I could be way off on this one not having either system in my hands to measure up - but I'll see if anyone else noticed this.

I was looking over a brake system technical article today (in an older SportsCar magazine) and I came across a photo of the stock Neon SRT-4 front brakes. The calipers are painted red and look remarkably similar in design and style to the JCW brake upgrade. Polmear mentioned in an earlier post that TRW makes the single piston caliper for the new JCW kit.

SRT-4:


JCW:


The stock SRT-4 caliper is also single piston and mounts to the hub in similar fashion to the MINI. Knowing that TRW supplies Daimler/Chrysler with their at least some of their OE brake parts - could the JCW kit be in fact an SRT-4 caliper? If it is - this could be a "cheap" way to upgrade ones MINI brakes. Buy a set of used SRT-4 calipers (with MINI specific rotor).

Backside of front SRT-4 caliper:


Just a thought

 

I'll save you some grief.

The parts are not the same.

All bolt on floating calipers look like this. I got a mess of 'em upstairs that do.

Trust me; if they were the same part I wouldn't own about 40+ brackets for each car....

 

Are they both made by TRW though? Are their pistons of the same size?

 

from the look, I don't believe that the mounting pattern is even close. Also, even if TRW makes both, and the pistons are the same size, the pads would probably have been designed for different rotors, and if they are not swept about the same centerline as the wheel, you could have varying fitment problems to both the wheel and the rotor.
another point to make, the JCW has been engineered to be quiet on the MINI, and may have mass added to certain points as vibration damping that the neon caliper doesn't have.

 

Piston is larger on the SRT4.

 

also, after looking again at a JCW: the caliper and bracket are hugely different. bleeds look different, bottom of the caliper, around the piston is configured differently, definitely not compatable.