Hi Guys,

Just a quick update with the latest track results! I spoke with Tim after the SCCA event at VIR 2 weekends ago and we were again quite pleased with the the results! The car ran in the low-mid 190's all weekend and only once did it get to 200f briefly in traffic. Btw, these results are with stock OE Mazda pulleys, we would see further improvement if we were allowed to run our own underdrive set but rules are rules.

I would also like to say congratulations to Tim for setting the pole position time and on the back to back win's Saturday and Sunday! Well done sir!

 

Nice ! I'm of the opinion that by keeping temps at that level , a little extra power is available which may have helped with that great result.

 

Exactly right Brett! The lower temps also make the engine produce a bit more torque as well. This gives the car a bit stronger launch coming out of the corner which typically leads to a bit more speed down the straights.

 

I just did a weekend at Spring Mountain, no data to compare it to, but ambient temps were in the high 70s - didn't see over 210. I think with the stock t-stat, it's building heat and opening at 203... the temp rises to about 210 as the t-stat opens and circulates through the radiator, and then the temps drop back down to the 190-200 range before going back up. It seems to cycle through on and off with the t-stat opening and closing...

no issues at all -

PCS

 

Thanks for the feedback pcs, glad to hear it's working well! I believe we can get those temps down even further if you like =-) Send me a pm if your interested.

 

I'm good for now. Next step, if needed, will be better oil cooling - I don't anticipate actually needing it though. we'll see - i'll try to get it out in the heat to do some tests...

 

went out in 107* and 103* this weekend...

on the 107* day, temps still creeped up to 230* - not sure there is much that can be done about it. Ended up cruising the track in 4th & 5th instead of 3rd & 4th - almost like a self imposed 6500rpm redline to avoid going past 225...

on the 103* day though - for the most part was able to go WOT, and at the section of the track where the temps ended up being the highest, never really got past 221-225 except for one lap where it spiked to 228 - it was a little higher than I wanted, but in that heat, I thought the radiator did very well.

For comparison, in 90-95* temps, I was getting up to 230 after a few laps (i didn't notice it until my stock gauge moved and I got an OBD reader last year). temps are under that this year in higher ambients... and I'm driving the same track 2-3 seconds faster than last year.

seems to work well, but heat is still an issue. next step may be better oil cooling or following up on the hood vent thread from escapedan...

 

Glad to hear about the improvements and improved lap times PCS, well done! I am confident we can get your temps significantly lower, what track were you running at this past weekend?

 

Buttonwillow - looking at better oil cooling and hood vent as a possibility in the future, but for starters, I've decided not to go out in 100+ temps anymore, hahaha

 

Well that's one solution I suppose pcs, lol. Kidding aside, the issue however is not the radiator, track day turbocharged cars running this radiator are not having the same results, they are running cooler. Let me know, I'm here to help if you want to resolve it!

Let me know pcs, Scott

 

interesting - the temps recover pretty well, but i wonder how much of that has to do with turbo'd cars probably having more access to air than the limited amount I have coming from the front. I've been looking into vents or opening up the front to promote airflow through the radiator, just haven't committed to it yet.

 

"track day turbo'd cars" is pretty vague. A turbo car should have more cooling issues due to the higher engine loads and the intercooler blocking the path to the radiator. But of course you also have to look at the whole specific setup when making comparisons.

What are you running for coolant and what mix? Stock fans?

 

Airflow makes a huge difference. When I vented the hood it was a huge difference in how heat soaked it got.

I think the oil coolers make a big difference as well....the oil cooling also keeps the system more nimble and able to react faster

Altering your fan on/off Temps makes a difference and depending on speed can really help a lot

My car with a similar Rad. (Ron Davis) vented hood and 2 big Setrab oil coolers and a custom from Air intake for the rad at 550 rwhp turbo runs at 86-90 degrees as long as ambient is below 90. Above that it tends to stay close to ambient give or take a degree. That's running 30 minute sessions. If it's hot things can get marginally warmer after that...but I think the warmest I have gotten with this setup is 105 degrees and only for a few minutes before I gave it a bit of a rest and it was back down again.

I also run coolers on the tranny and diff....they get super hot without them as well.

 

Are you mixing up degrees C and degrees F in that last post or am I going mad ?

 

I apologize for drifting off topic, but could you elaborate as to the hood venting, or perhaps share a picture? There has been some debate about where to vent the hood for maximum effectiveness. It sounds like you have it in the right place.

 

Oops...threw in the 90F ambient temp # ....sorry should be 32C 😊

 

What about when stuck in a traffic jam on a 95F+ day? That seems to be the biggest issue with these cars.

 

stop & go at 95* put me at about 195-208, with an occasional 210 popping in there. To me that seemed like the thermostat was partially opened, temps rose, thermostat fully opened, temps rose a little more before coming down, then t-stat partially closed... and then the cycle repeated...

 

The fans turn on after 206F. I think that's what happened. Did you have the AC on? The AC forces to fans to go on high at that temp.

In 95F after an hour of traffic, my car hits 215F Once it was 99F and the car hit 220F and didn't go down until I turned off the AC. I have a stock radiator btw. This is the battle most stock RX-8 owners (who monitor their coolant temps) fight. People who don't monitor them have no idea how close they get to overheating

 

Keep in mind track and driver make a difference as well. I probably run 10F cooler at Sonoma where there is a lot less full throttle than Laguna Seca. I also run hotter now that I am faster than I was a year or two back.

Also, fans are key on the street, but at speed (on the track) they don't help.

I need to see if there is something I can do for my next track day as I'm expecting air temps to be 100F. I'm thinking opening up the vents behind the oil coolers is my next step. Hopefully that helps my front brake temps as well since they are too high right now.

I could try an experiment with hood venting if a certain other member on here is willing ;-)

 

That seems more likely to be fans cycling. Tstat should open at around 183F. Personally I would not worry about 210 or even 220F in stop and go.

 

That's all fan efficiency and turn on temperature. If you have the fans turn on early then you can easily keep it at ambient temps give or take a degree or 2

The problem with the car stock is the idiotically high temps the fans turn on

 

i thought the t-stat opened fully at 203?

 

Ya...but it starts about 180...so it has quite a bit of flow before full open..

You can also get a Mazmart one that opens earlier...doesn't do much though unless you change the fans

 

Because I have the AC on, the fans are on high speed all the time. At these ambient temps, when the AC is in auto, it's almost on max. That forces the fans to go into high speed. They literally turn on when I start the car. My car hits 220F while the fans are on high speed, and they've been on high speed since the coolant temp was 170F. The real problem is that the fans don't spin fast enough. I still can't believe Mazda went ahead with these fans while knowing that they're incapable of keeping the temps below 220F, and that these engines don't tolerate heat very well...