PreacherCain

Morning all, a quick question (hopefully): I've got a 1991 S4 with the standard black brake callipers - and the opportunity has arisen to get hold of a pair of red front callipers as fitted to the earlier S4s.

Aside from the looks (which I like, with the "Porsche" logo cast into the aluminium rather than painted on - and of course the redness!) am I right in thinking this is a like-for-like swap? So far as I can tell from looking around online the two versions of the front callipers are basically the same, so I suppose they will perform similarly.

Do any RennList experts on the subject have a view?

hinchcliffe

I thought all 928 calipers were Black, never Red? 993's were Red and slightly bigger, right?

any pictures of them?

Vilhuer

There were three different caliper styles used in S4 but they all were black.

Ispeed

They all came black. The finish is black anodized with clear coat. Any red calipers are the factory black anodized with red base coat and clear coat over that.
Black are easier to live with and can be re-cleared if they are peeling.

PreacherCain

Interesting... These are off a 1987 car, if that helps narrow it down. The "Brembo" and "Porsche" logos are cast letters, that stand proud of the rest of the caliper. They look pretty sharp! I'll see if I can get a picture onto Photobucket or somewhere.

Gary Knox

I've owned 5 S4's, from '87 through '89, and all had black calipers. I've painted the calipers on the '89 track car red, but the original finish was black (as were the calipers on my '94 GTS).

Gary Knox

terry gt

The 91 has the best S4 calipers ( stagered piston size) if you want red , paint them . if you want more braking upgrade to the GTS units .IMHO .

PreacherCain

Thanks, all - I may pass on the earlier callipers as I wasn't aware of the differences between the various model years...

Might get mine powdercoated red, though...

fraggle

STay away from the early ones, the dust seals are NLA and the only option is to buy all new pistons with the new seal style - $50 EACH PISTON...

I, of course, have that type.

pcar928fan

The black was not an anodized finish BTW...it is a coating of some sort kind of like a powder coating. You can find them chipped very often and anodization does not "chip", but it can be ruined by many strong cleaners/solvents. It would be very silly to anodize a caliper because of the types of cleaners used on wheels...in fact, kind of silly to anodize wheels too, but Porsche did that for well over a decade didn't they? Well, the calipers on 928's (S4 and newer) are ALL BLACK coated affairs...if they are red (or anything other than black) they are from a 911 or were painted or PCed by an owner to that color.

James Bailey

The Turbo 911 featured red calipers as I recall then yellow. Note that 911 calipers are upside down compared to a 928. You must swap the bleed screws/crossover pipe to have the large small piston oriented correctly to the direction of rotation of the disc.

Jon B.

Actually, most serious brake calipers are Hard Anodized. Also, most are anodized prior to being painted. Which I'm sure the Porsche calipers are. Painted and Powdercoated stuff tend to changes colors on racetracks anyway, regardless of whether brake fluid get on them. Hard Anodized calipers just look more "business" after the abuse, and the painted stuff looks like something other than a nice shiny painted caliper!

pcar928fan

All I know is that many of my black calipers have chips on them and a solely anodized finish does not chip...well, the color does not chip off anyway...I guess the metal itself can chip.

You need to get an S4 or newer my boy so you can see what I am talking about! Glad to see you got free for a little web surfing!

Jon B.

Sorry, I got distracted by the 928 Specialists ***** thread.

You are correct about the Anodizing and not chipping. Hard Anodized stuff usually doesn't chip, on a brake caliper anyway. But generally, they are all a Grey color. Like the AP Racing calipers I'm gonna put on my car. Not getting put on there for looks.

FYI, painted and powdercoated calipers tend to run hotter than an anodized caliper simply because they are coated. Just a little tidbit.

Also noticed that I have contributed nothing to the OP's question. I've never seen an S4 with red calipers that were stock. They were all black. I agree with James on the 911 thing though. I think the 993 Turbo S actually got the Yellow calipers instead of the regular Reds. Then the PCCBs got the Yellow after that.

the flyin' scotsman

Red or Black here's my thoughts.

When I first bought my car it braked like hitting a brick wall but when it had to be inspected the rotors were turned and 'wooden' pads installed. I then worked on the brakes to get them where I wanted them.

All 4 rotors (discs) are cast in hole, all pads are PBR metallic, calipers are original, fluid is fresh and flushed every 2 years, bias is set more to the rear..............car stops on a dime.

I should add I run bilstien shox with eibach springs and michelin piolt sport tyres.

oh.................I did paint the front calipers.............RED