Evo 9 3" Brake Duct Solution w/ Integrated Underpanel
Jun 6, 2014, 07:24 PM
#1
Evo 9 3" Brake Duct Solution w/ Integrated Underpanel
So I've been having some brake over heating issues lately at the track, and figured it was time to put some cooling ducts in. Talking to people most agreed that 2" is just not worth even bothering with, so go 3" or nothing. Given that there is no available 3" solution as far as I can tell, it was time to invent something new. Also being an aerospace engineer by trade I am a bit over obsessed with aerodynamics, so I've been wanting to put in an underpanel for a while. Figured it would be neat if I could incorporate these into a single piece.
Starting with the brake ducts, I had to draw up and make a set of nozzles since nothing exists for 3" ducting. This wasn't actually too difficult once you get the flange pattern down, as a piece of 3" exhaust pipe along with quite a few hours of hammering and reshaping made a nice nozzle that fits 3" duct just right. If anyone is interested in a set PM me for a price as I kept all the drawings and patterns and could rebuild these again without too much trouble. I actually trimmed off about a half inch or so from the nozzles shown which helped getting the hose to reach on full outside lock and not crunch up as bad at full inside lock.
As of hose routing you can see kind of what I did in the pictures. Obviously had to trim the splash guards on each side, and also bent back one of the oil cooler lines a bit to make the hose clear being very careful not to kink it at all. I think I am going to throw a little heat wrap and duct tape around the sections of hose that could rub on something as the wheels turn to keep them from abrading. Hopefully get that done this weekend.
Next up is the real fancy piece, the integrated underpanel / brake duct scoops. I have spent literally hours laying under the car looking at where you could route the hoses to get to the front of the car, and finally settled on the design in the pictures. The scoops don't actually face forward, but face more upwards right in front of the intercooler. I do not have a sliptter, nor plan on having one due to class restrictions for NASA. If I did this system may not work as well. Take a look at the streamlines in the CFD picture from Mitsubishi. Note that the stagnation point (point where the airflow splits to go over and under the car) is well above the splitter. If you have a big splitter this point moves down essentially to the tip of the splitter. But since I do not, there will be a very high pressure spike right in front of the intercooler at that location which should force a ton of air downwards into the scoops, and be just as effective as any forward facing scoops. The panel is still being fabbed up, and I think the first test will be the NASA event at Road America in August. Will post up more later as things come together with this.
Starting with the brake ducts, I had to draw up and make a set of nozzles since nothing exists for 3" ducting. This wasn't actually too difficult once you get the flange pattern down, as a piece of 3" exhaust pipe along with quite a few hours of hammering and reshaping made a nice nozzle that fits 3" duct just right. If anyone is interested in a set PM me for a price as I kept all the drawings and patterns and could rebuild these again without too much trouble. I actually trimmed off about a half inch or so from the nozzles shown which helped getting the hose to reach on full outside lock and not crunch up as bad at full inside lock.
As of hose routing you can see kind of what I did in the pictures. Obviously had to trim the splash guards on each side, and also bent back one of the oil cooler lines a bit to make the hose clear being very careful not to kink it at all. I think I am going to throw a little heat wrap and duct tape around the sections of hose that could rub on something as the wheels turn to keep them from abrading. Hopefully get that done this weekend.
Next up is the real fancy piece, the integrated underpanel / brake duct scoops. I have spent literally hours laying under the car looking at where you could route the hoses to get to the front of the car, and finally settled on the design in the pictures. The scoops don't actually face forward, but face more upwards right in front of the intercooler. I do not have a sliptter, nor plan on having one due to class restrictions for NASA. If I did this system may not work as well. Take a look at the streamlines in the CFD picture from Mitsubishi. Note that the stagnation point (point where the airflow splits to go over and under the car) is well above the splitter. If you have a big splitter this point moves down essentially to the tip of the splitter. But since I do not, there will be a very high pressure spike right in front of the intercooler at that location which should force a ton of air downwards into the scoops, and be just as effective as any forward facing scoops. The panel is still being fabbed up, and I think the first test will be the NASA event at Road America in August. Will post up more later as things come together with this.
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Jun 8, 2014, 07:54 PM
#8
No real plans to sell the underpanel, it would probably be damn expensive. If it all works as planned though I'd be happy to help someone else make one.
As of the cross section of the ducts, from what I have measured there is only around 40mm of clearance between where the underpanel will go and the tight spots. I wanted to make the ducts as free flowing as possible and still have a large area, but that being said you might be able to squish a hose down instead, it will just not flow as much as a 3" hose does anymore.
As of the cross section of the ducts, from what I have measured there is only around 40mm of clearance between where the underpanel will go and the tight spots. I wanted to make the ducts as free flowing as possible and still have a large area, but that being said you might be able to squish a hose down instead, it will just not flow as much as a 3" hose does anymore.
Jun 9, 2014, 05:53 PM
#9
Evolved Member
I totally agree with moving this to the Motorsport section. I was actually at the track 2 weeks ago talking with a fellow evo owner. Both of us are unhappy with our 2" ducting.
Jun 9, 2014, 07:39 PM
#10
I've got no problem moving it, just not sure how, think I need a mod to do that?
I'll see if I can get any rotor temps once I get the panel installed and the ducts all hooked up. The first event I would be testing it at is Road America in August which is deadly on brakes so would be a great chance to check this out, just block the scoops for one session then unblock for the next. Idea is to just use an IR gun on the rotors and maybe calipers after the run. Anyone have any better ideas of how to easily record brake temps?
I'll see if I can get any rotor temps once I get the panel installed and the ducts all hooked up. The first event I would be testing it at is Road America in August which is deadly on brakes so would be a great chance to check this out, just block the scoops for one session then unblock for the next. Idea is to just use an IR gun on the rotors and maybe calipers after the run. Anyone have any better ideas of how to easily record brake temps?
Jun 9, 2014, 07:59 PM
#11
A few more pics attached. I got the hose routing essentially finalized, and will be running at gingerman in 2 weeks with just the hoses sticking out the bottom of the car a little. Not expecting this to do much but will at least be able to tell if the hoses rub on anything or cause issues on track. I did pretty much exactly what I planned, used exhaust heat wrap and covered it with duct tape in the areas it contacted something else.
One weird note that very few other cars will be able to copy, I snuck the hose on the passenger side OVER the LICP. I have no idea why that weird bend is in the LICP, but almost every aftermarket one gets rid of it. Despite that it worked out great for the brake duct routing and my underpanel will have the scoop outlet pop up right there.
The hoses clear just fine completely from lock to lock on both sides. I am running 265/35R18 Dunlop ZII's right now on an 18x9.5 +29 wheel. Later this week I'll be mounting up 245/40R18 Hoosier R6s on an 18x8.5 +25 wheel with a 10mm spacer. Not expecting any clearance issues with brake ducts on these, but might need some help on the outsides / use a smaller spacer. Probably see a separate thread on this pop up. In any case I wouldn't tuck in much closer to the coilovers than what I am running now.
One weird note that very few other cars will be able to copy, I snuck the hose on the passenger side OVER the LICP. I have no idea why that weird bend is in the LICP, but almost every aftermarket one gets rid of it. Despite that it worked out great for the brake duct routing and my underpanel will have the scoop outlet pop up right there.
The hoses clear just fine completely from lock to lock on both sides. I am running 265/35R18 Dunlop ZII's right now on an 18x9.5 +29 wheel. Later this week I'll be mounting up 245/40R18 Hoosier R6s on an 18x8.5 +25 wheel with a 10mm spacer. Not expecting any clearance issues with brake ducts on these, but might need some help on the outsides / use a smaller spacer. Probably see a separate thread on this pop up. In any case I wouldn't tuck in much closer to the coilovers than what I am running now.
May 14, 2015, 05:24 AM
#15
I haven't updated in a while here. The underpanel is done, and the ducts are in, but they don't exactly match what I had drawn up. I ended up switching to a new LICP which blocked where I had the sheet metal ducts routed.
I haven't done the complete write up on the inlet ducts that were 3D printed, or the underpanel yet, but the whole system turned out really nice. The pictures of it are here: http://upshiftracing.com/engineering/ . The Duct routing took some time and creativity, but in the end I think I found a solid way to get them through without too many bends or close clearances. I will likely add a splitter in the not too distant future also to work with the underpanel, and this would help push a ton more air into the ducts where I have them coming through the front lip.
I will do the write up on the other parts in the next couple weeks here.
I haven't done the complete write up on the inlet ducts that were 3D printed, or the underpanel yet, but the whole system turned out really nice. The pictures of it are here: http://upshiftracing.com/engineering/ . The Duct routing took some time and creativity, but in the end I think I found a solid way to get them through without too many bends or close clearances. I will likely add a splitter in the not too distant future also to work with the underpanel, and this would help push a ton more air into the ducts where I have them coming through the front lip.
I will do the write up on the other parts in the next couple weeks here.