Has anybody tried cool the front brakes via the fog light/blockout grill hole? When I had the front bumper cover off to stick on my lower chrome grill, it looked like some relief could be had with a a dremel tool, a holesaw and some duct hose with a deflector. It looks very easy to do. Granted the hole is small but on my '91 Carrera C2, the factory RS cooling ducts that replaced the fog lights were not much bigger. Has potential as an aftermarket kit. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

 

There are brake ducts available through John Cooper Works that fit in the stock foglight area. Check them out here...

http://www.johncooper.co.uk/JohnCoop...port%5FBrakes/

 

I saw those, but the word is that the JCW ducts are for the aero kit and they are not cheap.....

Cheers

 

My front round grills (no fog lights) both fell out and were trapped between the bumber cover and the fender liners. Since my car is really never out in the rain I took out the grills and used a hole saw to cut a 2 1/2" hole in the fender liner. Looks like it might do some good, the hole is lined up with the hole in the bumper and is behind the tires. I'll try putting some ducting between the bumper and the wheel liner when I have some time, and decide the best way to do it.

 

Yea, those grill blanks are barely held in place by the snap tabs. It's a clear shot from the bumper opening through to the wheel well. A deflector stuck on the end of the duct to direct air to the rotor and caliper wouldn't take too much imagination.


Cheers

 

I'm surprised that nobody has designed and marketed one already. Not much money to be made, perhaps.

DDTUNG

 

Judging by what CAIs go for, there has to be an opportunity to make some bucks. AJ Racing makes a brake duct kit for Porsches that goes for $250. It includes; under A-arm RFP scoop, reinforced duct hose and a stamped light gauge backing plate.....

 

Go to: www.aircraftspruce.com

Look up 'airframe parts', then 'ducting' and scroll down to 'alum flanges for ducting'.

You'll need a pair of these, then order some CAT ducting hose to go with it.

(I'd paste a link but for some reason it won't take it??)

 

http://fastforwardltd.com/brakes.htm#mcbrakes

here is an aftermarket kit. it's to late to call tonight so i know no details about them. it looks to me like the don't go through the fog light holes witch would be great. i'll say more once i'm informed.

 

Not cheap is an understatement... man those are expensive

 

i spoke with someone at fastforward today about there brake cooling kit. it's $590.00. that's a lot of money but for a good cause. it does not require losing the fog light. it mounts under the bumper with an access notch cut into the skirt/snowplow lip. it also uses a current attachment point under the car. the guy that answered the phone there says it connects to the backing plate so it sound like a real brake cooling kit that blows air into the rotor center. sounds good but expensive.

 

I would buy a brake ducting kit in a second, but $590 sounds way, way over priced. Is this for the front and rear brakes? Because I wouldn't need to duct the rears anyway. And are these carbon fiber ducts? If so, why use such an expensive material?

 

there's a thread around here somewhere that priced out the cost of brake ducts at about $14.00 or so. but, yup, you lose your fog lights. but, since I'm not going to order any and get the Alta bar with 4 lights regardless, that's not a big loss for me.

anybody got the thread bookmarked?

 

Well, I kind of just got answers to my own questions directly from fastforward (sound like nice guys). I was told the kit for the front brakes is $490, it's made from carbon fiber and it mounts behind the front bumper, out of sight, and does not use the fog light holes. They used carbon fiber for lightweight and durability. I wonder if anyone on this Board has any experience with this kit?

 

I've bought the matterials and tools to build some under control arm ducts. anybody got a TIG welder i can use??? or know where i can get someone to do it for me cheap?

 

I made my own - if you search for 'low-buck brake ducts', you'll find my solution... FWIW, just forcing air into the wheel well keeps everything pretty cool. Adding backing plates would be better, I agree, but there is VERY little space and it'd be hard to do without formed tubing and/or compromising ground clearance.

I'd be worried about tearing those scoops off the chin spoiler - my car is pretty low and will scrap the front valance under heavy cornering.

And $500 is insane for a brake duct kit unless it's for a race car. Hell, even FOR a race car it's pretty high. You can buy good duct kits for E36 cars for much less than that. Some day, someone will make a complete kit for the MINIs and not price it so freakin' high...

For track days and autocrossing, the low-buck ducts work very well...

 

I have been doin this exact same idea since the 80's. made an AMAZING diffrence on my SUV's brakes.

Alex

 

I’ve sourced most of the parts I need for my brake ducts. I’ve cut the aluminum and sent it to the welder. It Might be done on Wednesday/tomorrow. My only stumbling block so far is the silicone hose that goes from the intake to the hub. I live around Charlotte so there are lots of race car shops around town. The hose I want will take up to 550 degrees. It will be connected to my hub so I’ll need high temp stuff. The shops that carry the 2 inch will only sell it in 12foot lengths. It also cost 80 bucks. I need less than a foot on each side. I’ve got a few more feelers out for a cheaper supplier. I’ll post some pics when I pick up the scoops. I’ve got a drivers ed April 1-3 at VIR. Any other minis gonna be there? There will be a new lotus there also.

 

I did a sort of low buck mod in this area last year. I took out the fog lights and enlarged the openings. I used some pre formed brake ducts insterted behind the bumper cover and added 3inch heater ducting to direct the air towards the rotors. The openings are covered with the same material we make out Ultimate Grill out of to make for a uniform appearance. Little bit of work, little bit of money and they work.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

i had the car up on the lift for a while this evening and what i am trying to do is not going to be easy. our mini's have very little room to play with under them. i've included the pics of my scoops straight from the welder. these will be mounted under the lower control arms and unseen outside of the car unless your under it. i've made some modifications to the brake backing plate so the ducted air will blow into the eye of the rotor and out the vented edges. this will ensure even cooling on the rotor.

while on the lift i realized that my ducts are a bit to big and will have to be trimmed. the problem is the wheels going from lock to lock. there's just not much room if you want to be able to turn. when coming up with the design i had nothing to go on or copy so it was pretty much hit and/or miss. so far the hits are up on the misses.

i went by the welder to pic up the parts today in hopes of getting a good deal. i didn't.... it cost way to much to TIG weld the parts but it's aluminum and that's what they needed. the cost has gone up. on that note, i'm using silicone hose so i don't melt it. the only place i could get it locally was a race shop that would only sell me 12 feet at a time. that also was not a good deal. if anyone needs 10 or so feet of 2 inch silicone ducting i'll sell you some for 10 bucks a foot.

in reguard to the brake backing plate it's been real work. there is so little room behind the wheel to work with it's not funny. my plan has the ducting going just up from under the control arm then into the backing plate at the point just below the cv boot. i've cut three side of the backing plate and folded the tab out to make and attachment point for the hose. this will blow the air into the center of the rotor... ummmm cool brakes.

 

why go to the trouble of cutting the backplate?
just take the useless things off. they are only there to keep dust, water, and road sludge out of the central hub area, since you are funneling dust right into the center, with the duct, why worry about the rest of that junk?
do you drive in the snow? that would be the only thing keeping me from removing the thing completely.
cheapest and quickest way to allow airflow to more of the rotor is to remove that plate completely.
on a side note to those of you in warmer climates, and those who don't drive your cars through the crappy weather; take those useless plates from the brakes and weld them to your boat anchors, for added grip...at least there they will serve a purpose.

 

the only time i'll have the hoses attached is for track events. other than that the brakes don't get hot enough to warrent cooling. maybe a trip down the tail of the dragon but "spirited" driving just doesn't get them that hot.

the backing plates are staying on to form a high pressure zone at the eye of the rotor. thie idea is to get cool air in the center and out the edges absorbing heat along the way. if i'm gonna blow air in the rotors i want it to cool as much as possible. i don't think blowing air toward the rotors is effiecient or effective at cooling the rotor.

 

They seem like a quality product, did they lower their price because now they are 420.00. That doesn't seem that expensive to me for the design/manufacture and material involved. I am thinking very seriously about these.Will they work with a Brembo BBK?

 

I'd agree that $420 for those is a nice price.

Considering the hassle involved in trying to route and attach the silicon hose thorugh there... then getting, and keeping it pointed at the rotor... Of course, it would be better if you a duct mounted to the knuckle that turned with the wheel, but that's typically a huge PITA to get working correctly.

 

With some slight mods they will work with BBKs.

The cost is a problem. IMHO there is no need for these to be made out of carbon fiber. Poly styrene or some other plastic would have been just fine. This CF stuff is just being used in the wrong places as far as I'm concerned. This is not a structural piece and a good plastic would be just about as light, and may be more durable.