Brake cooling ducts

[dlhS13]

Was wondering if about brake inlet ducts. Do they have any real value in cooling the brake. I've seen them on alot of touring cars, GT3 and stuff. If anyone has them or knows anything about the difference in temperature with them.

[jabber87]

Was wondering if about brake inlet ducts. Do they have any real value in cooling the brake. I've seen them on alot of touring cars, GT3 and stuff. If anyone has them or knows anything about the difference in temperature with them.

Not sure about the difference in temp, but i think the answer is yes it does make a difference. I know a guy that drives an M3 and he says it makes a difference, on cold days he actually has to tape up a good bit of the openings to make the brakes hit a good operating temp.

[dlhS13]

Does the M3 come with the ducts stock? Ya I would think they would have to help. I really didn't think about the brakes getting to cool.

[nismofly]

what will you be using the car for that you need brake ducts?

[dlhS13]

Time attack, road racing. Not a whole lot just on open track day and ncca time attack events. I took off the front bumper to paint it and look out the plastic pieces on the bumper right below the turn signal and was just thinking that it would be easy to fiberglass up a duct for or inlet. Just an idea and was wondering if anyone else did it.

[working4aS13]

The 300ZX (Z32) has cooling ducts stock. In addition to the air guides mounted on the tension rods (shown below) under the bumper are scoops (not the TT slits) to grab the air in the first place. Out of the five Z32 I've worked on only one of them actually had these tension rod ducts after 15 years. Also I think it worth mentioning that the tension rod on the 300ZX are the same as the ones on the S13/S14. So you might be able to mount these on your 240.



I'm not sure how much improvement you will see with non-engineered air ducts but hey you live in Texas, I wouldn't be too concerned with 'cooling the brakes' too much; it was still about 101 degrees F when I got home from work last night at 9pm.

[dlhS13]

Ya the 100 degree heat was the reason. Thought if I could just get some air down there it would help. I'll post some pics when I get around to making them and I'm going to het a one of those laser temp gauges. So I'll see if they really work or not. Thanks for the 300 diagram I saw them on a car in the junk yard but didn't know that the tension rods bolted up or I would have got them.

[nismofly]

you really should be more concerned with tires, the brakes themselves, the pad compound you use, stuff like that

ducts are normally seen as the last thing to worry about...and btw actual ducts run from the front bumper would do far more than tension rod shields

[yokota180sx]

yeah im in the process of making ducts for the Stageaits actually harder than you think to route air perfectly to actually do anything

[dlhS13]

You have any pics of the ducts?

[yokota180sx]

not chet

[Nismo_Freak]

Remove the brake shields, duct air to the inner face of the rotor. Use quality reinforced ducting or it won't be worth it.

[Nismo_Freak]

Does the M3 come with the ducts stock? Ya I would think they would have to help. I really didn't think about the brakes getting to cool.

Yes, they are located in the front bumper and are plastic guides to the rotors.

[yokota180sx]

now thats kinda cool

[dlhS13]

Hey Nismo is there a real difference in brake feel and do they work good. Also did you make them or was it a shop. Ya what you have is what I was going for. They look really good. Saw a Indy car and they are inclosed just like yours without the hose. If it works for them it has to work. Any pics of the inlet on the bumper.

[Nismo_Freak]

Hey Nismo is there a real difference in brake feel and do they work good. Also did you make them or was it a shop. Ya what you have is what I was going for. They look really good. Saw a Indy car and they are inclosed just like yours without the hose. If it works for them it has to work. Any pics of the inlet on the bumper.

That's just some pic I found on Google to show you how most people do it.

The second pic is the stock M3 duct.

There is appreciable gains to be had with ducting on the stock diameter rotors and good pads. You still can't drive deep into the corner after corner but you'll have better bite. In the end the stock rotors are just too small for the car.

For a track setup on street tires I'd run Hawk HP+'s with ducting. They are noisy when they are cold but have enough bite when hot. Run some ATE Super Blue fluid or something comparable (there are a bunch out there). Theres better setups but this is cost effective if you absolutely don't want the Z32 setup.

Sub the HP+'s with Hawk Blues if you run R-compound or slicks.

When you are driving on the street I'd block off the ducts in the "winter".

[dlhS13]

Thanks for the help I thought they were on your car. Thanks for the help