Turbo L & R vents?

[mikecronis]

Did a search, couldn't find it. There's two air-intake vents on the RL near the foglamps. Under the hood, there are two snorkel tubes that read Turbo L and Turbo R respectively. These, however, seem to go nowhere but the wheel wells! Are these supposed to cool the brakes? Seems unlikely. No mention of them are in the manual.

[K9ONU]

Originally Posted by mikecronis

Did a search, couldn't find it. There's two air-intake vents on the RL near the foglamps. Under the hood, there are two snorkel tubes that read Turbo L and Turbo R respectively. These, however, seem to go nowhere but the wheel wells! Are these supposed to cool the brakes? Seems unlikely. No mention of them are in the manual.

Yes the Redline comes with vented front brake discs... It might say it on the window sticker...

[Bogie]

The tubes direct air onto the brakes for cooling. The front rotors are also vented. This is standard on the GXP and RL.

Edit: See time tag 0:58 in the following:
YouTube - 2007 Saturn Sky, Darren Post

Edit 2: And to clarify more. Both the NA and RL have vented discs. Only the RL has a brake vent.

[mikecronis]

The Sky RL brakes are so diminutive, some Powerslots seem to be in order, and some ceramic carbon pads. I'd rather re-route the two intakes directly into the airbox!!!

[fr0stb1t3]

Originally Posted by mikecronis

The Sky RL brakes are so diminutive, some Powerslots seem to be in order, and some ceramic carbon pads. I'd rather re-route the two intakes directly into the airbox!!!

You may want to keep those vents. Brake fade is a terrible thing and happens to even the best brakes on the best cars, much less our little single piston setup.

You would be surprised at how effective our brakes are. Mash on the pedal and it will lock them up just fine. This means the issue is more about traction then the brakes.

[Bogie]

The August 08 edition of R&T has a great article on brakes. They tested sedans, sports SUVs, and sports cars using a pretty intensive brake test to see when brakes finally give in to fade. Very good read.

The SKY is not designed to perform in the same class as the Vette and Porsche. As designed, out of the box, our brakes are designed to hold up well during spirited twisty driving, but NOT for track day extended performance. This is all part of the cost/performance tradeoff on a mid level roadster.

That said, it would be nice if R&T tested the mid-level sports cars like ours. They did throw in a 350Z Nismo, which has a Brembo suite (I dare say better than ours), and it came in last in the sports category. It would be nice to know exactly were we go south, so to speak.

[fr0stb1t3]

To track prep your car you are looking at (at least) metal brake lines, at least four piston calipers up front, extensions of the cooling up front via hose to right into the brakes (LG Motorsports makes them for the vette), sportier pads (squeeky and dirty), and possibly slotted (NOT drilled) rotors. Lastly you would need more tire up front and in back to take advantage of the stopping power. This would limit brake fade and increase stopping performance immensely.

My best bet to the current actual weak link (not full overhaul) is the combination of the single pistons, the flexible brake lines and crappy factory fluid.

[Elff]

Originally Posted by fr0stb1t3

To track prep your car you are looking at (at least)

Depends on what type of track and racing.
Everything you just listed knocks AutoCross participants out of Stock Class.

Just trying to point out that there isn't a catch all upgrade path.

[fr0stb1t3]

Originally Posted by Elff

Depends on what type of track and racing.
Everything you just listed knocks AutoCross participants out of Stock Class.

Just trying to point out that there isn't a catch all upgrade path.

I meant road race courses, which is what I presume they tested in the magazine bogie was discussing.