Wilwood's XRS Caliper Brings Race-Bred X-Bridge Design to the Street at 4.5 Pounds

Wilwood calipers are on everything from pro-touring Camaros to drag cars to restomod trucks, and the Forged Billet Narrow Superlite has been one of the brand's workhorses for years. The new XRS is its street-focused successor in spirit. PASMAG reported on July 29 that Wilwood introduced the XRS high-performance street caliper, built on the Superlite Radial Mount design and the brand's XRZ race caliper.

The core of the design is an X-bridge architecture developed with finite element analysis and precision CNC machining. The body is forged aluminum, and Wilwood says it is stronger, lighter and more rigid than before, with improved cooling airflow. The caliper weighs 4.5 lb.

It fits what you already have

The practical win is fitment. The XRS is a direct-fit upgrade for Wilwood Forged Billet Narrow Superlite six- and four-piston radial mounting patterns, with piston bore sizes and rotor widths similar to existing options. If you already run a Wilwood kit on that pattern, the XRS is meant to bolt into the same brackets.

Wilwood uses high-temperature seals and stainless-steel pistons, and the caliper is hard anodized inside and out before it gets a gloss red or gloss black powder coat. For builders who want to match a paint scheme, there are 26 additional caliper colors and six logo colors at extra cost.

Why it matters

Big brakes on a street car live a hard life: heat cycles, road salt, wheel cleaner and years of sitting. Hard anodizing under the powder coat and stainless pistons are the kind of details that keep a caliper looking and working right long after a race caliper would need a rebuild. A stiffer bridge also means a firmer pedal, which is what most owners actually feel.

For the muscle, pro-touring and restomod crowd, the fact that the XRS drops into existing Narrow Superlite mounts means an upgrade path without buying a whole new kit. Pricing was not included in PASMAG's report.