I'm going to start working on some brake cooling ducts today. Start ripping off the front bumper and the fender liners and see what approach to take. Just wondering if anyone else has worked on doing this. I'm planning on running the ducts from the foglight spaces on my 97 bumper (I don't have foglights) through the fenderwell, not underneath, my car is low enough that I'd have no room to go underneath the car.

 

nope nto yet but have been intersted in it. Its really not that useful unless you go road racing or autocrossing. what ive noticed is alot of stock cars do come with some sort of brake ducts cut into the fender lining. Check out a 3Z, 240sx, Galant VR4, S2000, Supra, RX7. those are some i can think of offhand and im sure ALOT of other cars got them as well.

 

I road race and autoX thats why I'm interested. I know M3s come with them as well, I wonder if just buying the ducts from one of those cars would be easier than doing a custom job.

 

I have been thinking of this and watching good old speedvision I saw a good set up last night.

A plastic molding that went from the front bumper like you suggested and the pointed at the back of the brake. But it was custom molded.

I think it could be done cheap. Might look a little ghetto, but I think using either dryer flex tubing or plastic ducting, like from a cars ac vents.

But you might not want the ghetto setup.

 

I saw one for the bimmer available at www.bimmerworld.com it was something like $500 bucks, damn they sure can rip those bimmer guys off. I was interested too, but I don't think I need them, It's something for autox really. You can make them real easy and probably for like 15-20 bucks.

 

Let us know how things work out on the duct, I'm interested too. What SCCA class are you running in? Brake ducts may bump you up.

 

I wonder if by doing so the Max can do 80-0 in as short a distance as an Olds Alero.....

I got cut off twice today by Aleros and they both had US Govt plates. Not a bad car for govt workers, a far cry from the Chevy Cavaliers

 

I was just looking at this the other day I figure going through the fog light hole and the fenderliner is the way to go, and that part should be easy. What I haven't figured out yet is how to secure the ducting so that it is pointing at the brakes, but will not hinder any wheel or suspension travel.

 

Duct tape and epoxy


What about screws and glue, like a glue gun, that way you get a good contact patch.

 

Whats the point of brake cooling lines, do brakes actually get that hot?

 

listen, give me 2 minutes on your car and your braking distance will double, I can usually burn stock brakes in under 1 minute,YES WE AUTOCROSSERS AND TRACK GUYS NEED THE EXTRA COOLING

 

Try doing some spirited driving and then touch your brake disks and you will have your answer.

I've seen a street cars brakes glowing red... glowing red iron is pretty hot.



Sinewave I hadn't thought of the fact that it might bump me up, honestly the thought never crossed my mind. I run STS, but my tires are 235s so technically I should be up in SP. I was put in STS when I had 235s before, before I even knew about that rule. I guess they just didn't notice/care. I'm not an SCCA member, I just run some local events. I was thinking of this more for road course use, that's where your brakes really get the abuse.

 

Hahaha, sounds like me at the Vegas Speedway last time!

BTW, it wasn't normal and I ended up replacing my front driver-side caliper/rotor/pad.

 

Keith's right about the class bump. There was a huge discussion about the Suburu's doing brake cooling through the fog light. Most drivers agreed it's considered a body/structure change. But if you're only driving local events

StreetTouring discussion

RSX Duct Pics

P.S. You're already running drilled/slotted rotors and performance pads right?

 

hmm. The Max is pretty open down there...stock that is...and not slammed. Looking at these pictures, the cars that are more needing of the cooling ducts like the JDM ones shown would be cars with big bodykits (and then why would you be autocrossing with that? ghey!). But I had been thinking about some kind of a DIY installation a while ago.

I'm going to try my hand at auto-x this Sunday...I'll see how it goes...gotta order new brake pads for after! ^_^

 

So the "body change" would technically bump me up to what? Street Prep? Yes I'm already running slotted rotors and Hawk HP-Plus pads. If it would ever get nice out I'm going to work on this, but it has been nasty and cold and rainy the last 2 days.

 

Where are you autocrossing this Sunday? A few of us are going to be running in Weymouth, MA. Are you coming uo here?

 

Well, I can create enough heat when I drive at NHIS to turn a set of Porterfield's to dust in a weekend. To further put things in perspective, I drove there today in the RAIN and I still was able to get turn laps fast enough to put enough heat in the brakes to keep the front rims dry at all times.

 

I'm in michigan, so thats a negative hehe.

 

Nono, it's here in CT. It's a small event...I'm sure I'll get 0wned.

 

The most effective place to cool is at the center of the inner side of the rotor so the cool air goes through the cooling vanes. Some people will also run a duct to the caliper if fluid boiling is a problem (though good fluid like Castrol GT LMA or Lincoln Heavy duty helps a lot too).

 

I'm using Ford HD which I'm assuming is the same as Lincoln HD, its got a really high dry BP. Like 558* or something. It is finally nice out today so I'm going to take a look at what options I've got.