The primary thing I need magnets for on this Targa journey is to trigger the Hall Effect sensors that are watching the left front wheel’s rotations.  Being the high precision rally types that we are, we find each revolution worth tracking. 

Here are some tiny rare earth magnets that are built with a higher tolerance for heat than your usual little tiny magnets.

Why do they need to handle “more heat than usual”? It’s because they won’t be mounted in the usual place (the wheels). With at least three different wheel types likely to be fitted to the front of the Porsche, putting the sensors in a place where they could read any of the wheels escaped me.

My solution – let’s hope it works! – is to attach the sensors to the knuckle, aligned to read the back of the front axle. Say what? Yes, I’ve never seen this before, but the Cayman’s front axles rotate, and their rotating inner flanges are visible. 

Time will tell whether the heat generated in the brakes is carried to that axle; if so, my cute little magnets may have their magnetic domains scrambled, probably at the worst possible time during a rally.

There is a back up plan in case that happened, of course. But that’s for another post.

To wind this up, I’ll just say you can also use these magnets to retrieve a broken off drillbit from inside automotive structure.