All companies like Brembo, AP (which is owned by the Brembo group by the way) and Alcon as well as Performance Friction have many different grades of calipers. Often these are interchangeable meaning that a client can start with an entry level caliper off the shelf, and then install a higher end item at a later time. I think it is very important to note that sometimes BBK can have a better caliper and a cheaper hat / disc / pad setup as well to come in at the same target pricing, the opposite is true as well.... There was a comment earlier on about the AP not being as stiff as the Stoptech ?? Apples to Oranges so too speak in my opinion. I will speak about the ALCON line, as that is the one I have the most experience with, and the manufacturers that best supports our requirements, and our teams. Within a 4 pot caliper, you can have this caliper designed to fit any number of applications. Governing factors such as manufacturing materials, target market, application, and performance levels you are wishing to achieve determine the manufacturing process to be used. As everyone will agree with, not all materials offer the same resistance to temperature and forces, not all cast calipers are weak, and all billet calipers are strong. Simply saying that one company is better than the other because the caliper is stiffer in my opinion is not fair to either company. You can have a very high end cast caliper out of aeronautics grade materials that will be stronger than a billet caliper machined out of low cost, a material like a T3-2011 aluminum has no place in brake components, but is cheap to acquire, easy to machine, and offers excellent finishing (visual) properties. Calipers are a lot like tires, some drivers prefer one vs. the other. More often than not a common question we will ask our clients is "how bad do you want to win?" This is not necessarily relevant to a street car, but none the less demonstrates that there are many different offerings for the same car and even within what is available from ONE manufacturer. We can offer an ENTRY level 4 piston ALCON caliper at a really in-expensive price for day to day use just as easy as a billet part with liquid cooling that uses 1 pad per piston (4x4 pads config). If the said client then compares that cheap caliper to the higher end option and says "I liked caliper two better because of so and so." Does that mean anything? He just compared two calipers destined too two different applications, and more importantly, budgets! It should not be inferred that one company is better than the other, but perhaps other factors like customer service, availability, and longevity should be just as important as the "flavor of the month" factor. I hope everyone can see the benefit of working with your preferred parts supplier, or one specific vendor to determine what your specific requirements are for your your brakes, and then determining what package offers the most pros vs cons for your application. As I said previously, all though we support one specific manufacturer, our kits to not suit everyone's requirements. When this happens, we will say so and unfortunately, loose a sale. But on the up side, we know that the customer is not going to get a kit that will leave them dis-appointed. The clients that we are fortunate enough to work with that are seeking what MSI or our partners can offer, will be satisfied, and will be supported 100%. That is what counts, the support that the end user receives from his vendor, regardless of what manufacturer they choose to go with. That is what interests me personally, is the technical support that each client received from their vendor / manufacturer rather than "what kit is best". I hope this offers some valuable insight, we mean no dis-respect to anyone, simply another point of view. -mark