quote:Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
Peter, does your car not have fog lights in those openings? I can't imagine much brake cooling effect with 80% blockage. Should David re-locate the lights and open the vents up even more? Moot question, I guess if he gets the Lotus... but if he keeps the car (or gets tired of getting tickets and gives it to me)what is the "right" thing to do?
My car did come with the Carello fog lights in the air dam brake cooling ducts. However, I caught a rock in one just before Monterey in 2006, and so I took them out. At obscene expense, I have located replacements, but have not installed them yet.
As far as I know, unless you ordered a Gr3 package, for some reason the factory never put in the hose to route the cold air from the air dam to the brakes. Therefore, the air dam openings were never really functional whether the lights were installed or not. And, yes, I expect that having the lights in the duct would cut 2/3 of the air flow.
It has not been a particularly critical question in my mind, because I have never experienced brake fade in my car despite some very, ummm, shall we say "spirited" driving in what may (or may not - in case my insurance company is reading this PURELY FICTIONAL ACCOUNT) have been a track-like environment.
My SAD-induced harangue to David was more about the GR4 origin of the air dam, and the original functional purpose of the openings in that application. My point was more about the history and the integrity of the original design.
The "right" thing for David to do is to ignore that self-important, bombastic and emetic gas bag from Charlie Lake, BC, and do whatever blows his hair back.
