This year's winter project was to finally give the brakes some extra cooling.

The kit as supplied by FVD (not cheap but provides everything needed):



Air scoop fitted in place of the fog-light. Fittings are behind so that they're not visible. 3 inch duct tubing fits snug inside and is secured in place with black silicone. The scoops required some trimming to make them nicely and were then painted before fitting:



The other end of the ducting is clamped to an outlet flange that is secured to the arch liner:



The air flow is directed to the brakes via a deflector fitted to the inside of the arch, just above the standard air deflector:



There doesn't appear to be any rubbing problems, especially since I had steering stops fitted at the same time because I also needed a new rack fitted (seals on the old one were shot and was leaking badly).

Looks purposeful from the front and more importantly should be of benefit on the track:



As usual, Unit 11 (Warrington) took care of doing it all for me.

 

I'm toying whether to do this on mine or not.

I have the air ducts fitted, but they go nowhere.

My current thoughts are: does the cooling really make a substantial difference to the brakes?

Would it be easier to use the extra cooling simply to cool the oil?

Shall I stick the fog lights back in

 

very nice

 

Great write up Steve,

It depends how you use the car. Having them on track days definitely makes a difference.

Having it directed on the oil cooler is what a few people have done - it's easier as no hoses are needed.

 

Thanks Pops

Peter, whether you can fit ducting to your scoops depends on which ones you have. A lot of the cosmetic ones are just a big oval behind which makes it tricky to attach duct tubing. The other bits of the kit in the arch (flange and deflector) are not available separately so you would have to make something yourself.

As for whether it makes any difference....for roads there's no need...for track it will help a lot. The brakes can be used harder and you can stay out a bit longer. Most race cars have some form of extra cooling for the brakes.

 

Vey nice steve

Thanks for the pics, I'd never managed to work out how they were all fitted before

Now there must be a cheap way of doing this

 

That looks like a great looking bit of kit & install for you track day boys...

 

i dont track my car so i used the ducts to bring air to the oil cooler and ac condensor, i agree that the ducting to brakes would benefit a tracked car

 

That looks great Steve and I'm sure you'll put the extra cooling to good use on track.

I think my car has the same kit - it certainly looks exactly the same and is connected through to the arches like yours.

I'd be interested to find out how the ducts are fitted to the front PU. I assume they're bolted/screwed from behind?

 

Hi Rich, there is stud bonded on one side (see first pic) and one on the rear of the flat part. These pass through holes in the PU and are fastened with nuts/washers from behind. Tricky to bolt up with the PU on the car but easier with it removed.

 

Thanks for taking the time to put up pics, Boxsey! (I will now start to think about a DIY version...)

And FWIW, my oil temps on track over here get no higher than 9 o'clock on the gauge, but on the other hand, I do have a fading brake problem.

I think I can sacrifice some oil cooling for the sake of the brakes, by redirecting the RS ducts to the brakes instead.

 

Nice job Steve!

I contacted Stephan Enzmann@FVD about this kit a month or so ago, as it will be on my winter to-do list.

Jeff (Gamroth@Rothsport) also recommends removing the brake backing plates for extra cooling and of course my favourite - weight reduction

PS: brake backing plate removal has a caveat. In the wet, initial brake application will just disperse water from the disc, rather than actually slow the car. You probably already know this but others may not ...

PPS: belated happy 50th mate!

 

Nice!

This should make a difference with those hawk pads as you can really generate some braking energy/heat with them. I expect to see you sail past me on the brakes at the end of kemmel now!

Makes me think I should really get round to fitting the kit I've had lying around for about 5 years!

 

Looks good. That's definitely a nice kit.


I just installed some ducts on mine but didn't route them to the brakes, only as supplemental airflow to the cooler and condenser. I only autocross and time trial, so I have not experienced the need for more brake cooling, however, I have seen 10 o'clock on the oil temp after extended high RPMs during time trials in the Texas heat.

 

Looking at the original parts photo, it looks like the sizes of the hoses and ducts do not match up. Like the fender liner outlet ducts (at the top of photo) are smaller than the diameter of the flex hose. It looks like the clear tube/hose pieces at the bottom are then used like reducers to go from the flex hose diameter (3 inch?) to the diameter of the outlet duct. Can you tell where all the pieces went with your installation?