Intercooler Pipes / Braking

[CJRamze]

Considering I know nothing about cars, What does the intercooler... cool?
I could google it but I thought I'd let someone explain,

With that in mind I've done a few Brecon Beacon runs and yesterday I did a Shropshire run with Rebel Motorsport (fantastic as always.)
The Brecon run was very sunny and my whole bonnet was boiling hot every time we stopped for photos.

Yesterday I did a spirited Shropshire drive and at certain points we'd stop, Obviously I'd leave the engine running for five minutes to let the turbo cool down, During this cool down periodically I'd hear the fans in my car going mental. I figured that because the drive was quite spirited in places (Third gear mostly) and the car was no longer moving but hot these fans were working overtime... Is that normal?

The bonnet was stone cold all over, apart from where the pipe runs down, the section above the headlight, and to the left of the headlight was really hot!
Is this normal? Is there anyway of improving cooling?


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Subsequently after the latest spirited drive the brakes have become much harder to press down? What does this mean?

Its considerably tougher but not tough enough to not press the brakes, It didn't do it during the drive however I let the car cool down for 6 hours, Then went to bed for 10 hours (Night shifts) and came back and now the brakes are very tough.

 

[Ric 2001]

Well the pipes that run around the headlight are the rad pipes so they are carrying your coolant.

What does the intercooler cool....... basically cools the air from the turbo.

Simple thing to remember is colder the air, the big bang for your buck. Cold air has more density.

Air comes in from the atmosphere via your panel filter... this then moves along the turbo inlet pipe to the inlet of the turbo (cold side of a turbo) the turbo then compresses the air inside it changing the volume of air. Compressed air gets very hot, therefore less dense but more of it... hot air is not good for an engine so you have to cool it in some way, thats where the intercooler comes into play. This cools the compressed air so decreasing the air intake temperature provides a denser intake charge to the engine and allows more air and fuel to be combusted.

 

[CJRamze]

Cheers RIC
So the pipe that runs down by my headlight is the radiator pipe.
Interesting, Well thats the one that runs really hot and I mean really hot.
I was advised to swop to Silicone piping there to help disperse the heat, however I'm current in for a group buy for Stainless Steel piping so I might wait for that!

Anyone have any ideas on why my brakes have suddenly become very tough,

 

[Damoegan]

The pipe that goes past the headlight (driver side) is one of the intercooler pips mate.

Silicone pipes dont disperse heat better, they are used because they dont distort/flex as much as OEM ones and are n=much stronger therefore less likely to split.

 

[DEAN0]

Anyone have any ideas on why my brakes have suddenly become very tough,

Sounds like you have glazed the pads. They have gone above their normal operating temp during your spirited drive and the surface has become hard.

You can drive normally for a while and it will eventually wear this surface away - or you can take the pads out and rub them on a flat surface on some sandpaper to remove the glazed surface.

Longer term if you are going to drive in the same fashon - upgrade the pads as a first step and concider upgrading the brakes to 312mm if you can

 

[Damoegan]

Sounds like you have glazed the pads. They have gone above their normal operating temp during your spirited drive and the surface has become hard.

You can drive normally for a while and it will eventually wear this surface away - or you can take the pads out and rub them on a flat surface on some sandpaper to remove the glazed surface.

Longer term if you are going to drive in the same fashon - upgrade the pads as a first step and concider upgrading the brakes to 312mm if you can

The cupra's come with AP racing 4 pot calipers and 312mm discs as standard mate.

 

[DEAN0]

The cupra's come with AP racing 4 pot calipers and 312mm discs as standard mate.

Must have missed the part where he says its a cupra.