Duct Soup

03 Jan Duct Soup

Going fast is great. We all love doing it (within completely legal constraints, of course!). But slowing down is just as important. It’s vital to keep the brakes ready for anything, otherwise that feeling of fun will fade. Quickly.

It’s the need to keep the brakes functioning that brings back a familiar face to fabrication. This C6 Corvette should look a little familiar, as it’s another esteemed member of the fireball-shooting exhaust family. The fabrication team, however, will not be adding any more go-fast bits to the car this time around. Instead, it’s looking to bring things to a halt without getting too hot and bothered in the process. In other words, the Corvette is getting some brake ducts made.

Previous to the exhaust, the Corvette had replaced its C6 base-model front bumper with one from a C6 Z06. This new front piece has slats towards the bottom that, on the Z06, connect to ducting that pulls cool air into the wheel wells, cooling the brakes and keeping them from overheating and fading in more “spirited” driving. Our fabrication team will be creating the piece that goes between the Z06 bumper and the actual duct to the wheel well, allowing air to flow to the brakes undisturbed. You can see from the pictures above and below just how much space there is between the bumper and the tubing, so it should look a lot cleaner once it’s finished, as well. For now, though, here are the shots of the ‘Vette as-is:

Just like last week, our pace is definitely somewhere near “rocket-like,” so expect more updates on this in the coming days. For now, though, fabrication’s very close to getting the X5 finished and ready for transfer to the paint room, so big things are on their way!