Track Mods - Brake Ducts, Aero, Cool Stuff, Maintenance

[ZJChaser]

OK So I figured I'd start this thread and just update it as we go. I've been spending time at Brents(Brent Bauman) working on track oriented mods for these cars, really I've just been getting in his way and working on my car there I'll update this thread with info and photos.

Tonight was a late night and some significant progress was made.....photos to tell the story.

I'll start with a warning to anyone that tracks and has dropped tires in holes or off the back of curbs....CHECK YOUR REAR UPPER SUSPENSION ARMS!!! I just caught this ding in my left rear upper arm, it is VERY easy to overlook. I'm pretty sure I remember the time it happened at Cal speedway, I dropped the left rear in a hole just off track on the exit of a corner and heard a good thud. The lower you run your car the more you risk the damage. This is very dangerous and can fail very easily. You can see the ding and how much the arm has already bent...

ok here is the video of when I think it happened:

YouTube - Lotus Exige Bent A Arm

OK now for some fun stuff.
The chop shop:


Finished the brake ducts on Brents car tonight. 2" subwoofer port -> 2" brake duct hose -> custom backing plate sandwiched between the upright and the hub. The hub was machined down .090" so that the plate does not change where the wheel/rotor sits. Also notice the bungee that keeps the duct completely out of the way of the wheel through afull cycling of suspension and turning.
completed setup with the rotor off:


backing plates in the raw:


location of inlets, easy access through the foglight holes to install Brents, My front clam came off to install mine. The fog light brackets will be utilized as the upper mounts for the struts that will support the new splitter:


rotor on:


hose routing:


random tidbit, 225 hoosier next to 245 Toyo R888 both on 8" wide rims...almost the exact same width:


front undertray rev 1.0, rev 2.0 is in the works....it has a few extra holes in it from my impromptu fix at teh track last weekend, sorry Brent I know you thought it was too ugly to post but its still a nice piece. Notice how much of the wheel opening this covers versus stock and the verticle tunnels start here that will later run the entire length of the car and tie into the diffuser. Essentially tunneling the car from the splitter to the diffuser:


current status of my car:



in the coming days/weeks:
finsih brake ducts on my car
finish new front undertray
finish new track only splitter
design and make new track only rear diffuser
new rear undertray - done
design and make tunnels that run from the front of the car to the diffuser
design and build a new A2W intercooler setup

[FLuXeXigeS]

subscribed
was damage caused by force or debris?

[Rodewaryer]

Good find on the A-arm, and I want to commend the work on the brake ducting. Not everyone has the motivation to take on that kind of work, and not many really have a clue as to the proper way to implement it. Your work looks tidy and well worked out. I have contemplated ducting air to my brakes in the past and whenever I try to research 'how' to route the air onto the rotor I always got the shrug and in the end any air delivered to the rotor is an improvement worth doing. I guess this mostly leaves one able to put said kit where it's convenient. I never did get to this and went the BBK route first which was well worth doing however having said that, I am not sure what is available for the Exige or Elise.

Again nice work on the brake cooling ducts.

[mlk_f1]

Wow, Brent you're da man. Those are beautifully crafted aluminum pieces. AJ, are you guys gonna work on your cars tomorrow too? I'll be at Emilio's place in Lake Forest tomorrow. I might swing by if you guys are there. I'll call you.

RE: Brake duct plate.
Looks like you are offsetting the spindle to the thickness of the brake duct plate. That changes the distance between the caliper and rotor, right? Hows the clearance in the spots circled on the picture below? Will brand new rotors be an issue?

[ZJChaser]

Originally Posted by FLuXeXigeS

subscribed
was damage caused by force or debris?

Just dropping a tire off track on the exit of a corner at cal speedway. I think I have video of it, might be able to hear the thud, I'll look tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Rodewaryer

Good find on the A-arm, and I want to commend the work on the brake ducting. Not everyone has the motivation to take on that kind of work, and not many really have a clue as to the proper way to implement it. Your work looks tidy and well worked out. I have contemplated ducting air to my brakes in the past and whenever I try to research 'how' to route the air onto the rotor I always got the shrug and in the end any air delivered to the rotor is an improvement worth doing. I guess this mostly leaves one able to put said kit where it's convenient. I never did get to this and went the BBK route first which was well worth doing however having said that, I am not sure what is available for the Exige or Elise.

Again nice work on the brake cooling ducts.

Thanks, Brent is really responsible for this stuff. The goal here is to not NEED the BBK that a lot of people jump on as a solution. I "think" that with these cooling ducts and just keeping fresh fluid in the system there wont be a need for a BBK on these cars and that will allow the use of small 15" wheels in the front that dont fit with a BBK. We'll see how these work out, hopefully well.

Originally Posted by mlk_f1

Wow, Brent you're da man. Those are beautifully crafted aluminum pieces. AJ, are you guys gonna work on your cars tomorrow too? I'll be at Emilio's place in Lake Forest tomorrow. I might swing by if you guys are there. I'll call you.

RE: Brake duct plate.
Looks like you are offsetting the spindle to the thickness of the brake duct plate. That changes the distance between the caliper and rotor, right? Hows the clearance in the spots circled on the picture below? Will brand new rotors be an issue?
Attachment 103775

If I dont have to work much I'll be back there working on the car again ya and I think Brent will be working on his, I dont remember if he will be tehre all day or not. I still havn't been to emilio's yet.....you guys battling on the racing simulator? Give me a call.

Brent machined the hub down the same thickness as the backing plate so that with the backing plate and the hub in place everything sits exactly where it does stock. New rotors and pads will be no different.

[mlk_f1]

Awesome!!!


Well, we are doing some fine tuning at emilio's. Only one machine is there, so we can't do w2w. But we can still do hot lap battle. I'll be there around 10:30am until whenever. I'll call you.

[apk919]

Very cool mods, great execution; thanks for sharing.

Also, you've once again pointed out the prudence of prepping and inspecting your car before a track day, or after any kind of "off", even if it's just a wheel.

[Chococar]

subscribed

[Dave]

Innovation at it's very best AJ!

[Brent Bauman]

Thanks AJ for posting pictures, I'm always too lazy/ignant to document my mods. I have never been dissatified with the brake performance of our stock setup only it's lack of heat capacity. Even with proper air pumping (Girodisc) rotors I've boiled fluid (SRF) on long runs. The cooling ducts take fresh/cool high pressure air and direct it to the shroud that sits inside the back of the rotor. This makes best use of the cool air as there is a low pressure in this area created by the air pumping of the rotor vanes, the shroud only allows the low pressure to draw air from the ducting. For these stock size rotors 290mm, 2" is the largest duct I could fit, even that is very tight to fit between the upright and rotor. If I ever get a set of cup rotors 308mm, sorry Jack I'll drive up your way eventually, I'm pretty sure there will be room for a 2.5" or maybe 3" duct. The shrouds are .090" 6061, I wanted a stiff/durable plate to mount the ducting port to and not flex or rattle. The mount suface of the hub bearing is machined down that 090" to align everthing to stock location. The crimping and angle orintation of the shroud port took some trial and error to work with steering and suspension articulation to clear everything. I put the bungee on only to keep the duct taunt and not bouncing around, they clear everything even without them but I thought it couldn't hurt. Tire clearance will never be an issue, they aren't even close to ever touching. As simple as they look there is a ton of time in making these.

Manly I shoud be at the shop all day until 4:30, I'll PM you my #.

Anyone running dampers without bottom out bumpers, keep an eye on things. Aj's damage could become VERY dangerous if not found/replaced. I have cycled the suspension with Nitrons and at full compression the upper arm does not contact the subframe, but if it bumps hard enough to compress the jounce bumper at all they can contact as well.

[FLuXeXigeS]

Brent and AJ

i should check my susp stuff, since i dont think i am running any bump stop either

those brake ducts are the $hiznit!!!!

[Jack]

Great job, Brent...and.... AJ.

Brent, no worries, I've got the 308mm rotor in my hand. I may be coming down to Costa Mesa on Friday (track day on Thursday) -- need to pick something up at Newport European. I'll touch base with you before I head down that way.

AJ, better read up on the new LCS classing rules, soon to be released....all those aero mods will put you in a new class.... Ultra MOD..... you'll be the only car in the class or is that the only car with class..

[kaz]

Brent -

Looks awesome! I'd love to stop by and see whatcha got cookin over there, and huge thanks for the footrest offer, will try and think of something creative to bring over

AJ - yeah, I'm not ever going to step up to 16" in the front - so this would be a great addition to the car. I've never really ran out of brakes, but I don't go anywhere near as hard as you do. Skippy school this winter and lots more track time will inch me toward going faster at which point would love some brake cooling options How's the engine?

[ZJChaser]

Originally Posted by Jack

Great job, Brent...and.... AJ.

Brent, no worries, I've got the 308mm rotor in my hand. I may be coming down to Costa Mesa on Friday (track day on Thursday) -- need to pick something up at Newport European. I'll touch base with you before I head down that way.

AJ, better read up on the new LCS classing rules, soon to be released....all those aero mods will put you in a new class.... Ultra MOD..... you'll be the only car in the class or is that the only car with class..

oh great. I was doing these mods so that I can run with the 211s next season. Now I'm going to be a class above them?!?!? I love building my car to the rulesfrom the last season. We are a month away from the start, the new rules havnt been released yet and I find out that now I'll be all by myself again What happens if I throw on R888s? ITs also a bit hard to read up on the rules prior to their publication

PS, I still owe you for tires and I have something I need that is in LA, if you come down here we might have to make arrangements...

[Composites]

That undertray's pretty cool. It could be used to make a mold and reproduce them in carbon.........

Brent- is all okay with your new chin spoiler?

[turbophil]

As a guy that likes fabb'in stuff myself, you guys did a jam-up job! Congrats on the good work guys

I've been pondering doing something similar as I tend to cook my fluid through a long session as well. I've even found myself not shifting into 5th on some of the straights just to keep the speed down to save the fluid... the problems that comes with more power, eh Would be great if venting like this would solve the problem or at least buy some more time. I too run 15" front wheels and just assume keep running 15's up front... Keep us posted if it feels like it helps, AJ. Perhaps I'll give something like this a shot as well this winter...

Best,

Phil

[Jack]

Originally Posted by ZJChaser

oh great. I was doing these mods so that I can run with the 211s next season. Now I'm going to be a class above them?!?!? I love building my car to the rulesfrom the last season. We are a month away from the start, the new rules havnt been released yet and I find out that now I'll be all by myself again What happens if I throw on R888s?

PS, I still owe you for tires and I have something I need that is in LA, if you come down here we might have to make arrangements...

AJ,

Not to worry...just make up a set of aero parts for Robb and he'll make sure the classing rules work out for you ....just kidding.

I'm sure all will be OK -- I was just pulling your........

[ZJChaser]

Originally Posted by Jack

AJ,

Not to worry...just make up a set of aero parts for Robb and he'll make sure the classing rules work out for you ....just kidding.

I'm sure all will be OK -- I was just pulling your........

dont do that! haha. I took that totally seriously.

I believe he is working on projects himself. Its really good to see the developement on these cars that the series has helped influence.

[Brent Bauman]

gullable
Have fun tomorrow Jack.

[carl]

Brent, very impressive!carl