[Maizzze]

Ok kids, for all you budget-minded road racers out there, here is an option for improving your trackday braking performance (and consequently enjoying your trackdays even more!). I have an '05 Enthusiast and didn't want to shell out the $$$ for a big brake kit, but I definitely had problems with brake fade after a handful of laps. Only one option then: BRAKE DUCTS!! It turns out that there are two pieces of useless black plastic just forward and to either side of the radiator. That is, useless until you recycle them into brackets for brake ducts.

So, first things first, you will obviously be cutting several pieces of plastic to route the ducts so you want to be sure that this project is for you. Luckily, the only visible cuts you will make will be the ones in the aforementioned useless pieces you can see through the grill. In all, there are 4 cuts on each side of the car.

Once you decide you can live with that, here's what you'll need:
brake ducting (you can find it at Jegs.com or other)
short section of 3" ID PVC pipe (used as a flange to attach duct to duct opening)
screen of some sort (duh)
0.25" thin aluminum strip (for making small L-brackets and brackets to give shape to the length of duct that aims at the brake rotor)
1/8" aluminum pop rivets
3" OD aluminum (or other) tubing
3" ring clamps
a decent garage, hopefully with a lift
total cost (excluding garage): <$100

Step 1 - Remove under tray, inner fenders (wheel wells), and front bumper cover in that order. There are a lot of bolts and plastic clips holding everything together, but it's all pretty straightforward. Now you have a clear view of what you're into.

Step 2 - Fabricate the duct openings. Remove the plastic pieces hanging down from the aluminum bumper on either side of the radiator and cut a ~3" hole in them (I used the PVC pipe as a guide). Remove the steel wire and outer cord from the first couple inches of the ducting so you can pass the ducting through the inside of a short length of the PVC pipe and double-back over the outside of the pipe. Attach the duct/PVC to the plastic piece with pop-rivets and L-brackets, which you can make using the 0.25" aluminum.

Step 3 - Demo time. Cut holes in the ribbed plastic shroud pieces to either side of the bumber (just outboard of where you removed your duct openings from). You want a tight fit so take your time. The ducting will go outboard through these holes and then make a 180 degree turn and go back inboard through your next set of holes. You'll also have to cut a small section out of the under-tray later. If it's not clear from the pictures, the ducting is essentially all on one horizontal plane and you have to make all these bends to avoid cutting into anything structural. (By the way, routing the passenger side is a real b!tch. The power steering cooler is right at the back of your duct opening, necessitating a tight bend, and you'll have to wedge the ducting between the washer fluid bottle and the radiator shroud.)

Step 4 - Orient the ducts and cut them to their final length. The last leg of the ducts will travel right along the lower control arm and aim at the bare portion of your brake disc. When deciding on a length, be sure to to turn the wheels to full lock on both sides to check that the end of the duct doesn't contact the rotor.

Step 5 - Now that you have the general routing and length of the ducts, it's time to think about failure modes and effects! Namely, since you just routed some fairly stout ducting wound with steel wire through all the plastic bits in your front end, you could end up with some serious damage if the ducting were to somehow get wrapped around or pulled under a wheel. This might be a non-issue, but I decided to cut the duct in two after it passed through the last hole and use the 3" tubing as a sleeve to attach the two ends back together. The hope is that I tightened the downstream end just enough to keep it in place but loosely enough to let it separate from the front part of the duct in the event of the aforementioned failure. Your call. EDIT: I may have been a bit too concerned about pulling a duct through all the bodywork. After a trackday and several hundred miles, the ducts showed no signs of contact with anything. Also, if you make some nice brackets that attach to your lower control arm, as I did just this Sunday, the ends of the ducts should be positively located anyway.

Step 6 - Aim and attach the duct. I used some aluminum strips to give support to the ducting so I could aim it at the exposed part of the rotor. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to attach the last leg of the duct to my anti-roll bar using zip ties!!! In the future, I plan to fabricate some brackets that attach to the roll bar attachment points on the lower control arm.

Step 7 - Re-fit all the plastic bits. You'll need to make one last set of cuts in the under tray where the ducting follows the control arm.

That's it! Ok, it did take me a couple days to do all this, especially since I took forever to decide how to do each step. But you have the cheat sheet and you know it's possible. Show me your handiwork if you decide to do this little project.