What is the difference between fixed and floating calipers?
The primary difference between a fixed or floating caliper is in the mounting design. Fixed calipers are solidly mounted to the spindle or bracket, and floating calipers float on a pin that is attached to the spindle. Fixed calipers have opposing inner and outer pistons. Floating calipers have only inner pistons and rely on outer pad carrier movement to apply pressure to the outer pad. Floating calipers tend to be more forgiving to OE manufacturing tolerances hence they are used on the vast majority of production cars. On the other hand, fixed mount calipers that transfer PSI within the caliper into braking performance with a much higher efficiency are typically used on high-performance cars and for vehicles exclusively employed in racing for that purpose.
