The modern brake system has undergone rigorous refinements for over 100 years and has now become extremely reliable and efficient. In your Mazda, the brake mechanism is one of the most critical devices that greatly influence handling and safety driving. It is responsible for setting your moving vehicle into a stop. It does this by absorbing the kinetic energy of your vehicle and converts it into heat. This is successfully executed with the efficiency of its working parts such as the Mazda brake caliper. This is the assembly that encases the brake pads and pistons. These pistons are normally made of aluminum or chrome-plated iron. Typical caliper design employs a single hydraulically operated piston that goes inside the cylinder. But for high performance brakes, they are equipped with as many as twelve pistons. Modern cars use a different hydraulic circuit that activates the brakes that are located at each wheel. This hydraulic design is more effective as it can multiply the braking force. The number of pistons employed in the caliper is sometimes referred as the number of 'pots'.
In terms of high performance and responsive braking, having a reliable Mazda brake caliper is a must.
It is regarded as the most integral part of the braking system for it is the one that liberally stops your moving vehicle. This is the U-shaped device and is geared with a piston at each sides of the U. The brake pads go along the sides of the U and the brake disc is located inside the brake caliper. As the force is applied to the brake pedal, a high pressure brake fluid from the master cylinder is forced to the brake caliper where it actuates the piston. This in turn pushes the brake caliper and allows it to clamp down firmly on the brake disc. This creates a massive friction, which stops or slows down the wheels from turning. The wheels can spin thousands of RPM and it is the job of the brake caliper to stop it or slow it down. Just imagine that enormous force that the must endure. Most heat created from friction is dispersed via the brake pad along with the brake disc. But among these parts, the brake caliper has to endure most of the stress during braking.
Typically, there are two main types of calipers and these are the floating calipers and the fixed calipers. There are other caliper designs but these two are the most popularly used. Floating calipers are so called as they 'floats' or moves in a track mounted in its support. This is necessary in order for them to center itself over the rotor. When brake pressure is applied, the hydraulic fluid pushes in two directions: one it forces the piston to the inner pad, allowing it to push against the rotor and two, it pushes the caliper in the opposite direction so as to make contact with the outer pad. On the other hand, fixed calipers are mounted tightly to the support and they are not allowed to move. Instead, they employ two pistons at each side of the caliper that rub against the pads and the rotor. These types of calipers provide a better brake feel and are more efficient but they are expensive to produce and cost more on service unlike the floating calipers that are least costly to produce.
