Since track season is just around the corner, I have decided to upgrade the brake cooling on my front brakes. I am already running the large 997GT3 380mm brakes along with Cup car cooling ducts but you can't ever have enough cool air going to the rotors. The 996GT based cars come with factory brake air guides which direct radiator air out over the front brakes but these guides are not only expensive at almost $600 for the pair, but more over these do not fit onto the TT based cars coolant pipe structure. After looking at the problem, I decided to adapt the 997GT3 air guides which are only $34 per pair at the dealer. That's right, $34! I ended up trimming these slightly and then riveting them to a plastic backing plate which I sourced from a used front lower belly pan of a 2006 Cayenne. The plastic used on this belly pan is very rigid and also slightly curved which works perfectly in this application. A Dremel tool with a cutting wheel designed for plastic makes it a breeze. I used a belt sander to make all the edges perfectly smooth and even prior to final install. Additionally, I cut two doubler strips from the Cayenne belly pan, heated them with a heat gun to attain the correct curved shape, then dipped them in ice water to lock them into shape. I then riveted these doublers to the back of the 997GT3 air guides to give them a bit more rigidity since the aluminum support brackets that come with those guides can not be used on our cars.

The new air guide assembly can then be neatly zip tied to the existing coolant / vent pipes in the wheel well. This mounting arrangement is actually much more secure than on the factory 996GT cars which simply clip the air guides to the coolant pipes and as a result can be knocked loose fairly easily.

This is a very functional and rewarding project which will greatly improve your brake cooling. Total cost is very low but requires a few hours to properly measure everything out as wheel clearance is very tight at full steering lock. The only caveat is the fact that you need to have the GT2 front fender liners on your car as these direct the radiator cooling air behind the front tire. The stock TT liners direct the air out of the wheel well ahead of the front tire and are useless as a result. The fit and finish is very OEM if you take your time measuring twice and cutting once as the saying goes. Use a belt sander to smooth out all the edges and then admire your new installed air guides. This project won't add any bling to your car at Cars n Coffee, but your rotors will thank you on that hot summer track day!

 

Once again providing some of the most informative and useful/helpful technical posts on 6speed. Thanks!

 

are these ceramic or iron rotors?

 

380mm 72 vane iron rotor rings mounted on aluminum hats via floating hardware. The rears are the same except 350mm 48 vane.

 

Thanks! I will be adding this to my car as soon as it gets back from Texas Invitational. I really enjoy roadracing versus straight line power pulls. Looking forward to running MSR and hopefully soon back to Circuit of The Americas in Austin.

 

Very awesome write up! Rep points for you.....