Originally Posted by Prawn
In a single piston sliding caliper, you need to work out the area of the single piston, then double it, because on a sliding caliper, the opposite fixed pad in the caliper applies an equal and opposite force to counter the force from the single piston, this is why the disc isn't 'pushed' over to one side by the single pot.
If you DO decide to look at other calipers, just to the maths on the piston sizes and you can get an idea of how it'll effect the pedal feel.
So, the S3 has a 54mm piston as standard, which has an area of 2290mm˛, which doubled, gives 4580mm˛. This is what you need to match to retain an OEM pedal feel.
On a fixed 4 pot caliper, you consider each piston just once, as they work in opposite pairs.
The porsche 996 front calipers, and LCR Brembos, both have 36 and 40mm pistons. each 36mm piston has an area of 1018mm˛, and each 40mm piston has an area of 1256mm˛.
2 of each gives you a total of 4549mm˛, surprisingly similar to the 4580 of the standard setup. it's only 0.7% different infact, so a very good match indeed. This is why the pedal feel still remains good. You also get much less flex with the 4 pot calipers compared to a nasty sliding iron caliper.