Originally Posted by sarcasmo

Most aftermarket brake manufacturers use additional pistons for better distribution of braking force and o provide better feedback to the driver.

1. Most after market brakes are an opposed piston design. This means that you have pistons located accross from each other on each side of the rotor. When brake pressure is applied the pistons pinch the rotor to bring the car to a stop. The majority of stock brakes (including the brakes on the 05 G) use a slider design. A slider consists of one or more pistons located on one side of the rotor that push only on that side of the rotor. This causes the slider on the other side of the rotor to clamp against the rotor. From what I've read, the slider is actually a more efficient design as far as the first stop goes, BUT opposed pistons provide better pedal feel and brake modulation. They also allow for better cooling (see below) which helps prevent brake fade over additional stops.

2. You'll also notice that many after market manufacturers use several pistons in their design (4, 6, 8, etc.). Generally, more pistons does not mean significantly more stopping power because manufacturers typically decrease the size (and clamping force) of the individual pistons when they increase the number of pistons (note that I said typically - this isn't always true). This leads to a brake that has about equal clamping power to a brake with fewer pistons. The advantage of the additional pistons comes from being able to spread the clamping force over a greater portion of the rotor (by spreading out the pistons). This helps avoid rotor hot spots and leads to faster cooling. Like number 1, it also leads to better pedal feel and, thus, allows the driver to better modulate the brakes.

This is all from what I've read. I'm by no means a brake expert so I'm sure I'm missing some important points here and there.

Originally Posted by lowrider

Just maybe you can't count, or don't know know a High Performance Brake when you see one. The front has 4 pistons, two on the outside, and two on the inside. They both push equally on the rotor. The rear has one and one or 2. The stock brakes have 1 piston that pushes the rotor against a plate on the oppposite side of the rotor.

Now stop arguing about something you know nothing about, and stop looking at pictures and actually read something.

Lou

Originally Posted by waterp7

thanks for the info guys...so from my understanding the '05 brakes are just single piston front / single piston back now? why wouldn't they go multiple pistons?

Originally Posted by lowrider

Just maybe you can't count, or don't know know a High Performance Brake when you see one. The front has 4 pistons, two on the outside, and two on the inside. They both push equally on the rotor. The rear has one and one or 2. The stock brakes have 1 piston that pushes the rotor against a plate on the oppposite side of the rotor.

Originally Posted by GEE PASTA

The 05 brake system in my opinion was very good... All Thu they worked good, the 05 brakes are junk. This design is a cheap way to stop your car.

Originally Posted by JKWright

I'm confused as to your opinion. Do you think they're very good, or are they cheap junk? Please clarify.

My opinion is that most OEM brakes can be classified as "cheap junk" when compared to $4K aftermarket systems with Italian names on 'em. But in the case of the '05 G35 sedan and coupe, the braking systems are a good design and offer good performance for a $30K car.