I'm looking at a '91 FC to build into an SCCA ITS car. Quick question: do all 5 lug FCs come with the 4 piston calipers? I'm just trying to figure everything out before I make an 8 hour trip to pick it up. Thanks!

 

every 5 lug s4 to s5 have 4 piston calipers except the regular s5 GTU the s5 GTUs had the 4 piston

 

Yes, all 5 lugs are 4 piston brakes


However, even if it's a 4 lug you can upgrade the brakes WITHOUT swapping to 5 lugs

http://aaroncake.net/RX-7/projecttina/aug62008-1.htm

 

incorrect.

 

Care to elaborate?

 

All 4 lugs are single piston. All 4 lugs are S4's. All 5 lugs are not 4 piston. All 5 lugs on S4 cars had 4 piston. All 5 lugs on 89-91 are not. On the 89-91 cars all models had 5 lugs. The 4 lugs were gone. However the GTU and GTUs (the lower models) had single piston calipers. The GXL and TII's had 4 piston. Keep in mind the cars that had 4 lug calipers also had bigger brake boosters than the single piston caliper cars. Many people don't swap them. They need to! The soft brake lines in front are also different between them. To do a swap properly you need to rotors, pistons, brake lines, and booster. You can not only swap the calipers and rotors and expect stopping power to be all there. It won't be.

 

All good info. I actually asked the guy to shoot me a pic. I had a '90 GXL (that I was dumb enough to let go) and can't wait to get another '7. The car I'm looking at has no GXL or GTU markings. I know I can do a swap but was hoping I'd get lucky and wouldn't have to. We'll see... I do question the GTUs. Isn't that basically a turbo w/o the turbo. Along with being a lightweight (no sunroof, no glovebox lining, etc...).

 

im 99% sure the gtus had the 4 piston calipers...the s5 gtu did not. dont let the calipers sour the deal. its not a big deal to swap them

 

The GTUs did have 4 piston brakes. As one Mazda add put it..."Turbo wheels, turbo BRAKES, turbo suspension..."

 

splitting hairs now, even if it doesn't they can be swapped on easily.

 

i'm not planning on letting it kill the deal. i've been looking around and finding a shell w/o damage or rust and a solid running car for this price is too good to pass up. just can't see spending $3k on a car that i'm going to gut completely to build a racecar out of. i just remember how much i loved the brakes on my '90 GXL. i'm sure i can pick some up. have to start shopping around for them. i already have a large to do list. haha! i figure i'll drive the car for track days as i build it up until it gets to the point i have to rebuild the motor. but i'm getting off topic...

thanks everyone for the input!

 

Clean shells aren't that hard to come around here, clean top(no sunroofs) are.

 

My bad, I thought the s5's were like the s4's.

Can you tell I'm an s4 guy yet lol?

 

ive got an 89GTU that appears to be all original and complete,harbor blue/blue int. does have minor bodywork to be done in spots,it was driven home years ago and has been taking up space in my garage ever since,the ad is in 2nd gen vehicles for sale and im in east central AL 35907 never checked the calipers but i do have the fronts off my 88GXL which of course are 4 piston