Little Details

Hey guys, how are things cookin? Well as you maybe able to tell by the lack of posts, I am quite busy with school work, but still having a good time.

So today I want to talk quickly about a little detail that I would like to implement on my car. Its quite simple and could really improve braking performance. Let's talk hypotheticly for a moment, you are driving a race car on a hot day and really pushing the brakes. After they heat up to operating temperatures, they brake well, but if that temperature is passed, you start loosing braking power. This is why a lighter car is almost always better, the brakes don't have to work as hard. However, I am limited to a 1000 lb minimum so I can't really cut out too much weight. The idea here is help the brakes cool down even faster, with a water mist.

Dick Firtz explained this idea to us a few months ago and the team really seemed to like it. Basically you go and get a windshield washer pump, some lines, and a nozzle for each brake disk. When the system is turned on and the brakes are damn near full on, the pump turns on and mists the brake disks to cool them off. Now you maybe thinking, 'Wouldn't that warp the disks?' and my response is, 'Have you ever driven in the rain?' Yes it is possible to warp the disks, but I am not going to dump gallons on them, just a slight mist. You might also think, 'Won't that reduce the braking power when the water gets between the pad and disk?' Well yes, if it could, remember the pads are usually seated on the disk and just squeeze when the brakes are applied, they don't float 10 or 20 thousandths away and then move in for the kill. On top of that, I want to use a turn signal relay to pulse the mist and achieve just enough cooling, not too much or too little. I could put a potentiometer in line with that and by changing the resistance change how long the relay is closed. This part I need to talk to an EE for a better understanding, but the basics are there. After the system is setup its just a matter of testing how long the pump should be on.

This system also depends on what kind of brakes I decide to use, for some gain efficiency at higher temperatures, while others drop off quickly. Testing will be quite important to find what will work. To ativate the system, I will need a switch on the dashboard, and then a push button on the brake pedal. I don't want the pump to run when I'm at a stop, so the system needs to be activated by the driver. Besides the push button on the brake, I will need a master kill switch down there, but that all comes later.

So let me know what you guys think, any foreseeable problems?
And that's about all I have for now, have a good one guys!