A few years ago the 626 V6 front brake calipers was a popular upgrade for non-MSP owners.... a couple of vendors were selling these "upgrade kits" too... they were purported to be the same as the factory MSP front calipers
the truth is unveiled today... they're not the same!
While it's true that these are functionally identical, with the same piston size, and compatible pads, they are made by ATE here in the US. The factory MSP front calipers were made by ShinTec, a Japanese supplier.
Today I just picked up these 626 calipers in for a friend doing an upgrade. I was surprised at the subtle differences between the ATE and ShinTec calipers
Hard to tell in the pics, but there are some slight differences in the mounting brackets (no big deal)
The biggest difference are the slider pin boots... there is no dust cover for the one allen bolt/slider pin... for that same allen bolt/slider pin there is no expanding dust boot around the slider pin like the ShinTec caliper has
The most obvious difference of course are the stampings on the calipers... they say "ATE" on it with "5723" and "5724" in big bumbers
Then there is a hidden difference... these calipers weigh about a pound more than the ShinTecs! On my kitchen scale, one caliper weighed about 10lbs 5oz WITH NO BOX
I never weighed the ShinTec calipers that's on my car right now and I won't ever since it's on the car... I do have the original warehouse sorting labels still on the Mazda boxes... the label says 9.84lbs, that's WITH THE BOX... a heavy duty cardboard box weighs a few ounces, so accounting for that... it's about a pound difference! This is a big deal for those who care about unsprung weight on their cars! If the weight figures were closer to each other, then I would've concluded there was a scale error, but it's significant enough to not ignore!
These are my EDM brake calipers (same as MSP except not silver) from more than 7 years ago:
Notice the stamping differences between those and the 626 ones
One thing that is inconsequential but noteworthy is that the OEM 626 V6 brake pads are shaped differently from the MSP ones... from pics Ken sent me years ago, I remember that the 626 pads do not have any material near the rotor hat whereas the MSP pads do.... no big deal since most people aren't running stock pads anyway
So what does this mean for MSP owners?
If your stock front calipers go bad, you're limited to:
-Rebuild them.... best cheapest option because you're not changing the caliper to some other maker's without a doubt!
-Buy brand new ones from Mazda... stupid expensive but guaranteed correct
-Buy A1 Cardone reman calipers.... They have setup a separate part number for the MSP calipers... Rock Auto's pics shows the correct ShinTec caliper... all other calipers shown are the ATE ones from the 626 core supply... the ones pictured were remanufactured by Raybestos
If you're somebody looking into upgrading, then either the ATE or ShinTec calipers will work fine for you, unless you're really anal and care about the significant weight difference... keep in mind that the reman ATE 626 V6 calipers are cheap, whereas the reman MSP ShinTec calipers from A1 Cardone are twice the price (even when 626 calipers were available new more than 10 years ago, they were about $100 cheaper than the MSP ones)! Whether it's worth it to you or not is another matter (especially if you care about something as superficial as Japanese made vs US made)...
the truth is unveiled today... they're not the same!
While it's true that these are functionally identical, with the same piston size, and compatible pads, they are made by ATE here in the US. The factory MSP front calipers were made by ShinTec, a Japanese supplier.
Today I just picked up these 626 calipers in for a friend doing an upgrade. I was surprised at the subtle differences between the ATE and ShinTec calipers
Hard to tell in the pics, but there are some slight differences in the mounting brackets (no big deal)
The biggest difference are the slider pin boots... there is no dust cover for the one allen bolt/slider pin... for that same allen bolt/slider pin there is no expanding dust boot around the slider pin like the ShinTec caliper has
The most obvious difference of course are the stampings on the calipers... they say "ATE" on it with "5723" and "5724" in big bumbers
Then there is a hidden difference... these calipers weigh about a pound more than the ShinTecs! On my kitchen scale, one caliper weighed about 10lbs 5oz WITH NO BOX
I never weighed the ShinTec calipers that's on my car right now and I won't ever since it's on the car... I do have the original warehouse sorting labels still on the Mazda boxes... the label says 9.84lbs, that's WITH THE BOX... a heavy duty cardboard box weighs a few ounces, so accounting for that... it's about a pound difference! This is a big deal for those who care about unsprung weight on their cars! If the weight figures were closer to each other, then I would've concluded there was a scale error, but it's significant enough to not ignore!
These are my EDM brake calipers (same as MSP except not silver) from more than 7 years ago:
Notice the stamping differences between those and the 626 ones
One thing that is inconsequential but noteworthy is that the OEM 626 V6 brake pads are shaped differently from the MSP ones... from pics Ken sent me years ago, I remember that the 626 pads do not have any material near the rotor hat whereas the MSP pads do.... no big deal since most people aren't running stock pads anyway
So what does this mean for MSP owners?
If your stock front calipers go bad, you're limited to:
-Rebuild them.... best cheapest option because you're not changing the caliper to some other maker's without a doubt!
-Buy brand new ones from Mazda... stupid expensive but guaranteed correct
-Buy A1 Cardone reman calipers.... They have setup a separate part number for the MSP calipers... Rock Auto's pics shows the correct ShinTec caliper... all other calipers shown are the ATE ones from the 626 core supply... the ones pictured were remanufactured by Raybestos
If you're somebody looking into upgrading, then either the ATE or ShinTec calipers will work fine for you, unless you're really anal and care about the significant weight difference... keep in mind that the reman ATE 626 V6 calipers are cheap, whereas the reman MSP ShinTec calipers from A1 Cardone are twice the price (even when 626 calipers were available new more than 10 years ago, they were about $100 cheaper than the MSP ones)! Whether it's worth it to you or not is another matter (especially if you care about something as superficial as Japanese made vs US made)...
