Brake Ducts Anyone?

I was perusing the front end of my LGT and thought "those driving lights are damn near useless." Then I thought "brake ducts!" Remove the lamps, insert some ductwork to the calipers and rotors. Voila! Anyone done this? Good for track work (if they work). Bad for the street? Is this even possible given the structure behind the front clip (I haven't looked)?

it would be fairly straight forward. all thats behind it is fender liner

Those lamps are fogs - proper aim, and proper pattern. They're truly only good for inclimate weather, where you'll really appreciate their ability to light the foreground without giving you much grief in terms of reflected/refracted glare.

 

Not driving lamps - which are both designed and aimed to supplement your high-beams.

 

But definitely, that's a very interesting idea you've got there!

I've thought about making some that duct from below the fog lamps/bumper...

Those lamps are fogs - proper aim, and proper pattern. They're truly only good for inclimate weather, where you'll really appreciate their ability to light the foreground without giving you much grief in terms of reflected/refracted glare.

 

Not driving lamps - which are both designed and aimed to supplement your high-beams.

 

But definitely, that's a very interesting idea you've got there!

 

I remember fog lamps used to use yellow to reduce the glare of white light in fog. Why clear lenses if they're fog lamps?

^^Replace them with yellow bulbs. $50 tops & it makes a nice difference

I've thought about making some that duct from below the fog lamps/bumper...

 

You are such a brake fanatic.

 

I like that!

I was perusing the front end of my LGT and thought "those driving lights are damn near useless." Then I thought "brake ducts!" Remove the lamps, insert some ductwork to the calipers and rotors. Voila! Anyone done this? Good for track work (if they work). Bad for the street? Is this even possible given the structure behind the front clip (I haven't looked)?

 

 

Racecomp Engineering can make us a set.. the thing is trying to attach the hub adapter onto the brakes.. I think there was some clearance issues with the control arm.. the Spec Bs have a different casting to them, so they dont have as much of an issue.

 

I dont really see the point for the street (when do you ever get them THAT hot?).. for the track it would be nice.. but even on the colder days, it's best to tape up the ducts to prevent too fast of a cool down where the rotor can warp.. depends on your actual needs. What temps have you been running on at the road course? Above 80F ambients?

I remember fog lamps used to use yellow to reduce the glare of white light in fog. Why clear lenses if they're fog lamps?

 

Yellow/amber is often used because light of that selective color can help with our natural depth perception and edge delineation - biologically, our eyes are very sensitive in that range.

 

There's a folk belief that yellow light somehow either penetrate fog better or somehow cause less back-scatter during inclimate weather, but that doesn't prove-out in actual scientific testing nor in real-world conditions.

 

As such, it's purely a perceptive issue.

 

 

The trade-off with having "yellow" fogs is that although there's actually less light output, we get better edge delineation and depth perception, which usually gets "washed out" during inclimate weather. With whiter light, we do get a bit more backscatter/glare, but that trade-off is made in the brightness of the foreground. As our headlamps are standard incandescents (and so are our stock fogs), it seems that Subaru's engineers simply thought that they're already "yellow enough," and did not seek, in stock form, any more amber coloration.

Yellow/amber is often used because light of that selective color can help with our natural depth perception and edge delineation - biologically, our eyes are very sensitive in that range.

 

There's a folk belief that yellow light somehow either penetrate fog better or somehow cause less back-scatter during inclimate weather, but that doesn't prove-out in actual scientific testing nor in real-world conditions.

 

As such, it's purely a perceptive issue.

 

 

The trade-off with having "yellow" fogs is that although there's actually less light output, we get better edge delineation and depth perception, which usually gets "washed out" during inclimate weather. With whiter light, we do get a bit more backscatter/glare, but that trade-off is made in the brightness of the foreground. As our headlamps are standard incandescents (and so are our stock fogs), it seems that Subaru's engineers simply thought that they're already "yellow enough," and did not seek, in stock form, any more amber coloration.

 

 

+1 Also there is a SMALL chance that the fog is a inch or so above the road, thus a lower mount is better. i'd rather see an after-market supplier put out some serious driving lights that would fit into the "fog" light openings, sans plastic inserts.

+1 Also there is a SMALL chance that the fog is a inch or so above the road, thus a lower mount is better.

 

^ +1 And also, such a low mount "naturally" moves the light out of the line-of-sight of most motorists under the vast majority of conditions.

 

i'd rather see an after-market supplier put out some serious driving lights that would fit into the "fog" light openings, sans plastic inserts.

 

Agreed.

 

The only thing, though, is that it would be somewhat harder to optimize beam throw/pattern, as the stock "low" location would make it hard to co-locate the axis upon which our high-beams throw....

 

Still, it's definitely an idea I'd be fond of and would likely purchase, as I'm still somewhat tentative about taking away more frontal cooling area with the install of "in-grill" driving lamps, however small.

you can certainly add brake ducts UNDER the lip of the bumper and create your own lip in the process.. that would certainly be a benefit in both ways..

I've thought about making some that duct from below the fog lamps/bumper...

+1 if you make them, I'll buy them.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=960705&page=11&pp=50

 

Around post #520 or so there is a discussion about the cooling they configured on the race car Gary Sheehan drove last weekend in Long Beach. Apparently the holes for the fog lights are too small to make a difference. There is a lot of info in there, I can't rememeber it all.

you mean Gary's new WRX? You would need a FULL port for the 04/05.. not just the removal of the fog light...

 

http://static.flickr.com/51/127316875_80fce2f601_o.jpg

 

that hole is just too small, you need to REMOVE THE WHOLE PANEL and tack on a funnel of that size on there to make it worth it.. not sure what the limitations are.. but I think somewhere in the rules (depending on the sanction) it's either 2", 2.5" or 3".. and it also depends on what you are allowed to remove exactly.

I was trying to say that I think the hole on the LGT bumper is probably too small as well.

you could take off the whole trim piece.. not just the hole for the fog light.. that was my point

My thought was to remove the panel covering the foglamp, and have someone fabricate fiberglass inserts, paint them perhaps, and add any necessary flexible pipe back to rotors/calipers. If flexible ductwork (something like aluminized clothes dryer flexi coil duct pipe) is necessary, the difficulty would be in supporting it so it didn't get blown around and dislocated. But perhaps solid fiberglass funnels all the way back to rotors would work; depends on the length necessary and bends it has to make.

Just floating ideas.

you could take off the whole trim piece.. not just the hole for the fog light.. that was my point

Exactly. You'd need to do that in order to fashion the proper funnel/velocity stack. A simple circular opening with ducting behind it will do no good.

My thought was to remove the panel covering the foglamp, and have someone fabricate fiberglass inserts, paint them perhaps, and add any necessary flexible pipe back to rotors/calipers. If flexible ductwork (something like aluminized clothes dryer flexi coil duct pipe) is necessary, the difficulty would be in supporting it so it didn't get blown around and dislocated. But perhaps solid fiberglass funnels all the way back to rotors would work; depends on the length necessary and bends it has to make.

Just floating ideas.

 

 

you could buy all the hardware from http://www.mcmaster.com and piece it all yourself if you like.. the brackets and funnels can be found there as well as the ducting.. but to make it worth your time, you should find ways to route the ducting so that it stays out of the way of moving parts.. you can use hose clamps and zip-ties to keep everything in place (it's common practice to use such fastners).

 

You need a funnel like this in the foglight housing:

http://i14.ebayimg.com/01/i/01/5b/0f/a0_1.JPG

For the WRXs:

http://www.chargespeed.com/photo/bonnet/gdb_b_duct_ab.jpg

 

And you need a dust shield coupler or something to mount to the back of the rotor like so:

http://www.windycitybmw.com/images/articles/duct.jpg

http://www.bdmracing.net/race/images/products/brakeducts6.jpg

 

Otherwise it would be useless to just blow on the surface of the rotor.. you want to direct the air through the center of the rotor where the vanes meet so that you can pump the air out and through the rotor to make it effective.

 

And for the actual ducting, you need the ducting to be able to support the heat that is radiating from the rotor. I would suggest a ducting that is medium weight, capable of well over the 300F range, outdoor use of course, and with good resistance to oils, abrasion, and UV rays.

http://www.ducting.com/Air.html

http://www.ducting.com/BDS.html

http://www.ducting.com/files/BDS.jpg

http://www.ducting.com/Raceflex.html

http://www.ducting.com/files/RACEFLEX.jpg

 

Or just find parts online and build it yourself to your liking such as places like these:

http://www.stockcarproducts.com/brkduct.htm

That's what I'm talkin' about, Willis! You da man, Xenonk!

 

Not that I NEED any of this. Just thinkin' out loud...

hmmmm. on my 2.5n/a I have those "break ducts". Im tempted to take it out and see if a small Air horn would fit in it. Any thoughts on that?

Here's a WRX kit at Quantum Motorsports

 

\http://quantummotorsports.com/02-06wrx_kits.htm#Plate%20Kit

 

Alittle pricey at $205

Personally I wouldn't bother, but RaceComp makes them...

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37091&highlight=brake+duct

^ They do not fit yet for Leg GT. They will when make our 08 STi carbon ducts.

 

- Andrew