At the core, the PFC ZR31 caliper provides immense stiffness that is unmatched in the segment from the monobloc design with the integrated bridge. The caliper geometry was designed for Champ Cars and the street versions look almost identical since they are only modified for thinner street pads. This exact caliper was the FXMD race caliper which does not have dust seals.
Underneath we can see the scalloped-out piston area to reduce weight. This caliper is the street version with dust seals and piston caps to handle various weather conditions that requires less maintenance.
The caliper features PFC’s classic “Performance Friction” logo as well as “Z-Rated” which encompasses their street line of products.
Each piston has its own brake pad. In addition to the stiffness of the caliper, multi-pads add another performance advantage layer to improve brake pedal feel and modulation.
Even the caliper brackets are beautifully machined works of art.
PFC developed proprietary metallurgy for their race and street rotors to ensure they will not warp or crack. The 14” PFC rotor is substantially larger than the commonly used 13” rotor size. The dimples provide a minor cleaning effect to the pad face in a similar way as slots, with less noise, while not creating stress risers like cross drilling a rotor.
10 comments
OK, that’s just lovely. Wish the multipad stuff was more commonplace but even the “budget” ZR34/ZR94 calipers look pretty nice.
The individual pads was clever. But I think the hat to rotor retention was even more clever!
Any idea if the NSX ABS module is similar to the S2k stuff? I am kicking around adding the S2k ABS system to my 240sx as it is a self contained standalone setup. Would be nice to go from no ABS to something more modern and workable.
It’s somewhat similar. The programming is different and there are some hardware differences. People have used it on the NSX but I do not how know it performs vs a system designed for the NSX, however for your application it may be a better option.
I had no idea individual pads were so rare in the automotive world. In the motorcycle industry, lots of even stock calipers use 4 individual pads.
Neat. A lot of new information in this thread. I am one of those people who thought PFC was left only for those in NASCAR circles etc. I have a 328mm Stoptech ST40 kit behind 18″ TE37s. I thought they were cool (just like Milhouse’s mom), but you said otherwise.
They’ve been in formula cars, prototypes, and sportscars for decades. I never said anything bad about StopTech. They are a great product at a great price point and put far more engineering and focus on brake bias for each application than their competitors.
13″ rotors behind 18″ is too small you said. small rotor envy 🙁
Thank you so much for this excellent, well written article. It saved me a lot of trouble with my NSX as I went about some upgrades.
Thank you for this excellent, well written article. It saved me a lot of trouble with some upgrades I’m doing with my NSX.