hey just wondering if anyone has run water cooled brakes, or have ever played with the idea... some of the viper guys on another forum I am part of run this tech on the track.... some of the GTS's have water injected into the brake cooling ducts to help cool them down... they are actived by being wired into the rear brake lights so when you hit the brakes it is then misted... some have went as far as to run water through the calipers... I am not to sure about this idea ... but the water injection was interesting to me ... what do you guys think...

 

Man....I just don't know. I think I'd be worried about thermal cracking and losing a rotor. Happens all the time on NASCAR Nextel and Busch cars, WITHOUT water cooling the brakes.

I think the better route to go would be some sort of carbon-carbon brakes that just work better the hotter they get.

 

That's what I would think would happen too. A rotor on the track probably gets well past 300 degrees (just a guess) and you throw some cold water on it, it's going to stress the **** out of it to contract that quickly.

 

water pumping through the calipers doesnt sound like such a bad idea. as long as the water doesnt directly get put on anything. maybe a little pump and small radiator somewhere to exchange the heat.

either way, seems like a world of trouble for slightly better performance.

 

I would try a heat sink first.

 

I'm guessing LOTS higher....like 1500 degrees or more. We've all seen steel rotors GLOWING under hardbraking. And steel won't glow like that without some major temperatures....

Not that anyone could or would ever do a F1 style carbon rotors, but THOSE don't even start to work unless they are around 3000 degrees.

Porsche and Audi have done well with carbon-ceramic brakes.

 

Do you even run your FD at the track?

A big brake kit and the proper pads gives you all the braking you could ever reasonably ask for....Viper guys are driving a car that weighs 600+ lbs more. Hell, depending on the track and hp levels, the stock brakes with racing pads are perfectly adequate.

And if you are talking about this for street driving....give me a break.

 

yes I know they are much heavier thats why I was wondering about the gains it would give you on the rx7...track or not if it performs better and has some advantages then the rx7 guys might be interested in it... they say that it helps alot with braking and keeping it cool... I know that bbk are great alone but with the added injection of water, could this be a plus ... according to the guys this has been in racing for some time... just wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with it...when I get some pics of the set up I will post them up...

 

my first thought also was carbon-carbon. if you can afford it..

 

"Track or not"? If your FD never sees the track, then it will never work the brakes hard enough to warrant something like this (and even then, "water-cooling" the brakes are a complete waste of time and money for the FD-- properly set-up conventional brakes are more than adequate, and are made to work at elevated temps. Attempting to rapidly cool them off will offer no real performance increase.)

 

pml qed

hehe

 

I been reading some other sites and it has been used alot on the track...alcon makes 6 pot water cooled calipers... they also make a set for sti for street use...waiting for some more info from the vipers running the water mist in the ducts... it may be extreem for street use as I said BBK are very good if you are looking to up grade the already great factory brakes that mazda gave the rx7, but still thought the water cooling was interesting

 

Having to "water cool" your calipers means that you don't have a properly designed and set-up brake system in the first place. You are adding a very complicated, heavy, and surely expensive band-aid to a problem that shouldn't have been an issue in the first place with proper design and application.

 

I don't know if the Brits are still racing trucks on road courses but they all had water injection in the front brake ducts. I think the mist is very fine like those outdoor people cooling systems you see around bars and patios here in the south.

 

1) Have any of you experienced brake fade on your street driven FD?
2) Who want's to spend 12k on a set of carbon brakes for a car that you can buy for well less than 12k that has fantastic brakes to begin with?
3) Racing brakes take a lot more use to get up to optimal operating temperature. This means that you will sacrifice braking performance any time that you're not driving like you're on a race track. (which in many cases is illegal)
4) I'd rather not risk a fracture.

Nifty idea though. I would think that the viper guys would have some dough to drop on better brakes.

 

It's been done in the past. You fog water into the brake cooling ducts to lower the temperature of the air entering the rotors so the cooling is more efficient.

Downsides compared to a BBK: you have to carry water and all of its associated plumbing, pumps etc (weight), you only get increased cooling ability when the misting is on (only when you're on the brakes), when you run out of water you run out of brakes, it's not as efficient.

 

Like the Alcons mentioned above, AP and Brembo also made water cooled calipers. They was mainly used for WRC/Rally stuff, but they moved awaay from this due to the extra weight of parts needed. Rad(s), pump, lines, etc.

Fish

 

I did several track days on stock brakes with various pads.

No problems most of the time. (ran out of pad once - D'oh!)

The stock rotors actually worked better than the Brembo replacements. The stockers seemed to dissipate heat better. I pushed them pretty hard without fading too badly.

The Brembo's required a cool down lap after a couply of hot laps.

 

I am sure a properly ducted system with the back headsheild having cut and welded to tubing that is ducted from the front of the car would be the best you can ask for.

If it is good enough for all the Lemans spec cars then it is good enough for any Rx-7.