Brake duct idea...

scuderia

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2012 Mazda 2 Touring / 1989 BMW 325i
Has anyone considered the idea of removing the fog lights from the 2 and putting brake ducts in that spot?

My 1989 BMW 325i has brake duct channels beside the fog lights which route the airflow directly toward the brake rotors and I was hoping to do the same on my 2. It might even be a little bit lighter without the foglights....and of course the brakes would stay cooler under heavy use.

If these already exist please point me in the right direction....if not then they should.

Chris
 
Its a neat idea but probably not common because

1. In SCCA it bumps you to street prepared I believe. Street touring allows brake ducts but from the wording it can't be through the bumper I think?

"Air ducts may be fitted to the brakes provided that they extend in a for-
ward direction only and that no changes are made in the body/struc-
ture for their use. They may serve no other purpose."

Now fog light removal IS allowed, so I think if you leave the trim piece intact it is legal to run ducting I'd imagine.

The problem comes from the fender liner modification allowance:

"E. Fenders may not be cut or flared but the inside lip may be rolled to
gain additional tire clearance. (The outer fender contour may not be
changed.) Plastic and rubber wheel well splash shields may be modi-
fied for tire clearance and to accommodate a rolled inside fender lip.
The modifications may serve no other purpose (e.g., air intake, brake
ducts, etc).
No other changes to the standard fenders or wheel wells are
permitted."



2. Our stock brakes are awesome. Good pads and you're good to go. I don't think the Bspec cars have any ducting?




I'm interested to see if/what you do to add them though!
 
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Tony hit it right on the head. For track days, have at it but to remain STF legal, no modification on the fender liner is permitted.
 
sema-2011-mazda2-track-setup.jpg


Something like this.
 
That is sort of what I had in mind. I take my 2 to the Tail of the Dragon at least once a year and the brakes can get a little warm when pushing it for so long....plus it looks a little more "serious" than those silly useless fog lights.

Can you tell me whose car that is in the picture?
 
Since I have a Poverty-Spec 2 "Sport", I just have blank plates in my front bumper where the fogs would go. I'm already in SCCA Solo FSP due to my "Baller" wheels. Rockauto has the OEM foglight surrounds for a good price, so I could go that route, or I could run a wider duct opening by dremeling out part of each of my blank plates. My only real issue is that I want foglights more than I want brake ducts.
 
For solo you probably don't need brake ducts, I usually drag my brakes going up to the start line to get some heat in them on my RX-7. For the track you may need brake ducts. If that's the case and you use your car for track and autox than have a set of fender liners for solo an remove the ducts to keep your car leagal.
 
That is sort of what I had in mind. I take my 2 to the Tail of the Dragon at least once a year and the brakes can get a little warm when pushing it for so long....plus it looks a little more "serious" than those silly useless fog lights.

Can you tell me whose car that is in the picture?

Andres, that's his new paint scheme and graphics package. The car looks fantastic in person.
 
Since I have a Poverty-Spec 2 "Sport", I just have blank plates in my front bumper where the fogs would go. I'm already in SCCA Solo FSP due to my "Baller" wheels. Rockauto has the OEM foglight surrounds for a good price, so I could go that route, or I could run a wider duct opening by dremeling out part of each of my blank plates. My only real issue is that I want foglights more than I want brake ducts.

Why not dremel some holes into the blank plates, and find an aftermarket fog as well that suits the front?
 
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