09/01/99
Bigger Brakes
The 323 GTX came with 4 wheel disc brakes from the factory but
those can prove to be inadequate under constant usage or high
speed stops. We improved upon the brake system mazda gave
the GTX by adding a thicker and a little larger rotor and wider
caliper to improve the heat soak abilities of the
brakes. Our project car had 160,000 miles on its
factory rotors which where slighty warped due to the driver of
the vehicle. If anyone has ever tried to change the rotors
on a GTX you know you have to disassemble the hub to get the
rotor off. We took care of that problem. The rotors
now slip over the hub from the outside instead of being bolted
onto the back side of the hub. This makes it very easy to
disassamble the brake system. The brakes also give you
about a 6mm spacer from the rotor being bolted on from the
outside of the hub. We used longer wheel studs to
make up for the extra 6mm. This step of the project took
about 8 hours of work including machining the hubs to accept the
new rotors.
Here is how Mazda should have done it
Here is the comparison between the new and old brake rotors.
Impressions
The larger brakes make a world of a difference. Brake fade is no longer a problem. Multiple stops from 100+ MPH are possible and not warp the rotors or burn the brake pads up. Since the calipers we used are from an overseas only model Mazda we will be supplying a brake package for those interested in this project.
Update 02/05/2000
Well it seems the overseas 90-94 Familia GTX and teh US Protege/Escort GT/ MX3 use the same calipers. That means all of the parts necessary for this converison are available here in the US. The list of parts is below.
Pair of 90-94 Protege LX/MX3/90-95 Escort GT brake calipers.
Longer wheel studs
Pair of early 89 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 rotors
Pair of 90-94 Protege LX/MX3/90-95 Escort GT brake lines for the calipers
A set of good brake pads
Wheel bearings and seals if your GTX is in need of them.
Credit for this brake upgrade goes to Peter Manninng of New Zealand. Check out the webpage at http://drive.to/323wrc