Experiment: smooth wheel discs tested A-B-A - 4.6% mpg improvement @ 65 mph

[Atilla the Fun]

Brake cooling is far more important than MPG.
As one who has experienced brake fade descending canyon roads, in 2 different vehicles, I know the seriousness of this.
Rip that junk off and trash it, before you kill somebody.

[Weather Spotter]

Originally Posted by Atilla the Fun

Brake cooling is far more important than MPG.
As one who has experienced brake fade descending canyon roads, in 2 different vehicles, I know the seriousness of this.
Rip that junk off and trash it, before you kill somebody.

As someone who has done mountains with smooths wheel covers on, I did not have any issues. You have to know your car and know what to do but it's very manageable and safe.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Atilla the Fun

Rip that junk off and trash it, before you kill somebody.

A reasonable suggestion if towing or other activity which taxes the brakes. A mountain pass might tax the brakes, but I don't see that happening for an ecomodder driving conservatively/smartly.

Under normal circumstances I think the covers are perfectly acceptable.

Mind you not all eco-mod's are fine with me. I'm no fan of the grille block after having a near tragic incident with my van 30 years ago. I was just doing the grille block to get some heat on short trips.

My S-10 wheels are much more closed than the ones shown in the first post. I'm sure there are different scales of cooling each design offers, wheels covers just take it to the next level in my opinion.

Tiny slots in my stock wheels:
S10 4x4 Pick Up Photos by kach22i | Photobucket


Original poster's wheels:

[AntiochOG]

Brake fade is no joke, but there are ways around it too. Upgrading from DOT 3 to DOT 4 fluid is a great place to start if you don't have that already. It is also possible to duct your brakes to cool from the backside. This is probably not an issue for most people on most drives, but I'm sure certain vehicles on certain roads may need a little help with brake cooling.

[justme1969]

the work ive done to the Kia was missing the moonies to look done.
All the moonies Ive found were much more expensive till the point I was not willing to pay for.
At 100 bucks Im good, my car was ugly b4 I added side skirts and air dam etc. So most people dont understand what thier looking at and think Its a redneck rice race car lol.
At least this will make it look like a high end rednecked rice race car lol.

[t vago]

If descending an incline is a concern, why not shift to a lower gear? You're still braking and in control, only you're not using your brake pads.

I'm going to experiment with a combination of stretch wrap and shrink bags. The stretch wrap will cover the face of the wheel cover, while the shrink bags will be cut into a band, and the band will be shrunk around the wheel cover edge to hold the stretch wrap in place.

[RedDevil]

Even with fully closed wheelcaps the wheels are still open on the inside, where the brake disks are.
When the brake disks are vented they draw air from the axle and blow it at the edge due to centrifugal force. It would not matter much where the air is coming from.

Brake fade is serious business but I think the moonies are not to blame. Failure to use engine braking is, like going down that mountain in D.

[Xist]

Yes! I brought on the wrath of Atilla the Fun!

Fun? Kind of sounds like Marlin saying that he knows funny because he is a clownfish.

Well, I have only seen agreement so far, you should not be using your normal brakes downhill, converting precious hard-earned money into heat and brake dust. Down-shift, hopefully your car will DFCO, if you do not have a hybrid, and save your brakes for elk.

Now, to follow up with the most intelligent post in the last few days, what sparked this mess, me!

Originally Posted by Xist

does it matter that [smooth wheel covers] are convex? Ideally, would they be flush with the wheels?

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by Atilla the Fun

Brake cooling is far more important than MPG.
As one who has experienced brake fade descending canyon roads, in 2 different vehicles, I know the seriousness of this.
Rip that junk off and trash it, before you kill somebody.

Guess ATF didn't read the entire thread........

posted THIS thread a while back to address this EXACT ISSUE.....

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...kes-18011.html

[PaleMelanesian]

I had smooth discs on my old car. One time to test, I finished a normal commute and checked the brake temperature. I was able to brush, then touch, then grab onto the brake disc. It was barely warm.

Yes, that won't be the case after descending a mountain, but you can use engine braking to help that. If that's a normal situation for your driving, maybe don't cover your wheels. Me? The longest downhill I have around here is about a mile long.

You gotta be smart about your situation. As in most things, It Depends.™