Are your brakes getting too hot at the track? Have $30 and an hour?
Dec 14, 2009, 08:37 PM
#1
Are your brakes getting too hot at the track? Have $30 and an hour?
After boiling my brake fluid at the track this summer I decided to improve the X's brake cooling capacity in order to be safer at the track. The brakes were so hot that I was worried about the wheels deforming and/or deflecting under heavy load. My gloves also melted onto the wheels. They were VERY hot!
The first step was to take the off the dust shields on the back of the rotors. On the fronts it's really easy, two bolts on the shield.
On the rears it's tougher. They are tack welded to the car. You can leave them on if you want, but you can take a hammer and a chisel to them and pop them off in about an hour (and two beers lol). It's dusty. Wear eye protection. Brake dust burns. Bad.
So now you're going to not be holding the heat in. Now let's cool things down.
You want Porsche 997 GT3 brake duct spoilers.
Here's a writeup on putting them on a Porsche: http://www.planet-9.com/reviews/show...=180&si=Brakes
You might be able to get them from your local porsche dealer, or here online: http://www.e-partssales.com/miva/mer...tbrakeupgrades
On the X it's almost as easy, except the clips obviously aren't right... they are VERY close though. The fingers go around the undertray nicely. The clips do go around the LCA just fine. I used two long zip ties on each and they have held up for about 5 months now. They do scrape on hard corners or when one wheel is lower (like a big pothole), of course depending on how low your car sits.
In the track days and autocrosses since I've had no brake issues. The area around my brakes is warm, but not anywhere near as hot. My calipers, while already black, aren't getting blacker. Maybe a little purple at this point
.
Full disclosure: In addition to these changes, I also got a set of titanium shims, new fluid (Endless RF650), and the Girodisc 2 piece rotors. These obviously cost more money ($60, $60, $700+ respectively) but I think that the $30 solution helped tremendously and these other, more expensive modifications wouldn't have been as effective without the cheaper ones
EDIT: I finally got pictures for all the people that just had to have them
I was pulling the LCA so the guides had to come off so I took some pictures for you guys.
Bare LCA:
Putting the guide on the LCA:
Guide on the LCA:
Attaching the zipties to hold it on:
Front View:
The first step was to take the off the dust shields on the back of the rotors. On the fronts it's really easy, two bolts on the shield.
On the rears it's tougher. They are tack welded to the car. You can leave them on if you want, but you can take a hammer and a chisel to them and pop them off in about an hour (and two beers lol). It's dusty. Wear eye protection. Brake dust burns. Bad.
So now you're going to not be holding the heat in. Now let's cool things down.
You want Porsche 997 GT3 brake duct spoilers.
Here's a writeup on putting them on a Porsche: http://www.planet-9.com/reviews/show...=180&si=Brakes
You might be able to get them from your local porsche dealer, or here online: http://www.e-partssales.com/miva/mer...tbrakeupgrades
On the X it's almost as easy, except the clips obviously aren't right... they are VERY close though. The fingers go around the undertray nicely. The clips do go around the LCA just fine. I used two long zip ties on each and they have held up for about 5 months now. They do scrape on hard corners or when one wheel is lower (like a big pothole), of course depending on how low your car sits.
In the track days and autocrosses since I've had no brake issues. The area around my brakes is warm, but not anywhere near as hot. My calipers, while already black, aren't getting blacker. Maybe a little purple at this point
.Full disclosure: In addition to these changes, I also got a set of titanium shims, new fluid (Endless RF650), and the Girodisc 2 piece rotors. These obviously cost more money ($60, $60, $700+ respectively) but I think that the $30 solution helped tremendously and these other, more expensive modifications wouldn't have been as effective without the cheaper ones
EDIT: I finally got pictures for all the people that just had to have them
I was pulling the LCA so the guides had to come off so I took some pictures for you guys.
Bare LCA:
Putting the guide on the LCA:
Guide on the LCA:
Attaching the zipties to hold it on:
Front View:
Last edited by goofygrin; Mar 7, 2010 at 10:45 AM.
Dec 15, 2009, 05:42 AM
#7
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Have you tried the Mitsubishi cooling ducts?
I have them in a box in my garage but haven't touched them yet. I really need to get something because I boil fluid quite readily with R Compounds and my front calipers are jet black from all of the heat.
I have them in a box in my garage but haven't touched them yet. I really need to get something because I boil fluid quite readily with R Compounds and my front calipers are jet black from all of the heat.
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Dec 15, 2009, 08:58 AM
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But if you just have them sitting in the grage def, put them on before your next event, they help quite a bit.
Dec 19, 2009, 10:03 AM
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What type of brake fluid are you running? If you are running stock, I would first suggesting just swapping that out for some ATE Typ 200 or Super Blue (I can't remember if both are made - one might be discontinued, but they are the same fluid, just different colors for easier bleeding when alternating use of each).
This will take care of a lot of boiling issues. The other suggestion is to really work on braking and driving mechanics. I've seen a huge temperature difference compared to my own driving and someone who was much more experienced.
Just some other ideas. Very neat modification if the above don't work for you, or you want some Porsche bling
This will take care of a lot of boiling issues. The other suggestion is to really work on braking and driving mechanics. I've seen a huge temperature difference compared to my own driving and someone who was much more experienced.
Just some other ideas. Very neat modification if the above don't work for you, or you want some Porsche bling
