Just putting caliper covers these on my GT. They helped the look and was wondering if anyone else has used them. I got them from MGP and think they are the best on the market.

 

Curious if they will shorten the life of the brake assembly by holding in more heat now. I probably would have painted them.

 

Heat; Just the opposite!

Some caliper covers were tested, and there is a video demonstrating how caliper heat can
be reduced by 25 degrees using caliper covers, improving braking performance by reducing
brake fade. MGP covers are among the ones used in the test. 25 degrees doesn't seem
like a lot, but it is lower none the less...


The caliper covers are like putting a heat-sink on the caliper The most effective
are aluminum caliper covers, unless they make copper ones... MGP also claims
theirs are designed to do so, but others will as well...

For $250, they better do more than look pretty...

 

You'll notice that comments are disabled on that video, likely because there would be a ton stating that the covers were probably retaining heat. The problem with the test they're showing is that they aren't measuring the temperature of the caliper or pads in both cases. The unstated (also unproven and likely incorrect) assumption is that the temperature of the cover is the same as the temperature of the caliper underneath. Without knowing the conditions and contact points between the caliper and the cover, you can't make that assumption.

The caliper cover may well be (likely is) acting as an insulator, allowing the covered caliper to be a higher temperature than the uncovered one. A valid test would be placing a thermocouple on the caliper surface in both cases, or cutting a hole in the cover so that you could measure the temperature of the caliper underneath.

Look at it this way. Pretend they made the caliper cover out of styrofoam, placed it on the caliper, and then measured the temperature of the styrofoam surface. The surface of the styrofoam would likely be 100 degrees or more lower than the uncovered caliper, while the caliper itself would be hotter than a pistol because of the insulation value of the styrofoam.

Or, if you wish, use the heat sink analogy. What's the first thing you do when installing a heat sink on a CPU in a computer? You place a layer of heat transfer grease between the two, so that you have a continuous contact surface for heat transfer, instead of just the high-point contact locations between the two.I don't think that's the case with typical caliper covers. Further, the smooth gloss finish of the cover likely has a lower heat transfer coefficient to the surrounding air than that of the rougher (greater area) standard caliper, lowering the amount of heat that can be rejected to the surrounding air.

 

Thank you Zooks527, you made my point more eloquently.

 

MGP on their web site also claim their covers reduce heat. I used the video an an
example, and yeah, the heat behind the cover may be higher. Still, if you go to MGP's
web site, they sell $250.00 covers, and they claim lower temperatures. Can only go
by what they claim.

Also, the CPU analogy? I don't use any compound, I am metal to DIE, and I never
have issues. I read once, that the reason you SHOULD use compound on the CPU
DIE is due to the imperfections in the surface of the cpu die, pits and what not. The
compound just fills that, and makes the thermal layer between the die and the heat-sink.
I am telling you, I do not use thermal compound, and I am currently running a Core I7
6700K, with no thermal compound. I built the system from the empty case, up...

But, to each his own...