Something i've always been meaning to do with the Corolla was make brake cooling ducts. Even though Barney has moved on, I still make time to tinker with the parts of
AE86. The stock brake system hasn't never given me much trouble. Though it's ~9in diameter
brake disc doesn't really give much of a fight.
Others will tell you stories of over heating and fade, which is true if you're super aggressive on your brakes and run sticky tires. But the main things to concentrate on, was having an exceptional set of pads and something that can be heard on
Formula 1 radios; brake management. Some will never agree nor am i here to change your mind. I'm just not a fan of bombing into every corner. and
braking late, you'll definitely toast your brakes in no time. I could go with a bigger brake kit and be cool. But i'd rather not add
unsprung weight to a car where being light weight is one of it's main assets. I also like having the use of cool 14in wheels.
The early attempts at brake cooling. Drilling large holes into the the backing plate. The holes were positioned towards to the
center of the brake disc. The idea, was to have the cool air enter the disc vents from the center.
The next idea to add was to add a
sheet metal plate that would direct more air to the drilled holes. Very simple add on. Would it work? I dunno never tried it out.
A top view of what the air deflector would look like. Moving it forward, positioning more towards the brake caliper. Another thought of having air passing over and around the caliper to cool the
brake fluid and resist brake fluid boiling.
Continuing with the tinkering, here's the next evolution of brake cooling. Staring at various setups on the net, many kits used ducts that directed air towards the center hub so it will the disc from the inside. But most of the setups shown on the net were of big cars that already had big brakes. Since AE86 brakes are on the very dinky side didn't help the cause. Pictured above is a 2in pipe to get an idea of where to position the duct. There's more room if it was lowered towards the center, but at full
steering lock the pipe would the parts of the
control arm, so here it will sit. Didn't like it much since it was sending air to one side of the braking surface.
Threw the pipe into the vise to form an oval shape to get some air towards the center vents. Probably add a plate in the duct that will cover most of the opening so air can enter into the center vent. But that's too much complication, i'd rather keep it simple.
Eliminated the oval pipe idea and moved the pipe closer to the center. Chopped and hacked the backing plate to fit the pipe. Not too bad so far.
Just doing a tack weld for now. Need to cover up the old holes.
Protototype is done. But no place to go.
Final assembly, doesn't look to bad.
A view from above.
Some may already be saying only cool air is going to one side. Thought about that too. But if you're running open spoked wheels or maybe the even cooler ronal turbo wheels, then the other side will be receiving cool air as well.
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