Coolers

[luc]

This picture right here tells it all. It literally sits on the underbelly, so there's nowhere for the airflow to go but backwards into the cooler. Almost like you should cut out a small rectangle in the underbelly to match the cooler and give the air a clear path to escape, but then not sure how that would affect overall airflow since there would be air under the car that might get drawn in and up or mess with the airflow going down through the cooler.

Picture is deceptive, look at the frame rails, the cooler seat about 2” above it and the undertray screw to the rails. Therefore the gap between cooler and undertray

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[Scootsmcgreggor]

I'd be pretty sketched out with the cooler location if I had a big off.

 

[luc]

I'd be pretty sketched out with the cooler location if I had a big off.

If you had a big off, damaging your cooler would be the least of your worries, hitting a wall or flipping would be a the top of your list

 

[EFI]

If you had a big off, damaging your cooler would be the least of your worries, hitting a wall or flipping would be a the top of your list

Depends on the track, if it's wide open there's not much to hit but there could be many things that tearup your underside including the cooler and lines. And it doesn't even have to be a big off, I could see getting only 2 wheels off and running over the rumble strips and ripping all of this off.

 

[EFI]

Picture is deceptive, look at the frame rails, the cooler seat about 2” above it and the undertray screw to the rails. Therefore the gap between cooler and undertray

Oh ok, that makes more sense and does seem like this is a viable solution.

 

[Dave2013M3]

To be honest, I know of several people who track their MT82 equipped S550s and they had no issues of over heating, to include Steeda. The rear diffy another whole different animal.

 

[MrMike]

To be honest, I know of several people who track their MT82 equipped S550s and they had no issues of over heating, to include Steeda. The rear diffy another whole different animal.

That's good news. It's possible I'm being too cautious but I'd like to avoid overheating where possible.

Any idea if Trac-lok is more or less likely to overheat than Torsen?

 

[Dave2013M3]

That's good news. It's possible I'm being too cautious but I'd like to avoid overheating where possible.

Any idea if Trac-lok is more or less likely to overheat than Torsen?

There is no clutch pack with a Torsen, so I feel it would be more durable. Still you can overheat it. As far as which one is more prone, sorry I don't know.

 

[Crew4991]

I am slightly disappointed that this tread title "cooler" was about our cars and not about cracking a cold one together.

 

[TeeLew]

That's good news. It's possible I'm being too cautious but I'd like to avoid overheating where possible.

Any idea if Trac-lok is more or less likely to overheat than Torsen?

Kind of a mixed bag, I think. I've ran the torsen in other cars and felt that it was a little power hungry, especially in fast direction changes (Sears Point, for example). Where a normal plate diff will properly lock, the torsen seems like it's always differentiating, so that's a very touchy-feely answer. I've only run the torsen to this point in this car, so it's hard to have much of an opinion.

The Traction Lok from Ford is good for about a dozen traction events and then the material on the plates start to wear and reduce preload. After a track day or two, it won't have much more torque bias than an open. In the case of a new Trac-loc, I think it would make a little less heat. Once worn, though, it would be very easy to create *A Ton* of heat with excessive wheelspin and constantly slipping plates. You want to allow just a small amount of inside wheelspin, but only a little.

I'm trying to make a slightly better than stock Trac-Lok with some custom parts. I'll report back once I actually run it.

 

[Scootsmcgreggor]

The gears in a torsen make considerably more heat than a track lock. I’ve had both.

 

[MrMike]

I think the biggest mixed bag I've seen from reading is whether the MT82 needs additional cooling or not. It makes me wonder if it runs cooler than the Tremec or MT82 cars just aren't pushed as hard. Steeda's #20 looks like it has a Calimer built MT82.

Kind of a mixed bag, I think. I've ran the torsen in other cars and felt that it was a little power hungry, especially in fast direction changes (Sears Point, for example). Where a normal plate diff will properly lock, the torsen seems like it's always differentiating, so that's a very touchy-feely answer. I've only run the torsen to this point in this car, so it's hard to have much of an opinion.

The Traction Lok from Ford is good for about a dozen traction events and then the material on the plates start to wear and reduce preload. After a track day or two, it won't have much more torque bias than an open. In the case of a new Trac-loc, I think it would make a little less heat. Once worn, though, it would be very easy to create *A Ton* of heat with excessive wheelspin and constantly slipping plates. You want to allow just a small amount of inside wheelspin, but only a little.

I'm trying to make a slightly better than stock Trac-Lok with some custom parts. I'll report back once I actually run it.

A custom trac-loc sounds exciting but likely above my skill level. I watched some videos on building/re-building a diff and it seems like a pretty advanced job. I believe I could swap a pumpkin if I bought another good jack.

I know FP sells the Torsen differential outside of the pumpkin (M-4204-MT) and some sites list the difficulty as "medium" but diff work does not seem easy to me.

I'd definitely be interesting in reading about your results.

The gears in a torsen make considerably more heat than a track lock. I’ve had both.

If the trac loc generates that much less heat, then I may not need to cool it. Do lower ratios also generate less heat?

I still like that FluiX diff cover a lot though. Man that would work well with the OEM GT350 panel / ducting.

 

[GTP]

This picture right here tells it all. It literally sits on the underbelly, so there's nowhere for the airflow to go but backwards into the cooler. Almost like you should cut out a small rectangle in the underbelly to match the cooler and give the air a clear path to escape, but then not sure how that would affect overall airflow since there would be air under the car that might get drawn in and up or mess with the airflow going down through the cooler.

Have a look at my solution here.

• I ventilated my belly pan, and I positioned the horizontal cooler less that 1/2" above it. It is tipped up 5 degrees from the frame rails - this matches the 5* angle of the belly pan.
• I repurposed the big plastic flap that lays on the belly pan to be an air diverter. I tipped it up so that the leading edge is at the crash bar, and the trailing edge is on top of the back end of the cooler. This diverts all air entering the lower grille through the new oil cooler.
• I kept the OEM oil/water cooler, and put a Setrab sandwich plate on top of it. There is still room for the big Ford FL820s oil filter to be swapped with oil changes.
• I opened up every single cell in both grilles. I used a router on the backside of the removed grilles.
• I even removed the grille pony, and then used 6-32 screws and inserts to make it removable during track day conversions.
• I chose the Setrab Pro Line cooler over the SLM version (Harrop) because it has a little higher cooling for ~same physical size, and chose the 2-pass so as to put both ports on the driver's side.
• Only 3 brackets are needed, and made from aluminum stock from the local Ace HW.

CHT now runs steady at 228F, even to 30 minute sessions at 85 ambient. (w/ PP larger radiator.)

I cannot stress enough that I believe the OEM oil/water cooler should be retained. It helps, and I am not worried about failure. I'll bet this combo has around 90kBTU cooling.

The horizontal mount does not block the radiator/condenser, and it has forced air as described.

Front end risk is more with parking curbs, etc, than an off at the track. Note there is at least 7" ground clearance at the front splitter.

If I were do it over, the only changes I would make are to use the new billet Setrab sandwich plate with pre-drilled side port (for optional oil temp gauge), -10AN lines (instead of -12AN), and Setrab 22mm/10AN 90deg elbows (instead of 22/10 adapters).

If anyone wants, I can provide a shopping cart listing all the parts needed to make this kit. (Small donation welcome, lol.) And/or I can fab the brackets needed for you.

More photos at the link above.

 

[GTP]

As for trans cooling, I am considering purchasing a second OEM cooler, and then connecting it in series with the first. Double the cooling for cheap. Should be simple enough install. (This is for A10, which currently runs "hot", but not overheating.

As for diff cooling. I am researching a lateral/vertical mounted cooler behind sway bar, and with a pump but no fan.

 

[tosha]

I repurposed the big plastic flap that lays on the belly pan to be an air diverter. I tipped it up so that the leading edge is at the crash bar, and the trailing edge is on top of the back end of the cooler. This diverts all air entering the lower grille through the new oil cooler.

That means no air for the radiator from lower grille though, right? Do you have pictures of the "diverter" installed by any chance? Also, any concerns with dumping all that air under the front of the car?

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