Inner gills?

[Daryl]

On the backside of the “brake ducts” there are gills (or slats) I guess to direct air to the rear brakes? On the one hand, I’m pleased to see that the rear “ducts” are actually functional, or designed to be.

Any advantages/disadvantages to removing those inner gills/slats thereby increasing the air flow to cool the brakes?

 

[ttocs]

they are just for looks.

 

[PinkieT]

They are open on early cars, closed up on later models. I don't remember when Ford made the change. 1996 when they changed taillights???

 

[Daryl]

they are just for looks.

That’s what I thought until I was under the car and happened to look up. They appear to actually allow air to flow through

 

[Daryl]

They are open on early cars, closed up on later models. I don't remember when Ford made the change. 1996 when they changed taillights???

‘96 would make sense. Mine is a ‘95

 

[ttocs]

ok yes they do allow air through but they do not keep the brakes any cooler than the ones that do not allow air through. To be "functional" there would need to be ducts directing the air onto the rotors to keep them cool. They look cool during burn outs is about the only advantage to them.

 

[MyLittlePony]

They “help” cool the tires. There’s no way for air from the earlier models to reach anything but the tires.

 

[Daryl]

That’s along the lines of what I was thinking. Can’t see enough “directed” airflow to help much of anything.

Mildly surprised someone hasn’t come up with some kind of routing (tubing, or whatever), almost like a Ram air intake, to route a serious air flow right at the brakes. Help cool them off, especially for race and track day setups.
Could also do same for front brakes by removing fog lights and running same to fronts.

 

[Wmac]

Wonder if there was any brake ducting on the cobra R's. They were built with the intent of road racing.

 

[ttocs]

There was not enough space to run ducting even with the smaller wheels of the time. They were made just for looks.

 

[Daryl]

Alright... then we have a good news/bad news fueled challenge...

1. Bad news: ducting doesn’t exist( at least not that we of at the enthusiast level).

2. Good news: here’s a challenge to all you engineers and/or fabricators to make prototypes. Hell, you might even be able to market them. I’d be among your first customers!

So have at it! Since the majority of us are under Stay At Home order due to Covid, now is a perfect time to undertake this with all the extra time hanging around the house’n all !!

Who’s down??

 

[Wmac]

Daryl: It would serve no purpose on a street car, so there would not be any kind of a market.

Did you finish that 1st case last night? lol

 

[ecronbach]

On the backside of the “brake ducts” there are gills (or slats) I guess to direct air to the rear brakes? On the one hand, I’m pleased to see that the rear “ducts” are actually functional, or designed to be.

Any advantages/disadvantages to removing those inner gills/slats thereby increasing the air flow to cool the brakes?

Not that way, I have a road race SN95 that runs endurance racing. The reality is that the rear brakes generally do not see enough heat to need cooling. If you are running track days and seeing pad fade then your problem is likely upfront. There are several companies that make ducts for the front. I have run a set of #EBC orange compound brakes for 2 years on the track without [email protected]

 

[Daryl]

Daryl: It would serve no purpose on a street car, so there would not be any kind of a market.

Did you finish that 1st case last night? lol

Lol... almost! Huh? what?? “No purpose/ no market on a street car? Wut?! Don’t let SEMA hear you say that. I mean, when it comes down to it, we don’t need 99% of the modifications we do to our cars since they’re just street cars, right?
Do we need superchargers? No. A stock motor will get you A to B too.

do we need lowered suspensions and fat tires? No. Stock setup will also get you A to B. The list goes on forever! No, we get these things because we WANT them and since we buy otherwise unneeded aftermarket goody for our cars, I’d bet you dollars to donuts there’d be a shit ton of enthusiasts that feel very starvation they NEED the ducting! We’re just addicts and can’t help ourselves!! But there’s certainly worse addictions, right?
Cheers!

 

[ttocs]

the kits for the front have been out pretty much since the car was new. If they were a big seller we would see them more often if not just at all. I can't think of anyone on here running them.