The Big Fat Track Car Cooling Thread

[Plimmer]

do you have track vents too or just boxed rads?

I also have track vents, and they definitely help.

Sponsored

 

[shogun32]

I also have track vents, and they definitely help.

do you have metrics on effectiveness? eg. boxed rads were worth 20F in coolant temp reduction?

With motorcycles esp dirt bikes the rads are 'boxed' (sorta) and they use vanes to also cut down on the turbulence in the inlet area. I'm tempted to try adding vanes to a boxed setup for giggles if nothing else.

How deep of a box is that? about 2 inches? Have you tried ducting the fans?

 

[racingandfishing]

Pardon the intrusion.
Would copper vs. aluminum boxing be potentially beneficial? Very heat conductive..? Wondering if there may have been some research or comparison, or people's opinions.

Cheers

I believe you would actually be better going the opposite with a material that conducts even less heat. The goal is to keep the incoming air as cool as possible and to not have the ducting absorb any heat from it's surroundings. Much like when they wrap the air intake on race cars with thermal repellent tape.

 

[SVO MkII]

Unfortunately vents won't fix the issue.
I guess you havr the hreen yellow red gauge for oil?
ALSO what temps did you get for CHT

- Hmm, vents seem to help most people, not sure why they wouldn't help me.
- External oil temp gauge with a sensor. Temps were hitting 270 when I started short shifting. The factory inferred temp gauge turned out to be more accurate than I would've guessed, assuming yellow is 280, which correlated to 270 on the real gauge.
- CHT 220-240. Coolant temps also in 230-240 range.

 

[Ewheels]

I used plastic corrugated sheet and duct tape and double sided tape to seal against radiator.

This doesn't melt from the heat of the radiator? I'd much rather go your plastic route than sheet aluminum as well so I'm very curious.

 

[Flyhalf]

- Hmm, vents seem to help most people, not sure why they wouldn't help me.
- External oil temp gauge with a sensor. Temps were hitting 270 when I started short shifting. The factory inferred temp gauge turned out to be more accurate than I would've guessed, assuming yellow is 280, which correlated to 270 on the real gauge.
- CHT 220-240. Coolant temps also in 230-240 range.

I didn't say it won't help. I said it won't fix the issue.
So 260 280f oil temp is pretty ' normal ' in roadcourse.
230 CHT is common too.
I agree that the main help will come from ducting. That will drop temps by 20f.
Yes u can pair with track vents (racelouvers vents are the only one really effective)
Do you daily the car?
The vents might be an issue if daily
If only for the track the next 2 upgrades are
1. Remove ac condencer
2. Remove the rear shroud and fan thing substituting with a single 16" fan no shroud. The air flow will dramatically improve.
Ps. Vents will give u 30-50lbs downforce
Pps. I've created a water spray system for my coolers using the windshield tank. That helps too.

 

[SVO MkII]

So 260 280f oil temp is pretty ' normal ' in roadcourse.
230 CHT is common too.
I agree that the main help will come from ducting. That will drop temps by 20f.
Yes u can pair with track vents (racelouvers vents are the only one really effective)
Do you daily the car?
The vents might be an issue if daily
If only for the track the next 2 upgrades are
1. Remove ac condencer
2. Remove the rear shroud and fan thing substituting with a single 16" fan no shroud. The air flow will dramatically improve.
Ps. Vents will give u 30-50lbs downforce
Pps. I've created a water spray system for my coolers using the windshield tank. That helps too.

I didn't say it won't help. I said it won't fix the issue.
So 260 280f oil temp is pretty ' normal ' in roadcourse.
230 CHT is common too.
I agree that the main help will come from ducting. That will drop temps by 20f.
Yes u can pair with track vents (racelouvers vents are the only one really effective)
Do you daily the car?
The vents might be an issue if daily
If only for the track the next 2 upgrades are
1. Remove ac condencer
2. Remove the rear shroud and fan thing substituting with a single 16" fan no shroud. The air flow will dramatically improve.
Ps. Vents will give u 30-50lbs downforce
Pps. I've created a water spray system for my coolers using the windshield tank. That helps too.

The problem is that I'm achieving these temps short shifting at 5K instead of 6-6.5K and I'm upshifting between corners where I shouldn't have to. If I didn't do this, those temps would be much higher. Obviously, I don't want to "experiment" to see how high they get, so I start short shifting at those temp levels.
Yes, DD as well, which always results in a compromise.
Ducting and some vents are in my future. I need to decide whether to go GT4 vents, or a GT500 hood.
Interesting that you mention the water spray solution. I used my '72 911 as a track car from 2000 to 2013. I had some cooling issues at one point and was considering a water spray solution, which was popular with a few other early 911 drivers. Went with an additional oil cooler instead, but I recall the water spray guys being quite pleased with that solution as well.

 

[Scootsmcgreggor]

I also vented my hood (race louvers) and didn't notice much of a temp drop. Then ducted my (oem) radiator and got a good 20+ degree temp drop. At the beginning of a straight now when I put the hammer down the CHT actually goes down for a few seconds before it starts creeping up. Oil temps stayed 15-20* lower as well, despite not having an oil cooler.

 

[shogun32]

2. Remove the rear shroud and fan thing substituting with a single 16" fan no shroud. The air flow will dramatically improve.

how about taking a 2" hole saw and swiss-cheezing the fan panel?

 

[shogun32]

while you're capturing a ton of air, you're only pushing it thru about 1/2 the actual surface area of the rad?

 

[TeeLew]

while you're capturing a ton of air, you're only pushing it thru about 1/2 the actual surface area of the rad?

I believe we're looking at it from the rad side.

 

[SVO MkII]

I also vented my hood (race louvers) and didn't notice much of a temp drop. Then ducted my (oem) radiator and got a good 20+ degree temp drop. At the beginning of a straight now when I put the hammer down the CHT actually goes down for a few seconds before it starts creeping up. Oil temps stayed 15-20* lower as well, despite not having an oil cooler.

Interesting. Do you have any more pics you can share, especially on the car? Also, what are you using for an intercooler and are you using any ducting for that?

 

[Scootsmcgreggor]

I believe we're looking at it from the rad side.

Yep

 

[Scootsmcgreggor]

Interesting. Do you have any more pics you can share, especially on the car? Also, what are you using for an intercooler and are you using any ducting for that?

Mishimoto intercooler and made a duct for it that feeds from the lower grill inlet. Wanted two separate ducts because air flows through the radiator much easier than the intercooler so without them separated there would be less flow trough the intercooler than separated. Goal was to improve the efficiency of this intercooler to avoid having to go bigger. Don’t want the weight or the IC in front of the rad.

 

[SVO MkII]

Mishimoto intercooler and made a duct for it that feeds from the lower grill inlet. Wanted two separate ducts because air flows through the radiator much easier than the intercooler so without them separated there would be less flow trough the intercooler than separated. Goal was to improve the efficiency of this intercooler to avoid having to go bigger. Don’t want the weight or the IC in front of the rad.

Damn, I wish I had seen your setup before I bought my giant intercooler and the

oil cooler. My intercooler comes forward and extends up to about level with the tip of the crash bar, making it virtually impossible for much air to reach the lower part of the rad. And I'm probably compounding my problems by placing an oil cooler in front of the rad. I'm tempted to undo this and start over :(

Sponsored