With the exception of the comparatively archaic drum brakes, most modern cars use either fixed or floating brake calipers to implement stopping power.
Unless your daily driver is a classic Mini, or something of a similar ilk with drum brakes in all four corners, you’ll have calipers providing the stopping force each time you hit the brake pedal. Brake calipers do this by clamping against a brake pad, and therefore pushing the pad against the brake rotor. This friction causes the rotational speed of the rotor to slow down, thus also slowing the car down. It’s a pretty simple system using hydraulic brake fluid, which is pressurized when you apply pressure to the brake pedal.
However simple the system may be in principle, automakers and engineers have found ways to complicate the system by introducing a number of variables. So, not only do drivers have the choice of drilled or slotted rotors, plus performance brake pads, but also fixed and floating calipers, too. The main difference between fixed and floating calipers is largely explained in the name; fixed calipers stay in a single location atop the brake disc, whereas floating calipers move or „float“ in position.
