The brakes of the 964 vary considerably depending on the actual model. There are variations in method of operating, master cylinder sizes, caliper and piston sizes and disc sizes although in common across the range, all cars have disc brakes all round and all share the same handbrake configuration. The initial car released, the Carrera 4, was specified with 4 piston calipers on front and rear brakes but the Carrera 2, released one year later, had to make do with smaller twin piston calipers on the rear until 1992 when the 4-pot units were introduced.

The 1992 Carrera RS has the benefit of larger discs at the front and slightly larger pistons in common with the Turbo. Rear brake discs remain as the standard C2/C4 cars but, again, piston sizes were increased to cope with the additional performance. Wide bodied cars including the Celebration and America Roadster use Turbo rear discs and calipers, largely because of the wider trailing arm which gives the wider track. The Celebration cars retain the standard C4 front brakes whereas the wide bodied Cabriolets benefit from the Turbo front brakes - and all use the hydraulic booster system from the C4 with the exception of the standard C2 and the RS America which use the vacuum servo system.

The 1993 Turbo 3.6 has significantly larger front brake calipers - often referred to as "Big Reds" - accompanied by larger drilled and vented rotors 322mm in diameter carried over from the previous Turbo.

A common upgrade for the early Carrera 2 is to fit the later 4-pot rear calipers in place of the standard 2-pot units. If this modification is carried out you should ensure that the brake bias valve is also changed from the standard 45 bar part to the 55 bar part used in the C4 and RS. Care should also be taken when purchasing replacement calipers since many on offer are not the correct type and will not fit the C2 without significant modifications.

There is a detailed document giving the specifications of all the models here.

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