' Miata.
The rear calipers are exclusive to Flyin' Miata, and incorporate a parking brake mechanism. The Powerlite rear caliper has been modified to use the factory handbrake cables, even using factory clips so it's a really clean install. The handbrake is not as powerful as the stock setup, so while it can be used to hold the car on a grade, it is not suitable for initiating handbrake turns.
As a bonus, these calipers are more compact than the stock ones. This allows the use of 15" wheels. We've tested them with both 15x8 and 15x9 Gen4 6UL wheels. They also fit under stock 17" wheels without the need for a spacer. We have not yet tested them on factory 16" wheels.
We have tested these hard on the track, including High Plains Raceway - the toughest test for brakes we've come across. Even with 30 minute sessions and a pro driver behind the wheel, the brakes never showed any signs of weakness. They are well matched and tested for the ND's size and power level.
Will they fit your wheels? Well, we know they'll fit just about any wheel we've tested and they definitely fit behind stock ones. We do recommend you check against your own, however. Use our handy template to be sure.
Front template
Rear template
Includes stainless brake lines for all four wheels. You will reuse your stock rotors. Also available as separate front and rear kits. Brake pads are BP-20X front and BP-10 rear. You can run the BP-20X in the rear as well, but if the car is driven gently all the time there is the potential for some brake noise.
Wilwood has moved to an improved anodizing process that's harder than their previous option. They also no longer dye the calipers as part of the process, as the dye would fade over time with heat and sunlight. This means that the calipers are a medium grey color instead of black.
Fits 2.0 cars, including all North American ND MX-5s. 1.5 cars use a different rotor size, so you'd need a set of 2.0 rotors to go along with the kit.
Note: The piston sizes are well-matched to the stock hydraulic system, an almost perfect match to factory sizes and the same 3.0 square inch setup as used on other kits. Also, the 5.0 square inch pad size is very slightly smaller than the 5.4 square inch of the factory (that's 7% smaller) but the swept area is the same. As always, the only reliably accurate source of information about our products is from us.
