2006 RX-8. I track it mostly. But need it for road use still. Looking for replacements after having some consistent issues and the parts from Mazda are nearly $450 per corner. Looking at a local shop, they sell Cardone Industries remans for about $46 and $65. Are Cardone's any good? They don't seem to be loaded in any way. The only loaded or semi-loaded I can find are Centric Parts. And I've had negative experiences with both their caliper clips and rotors in the past.

Recommendations? Places to buy OEM at non-Mazda mark-up?

 

I have Cardone rears. No problems. I bought a used set of fronts from a partout and rebuilt them myself for about $100 total. Holding well so far, track and all.

 

Most of them come bare and rust quickly. My last set didn’t see that much use of which very little was on the street, and then sat in a climate controlled garage for several years. Was a bit shocked at how corroded they were when I removed them to install a racing brake setup recently.

you can have them if you want, should be functional otherwise. I was going to just toss them. Pretty sure they were that same brand.

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What racing brake set up did you get? I would rather do an upgrade if I could.

 

it’s not that simple to explain, but the short answer is that it’s a one off kit with e-brake calipers that can’t be reproduced easily or cheaply

 

Pretty much all of the remans will readily rust at first exposure to water. Even if the literature says they are phosphate coated or whatever, they will still rust immediately. There are a couple of brands offering powder coated calipers now, one in red, and another in silver. I tried a set of the Cardone Ultra Silver calipers. The powder coating was only decent, and i had to return 2 of them for leaking through the piston seals.

Your best bet is to buy genuine Mazda rebuild kits and rebuild the factory calipers. There isn't much to it, and it isn't very expensive to do.

Having said that, if you are using a shop that installs Cardone remans, you can opt for the Ultras, and make the shop replace or rebuild them should they leak.

 

I got the powder coated red ones for the other company. can't remember who they were. It's a pretty thick coating, and I haven't had any issues just yet.

 

Caliper paint can prevent the rusting. It's nice how red paint turns shades of black near the pad under track heat. You could just start with black paint if that was a concern.
Still better than rust!

 

They’re sold through Summit Racing et al, almost bought them instead but went cheapo instead (the company is PowerStop)

rebuilding OE probably makes the most sense, but make sure get new everything, especially the slider pin assemblies