can any one tell me if a mini with a brake booster is better than one with out.
does the one with a booster stop any better than ones without.

yes

not really its just a diffrent in stoppin
pedal feel more like a modern car with one

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Current Ride : Toyota Trueno AE86

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thanks for the replys

Does you ISP charge by the letter spaceboy ? a bit more info would be helpful to people ...''

chris , the booster doesn't increase the braking power or ability , it just makes the pedal easier to push , like on a modern car .

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personaly i preffer running brakes without a booster, i think its gives more pedal feel and control over the brakes. im pretty sure they dont use them in race cars either.
thats not to say they are bad though, in the right hands (or feet really) they can be good. if you find yourself standing on the brake pedal to stop your car, then check out your brakes, but if your car stops alright already but you cant be stuffed with the effort it takes, then a booster is probably for you.
end of the day, it wont shorten the amount of meters you brake in, but it will reduce the effort it takes to press down the brake pedal

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real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

My opinion - (and yes opinions are like ah#les - everyone has one) - a brake booster isn't required for discs. I don't think that they were every an option (originally) with discs. Sure you can put them in with discs, but I understand that the option was only with drums, and as I say an "option" not manditory.

All they do is change the feel of the pedal.

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Spritey!
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Lower your standards. Increase your success rate.

Umm, wrong.

All Cooper S 1964-1971 (7.5 inch discs) had a booster factory fitted.

All Minis after 1984 (with 8.4" discs) had a booster factory fitted.

No drum brake Minis every had a booster factory fitted.

Clubman 1275LS, Mokes and mid-70's UK Clubman GT (all with 8.4" discs) did not have a booster.

Technically since Cooper S had a boosetr from teh factory, you should fit one if you fit those brakes to another Mini. But it is debatable if it is needed.

Cheers,

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Vizard says in one of his books somewhere that twin leading shoe boosted brakes are as efficient as 7.5" disks. I would qualify that with "properly adjusted and maintained drums"

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

I regularly drive four cars, my mini (discs, no booster) a commodore (discs all round, boosted with a progressive brake feel) a hz one tonner (discs on front, boosted and with a sudden death feel - the brakes come on hard with just a whisker too much pedal) and a cat nine RFS fire truck (with discs on the front and boosted).

Its basically a couple of hundred metres to tune into each vehicle and then its like the only thing I have ever driven.

However, having driven multiple drum braked minis - the concept of a booster on drums frightens me a little. Cold mini drums (even when well adjusted) pull erratically and you have to be ready to grab and respond. As you would also with hot fading drum brakes and wet drum brakes. A booster only exagerates that and this can be diabolical at speed.

As a dailey driver brake booster yes but on the track i dont like them

As everyone says, it's a personal thing whether you bother with a booster. I don't know that a booster would add value to a car. It all comes down to whether it better suits what you want, be it ease of use or a bit more pedal feel.
As to whether it will improve your braking capabilities, there are times when it clearly will improve them. When your legs aren't very strong! If you can't push hard enough to lock the brakes without a booster, you will gain extra braking abilities from the addition of a booster. The car isn't braking any harder, just your ability to extract all of its abilities is enhanced.
Given that, it's probably not a bad thing for the average driver to have one on their disc braked road car. Experienced drivers can make up their own minds! I agree with Mike on drum braked cars - every bit of feel you can get is a good thing! And drums are possibly easier to lock up in a once off situation, in that it takes less leg strength. So boosting drums isn't probably as useful or advisable.

I ran my car with 7.5" discs for years without a booster and I could stop it fine. I used to argue I liked the extra feel and control. Not long ago I fitted the booster again as I was driving around in traffic a lot and was sick of having to stand on the pedal. I now like the boosted feel more as it is more responsive and feels more modern. Realistically, once you get attuned to the feel of the brakes, you probably get just as much feel and control anyway (on the road at least, I'd probably remove it if I was doing track work).

Whether you use a booster or not probably boils down to whether you own one or not! If you have one, stick it on and see if you like it, but they are pretty pricey to buy new/reconditioned these days.

I wouldn't want a booster on my 1275 LS, that's for sure! Love my brakes!

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i got a booster on my 1100 with cooper discs at the front , i sorta prefer it cause ive heard without the booster u need to pump a few times for it to get firm with the booster its already firm the down side to the booster u cant really have a feel of how much pressure u have on the brakes so u sometimes end up in a lock up, but it helps in an emergancy situation

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oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower