So if i'm not mistaken it is close to $1000 or a little over for complete front kit?

I wonder what the adapter looks like.
Or if you can use these rotors with the 300zx calipers

It's not an adapter. It's a Tie bar. If I am not mistake the STIs had these as well? Bolted behind the caliper to help tie the bolt points together better to help with harmonics.

Tie Bar fits on these cars:

Subaru BRZ (20D) 6MT Limited..............................2017
Subaru Impreza (257) 6MT 4WD STI Sedan..............2005
Subaru Impreza 2.5L TURBO 6MT 4WD STI Sedan.....2005
Subaru STI (257) 6MT 4WD SEDAN.........................2005
Subaru STI 2.5L TURBO 6MT 4WD SEDAN.................2005

I think the OEM Brembo option will be nice for cosmetics, but certainly not a great value for actual performance. Here's a basic rundown of the OEM Brembo option vs. our Essex/AP Racing Sprint Kit.

Calipers
The four piston Brembo calipers on the STi, Evo, Focus RS, Corvette, etc. all weigh about 8.2 lbs. These appear to be roughly the same in overall dimension, so that's the weight I expect.


Our AP Racing CP8350 weighs 5.4 lbs.


The Brembo's have aluminum pistons, just like the standard calipers.


Our CP8350 has stainless steel pistons.


They won't have anti-knockback springs, allowing for a soft pedal after a series of S turns.


Our CP8350 has AKB springs.


They'll have dust boots to burn up.


We avoid the mess of dust boots.


With four pistons of the same size (rather than differential bores), pad taper is a potential issue.


Our calipers have differential bores that help prevent pad taper.


The painted finish will fade, change color, etc. if they got hot enough.


Our calipers have a durable anodized finish that holds up very well to long-term track abuse.


The pads will at most be only 16mm thick…possibly 14.7mm thick.
Our caliper uses a 20mm thick pad.


Pads for the OEM Brembo's will range from $250-$450 per set.


Pads for our CP8350 range from $125-$250

Discs


The one-piece 326x30mm disc found on the STI weighs 22.5 lbs.


Our 299x32mm disc weighs 12.2 lbs.


Their disc will have likely have at most 48 vanes.


Our disc has 60 cooling vanes.


Their disc costs $85.


Our spare iron is $173.00, but will definitely last at least twice as long.


In summary, with our Sprint Kit you're going to be carrying 15 unsprung lbs. less per side, or 30 lbs. less on the nose of your car. Twenty pounds of that mass savings will be in the rotating mass of the discs. All of the components in our kit are far more durable and more suited to track use. Pads, which are your most frequently replaced consumable, will be about half price for our kit vs. the ones for the Brembo's. Our 299mm disc will fit a greater variety of smaller, lighter wheels, while still providing fade-free performance for just about everyone. The initial cost of our system will likely be higher, but if you're tracking your car you'd make up the difference in a single season of pad changes since you'll be paying nearly double at every pad change for the Brembo's.



If you're going cram a lot of HP into your car with big boost, we also have the Endurance Kit option. To my knowledge we have never had any FT86 customer ever fade our larger Endurance Kit that features a 325x32mm, 70 vane disc (only one or two have ever even faded the smaller Sprint Kit). Our Endurance Kit also comes with a super trick integrated brake duct provision, which eliminates one more part to buy. Our larger endurance kit will still be roughly 10 lbs. lighter per side, or 20 lbs. lighter than the OEM Brembo option.

We don't offer a rear kit, but rear kits on these cars are primarily for looks anyway. Our customers have been pounding our front-only kits at the track for years now without any issues, seeing flawless performance. Front kits are where you see the big return on investment with these cars.


Unless you're just looking for bling, our Essex Designed AP Racing kits are a no-brainer vs. the factory Brembo option. Unsprung weight, heat rejection, durability, long-term running costs, etc. are all in our favor.

To give you an idea of the relative size of the typical Brembo four piston factory caliper vs. our AP Racing CP8350, here's a pic we snapped the other day when test fitting our kit on a Ford Focus RS. The BRZ calipers will likely be quite similar. They are big, bulky, and heavy when compared to a real racing caliper.

https://www.essexparts.com/imagecach...FocusRS_27.jpg


https://www.essexparts.com/imagecach...FocusRS_28.jpg

https://www.essexparts.com/imagecach...FocusRS_21.jpg

https://www.essexparts.com/imagecach...FocusRS_22.jpg

The difference between our AP Racing discs vs. the Brembo one-piece iron is going to look something like this...ours will have far less weight, far more cooling vanes, wider air gap to flow more air, and be far more attractive!

https://www.essexparts.com/imagecach...FocusRS_24.jpg

Question: I've seen cars with two-piston REAR AP calipers, notably the Rywire ITR. Why doesnt Essex sell a similar kit for the rear of the 86?

Because it's just for bling

I'd buy just to get the ease of changing brake pads... I doubt dust boots would be an issue, but that and a couple other bits would make them attractive... just very expensive for what you really get out of it.

Sliding calipers suck.
Mismatched calipers suck.
Over pistoned rears suck.

I want two piston rears and im sure alot of others do too.

Guess ill piece it together mahself.

We looked at the possibility of a rear kit for these cars back in 2012 when we owned one. We've found the following to be true:

1. Performance- In terms of performance, the OEM rear brakes on USDM cars are more than adequate under just about all conditions. With a set of good pads, you can hammer them on a track all day when mated to the proper front brakes (our Essex/AP Racing Sprint Kit). That has been proven over and over again here on this forum, and on racetracks all over the world. That is the case even on forced induction cars putting out significantly more than OEM HP. We've had cars with our front kits and OEM rear brakes run Endurance races on a road course, Pikes Peak, Targa Newfoundland, etc., all without issue.

2. Weight- The OEM rear brakes are not that heavy. One of the key benefits of our front system is a huge unsprung weight reduction. There's just not nearly as much weight to be saved in the rear.

3. Cost- Most of our customers are far more interested in buying the absolute best front system available for $2k, but they're not terribly interested in spending another $2k for rears. In terms of choosing where to get your best bang-for-the-buck, it's far wiser to buy the best front system you can afford, rather than buying a lesser four wheel big brake kit. That is because the front brakes is where the car is lacking most. A rear BBK is much less critical on this car, and more of a 'nice-to-have,' rather than a necessity. With the rears you quickly hit a point of diminishing returns. You're not making the car much better for a substantial wad of cash.

Exactly. Spending $2k for the convenience of faster pad changes isn't something most of our customers want to do. Also keep in mind that you aren't changing rear pads nearly as frequently as the fronts. Typically you're wearing out and swapping 3-4 sets of front pads for every set of rears, particularly when tracking the car. The front takes the bulk of the abuse, hence the wiser move to buy the best front BBK you can afford.

Just make sure you choose your brake components wisely, or the car is going to perform worse than stock. It's not just as simple as slapping on some calipers that you pull from a difference model of vehicle. That's no different than cutting the springs on your suspension and destroying the car's handling dynamics.

JRitt: ease of swapping pads might get more important for those that swap street pads to track ones on track days and then vice versa when driving home to not squeal when DD. Even if they are not worn down yet due 3-4x slower wear ..

Understood. However, is that worth $2k+ to most FT86 owners? My gut tells me it is likely not. Most people can get away with running a 'mild' race pad in the rear, something like a Ferodo DS2500. They do the trick on track for many people, but still have relatively good street manners. It's not ideal obviously, but a very reasonable compromise.

would it necessarily be $2k if it's just a caliper and bracket kit that uses stock rotors?

@Veloist

are the master cylinder part numbers the same?