what is the difference in the suspension/braking systems on these 2 cars...im talking 84-85 only...

i have an 85 gsl, and i wanna install cross drilled rotors, as well i need to swap the 110 bolt pattern for the 114.3 (unless i sell those wheels).

so the question is...should i

a) get wheel spacers to change the bolt pattern and keep the gsl parts...OR

b) swap the entire suspension/brakes to gsl-se.

how much larger are the brake rotors on gsl-se? anyone know?

c) swap only what is necessary to use gsl-se brakes and bolt pattern (what all is involved)?

i'll eventually be upgrading the springs/shocks, so i don't know if its really worth it to go all out and start with gsl-se suspension.

nick

 

the suspension is practically the same, the se did have harder shocks, but everything else is the same, the brakes on the -se compared to the gsl are different, the se's are slightly larger

-greg

 

SE rotors are 9.84" front and 10.1" rear and the rear discs are vented.
Non SE rotors are 8.94" front and 9.29" rear with solid rear discs.
For a fast 1st gen street car,stock SE brakes are considered quite good.The extra rotor mass helps to fight fade and youll be well able to lock up the tires.I run stock SE rear brakes along with my 12" front discs,and they can lock up my 245's pretty easily.

The SE discs are also deeper in on the hubs so they will push your wheels out a bit compared to the GSL brakes.With my old 15X7 wheels running 12MM offset,I had to roll my fenders to keep them front rubbing.On the plus side,the track width increase helps to improve handling.

To swap in SE brakes youll need front discs,calipers and backing plates.
And an entire SE rearend.....or an 84-85 GSL rearend and swap in SE axles,rotors and calipers.

 

i never understood why the back disks were bigger on the gsl-se, anyone know why mazda did that?

 

hmmm...sounds to me like too much work since im going to get new aftermarket cross drilled rotors all around anyways...and i'll be getting new shocks and struts

i just want larger brake rotors really. and it would be nice to mount my 17" wheels without having to use spacers to swap the pattern.

so gsl has a different offset than gsl-se...right? what are the differences? which one "sticks out" further? (i guess the more it sticks out, the lower the offset number right?)

 

there are a few companys that offer big brake kits for 110mm front ends.... if you have 1795$ to drop on them... and they have a MIN of 17x7 rims

 

integrated parking brake