Ideal coolant mix for street/track use?
 

I've searched through the coolant threads but did not find anything addressing this issue.

At my first track day at SOWS my car started overheating on the second run, a total of about 35 minutes of WOT operation. This was using the original coolant (I'm assuming 50/50) in my '05 MT.

For the next track day, I would like to switch to a coolant mix that would increase cooling a lot, while still providing sufficient corrosion, boiling protection and water pump lubrication. I live in SoCal, and am not too concerned about freeze protection.

My initial stab would be to run 80/20 water/antifreeze and 2 bottles water wetter. Would this be a good long-term setup for mostly street driving and a track day once every few months? Or does water wetter protect the cooling system enough to do straight water/water wetter mix?

Track, I will mix it down to 30/70 (Coolant/Distilled Water)

For streets, I keep it around 45/55

Original Coolant is like 55/45 .... Yep, 55 Coolant and 45 Water ....

If its the FL22 stuff, then its a different cooalnt than the regular stuff. but still not good for track. flush it like 10 times and use regular coolant mix instead.

Correctumundo, Jackson!:)

I'm currently running 80/20 water/antifreeze with a bottle of water wetter and I'm in the same climate as you.

you should add a bit more coolant to the mix cuz its there to lube the pumps.

water wetter already handles lubrication of the cooling system. I don't use any anti-freeze at all. Just distilled water and 2 bottles of WW.

Sure thats good enough ? :)

Wait, whats that puddle of coolant under ur car ! :lol: j/k :)

redline claims:

Also running 80/20 with 2 bottles of Redline WW. No problems.

50/50 is usually not enough water for the summer and unless you live someplace really cold, like Alaska maybe, than you should consider more water. Would at least consider running 60/40 to 75/25.

Many people don't realize that it's the water that is cooling their engine and not the anti-freeze. The anti-freeze is there so you can start your car in extreme cold and protect your radiator from rust. So how cold does it get around you? What about spring, summer, and fall? 80/20 w/ Redline WW can be run year round by most people.

For track, I think you can go more extreme. Distilled water and just Redline WW, like Mysql101.

Its just sad in NYC is possible to get freezing temp. Like today, its about 23F outside.

I can go with 40/60 I think, it should protect me up to about -10F. Hmm, Will flush the system when it gets warmer outside.

yes...i run WW as well. but that claim may only be for heat transfer. it says nothing of lubrication. only mention of lubrication in that statement is that its suppose to handle heat transfer with glycol based qualities.

in other words, run straight WW if you got $ to blow on a water pump. i fear its lack of lubrication qualities.

on another note... i know of honda typeII coolant as a really good quality coolant containing no borates or silicates....harmful for ur pump. and its nice blue.
i'm running that when flush time come at 12-15k miles.

They also say:

"· Doubles the wetting ability of water
· Improves heat transfer
· Reduces cylinder head temperatures
· May allow more spark advance for increased torque
· Reduces rust, corrosion and electrolysis of all metals
· Provides long term corrosion protection
· Cleans and lubricates water pump seals
· Prevents foaming
· Reduces cavitation corrosion
· Complexes with hard water to reduce scale "

There's also Evans Coolant NPG+. No water needed and sustains cold weather.

http://www.evanscooling.com/main25.htm

If you don't have the upgraded water pump, I would say that thats your problem, and no change of coolant is going to fix it.

Thanks for all the replies.

Based on the responses here I think I'll be going with the 80/20 with 2 bottles water wetter. I'm not hardcore enough for the evans and don't trust only 2 bottles of water wetter to handle all the corrosion protection and lubrication. Even without the upgraded water pump I should be taking more heat out of the engine. I'll report back after the track day (I'm doing Horse Thief Mile 3/29 via SpeedVentures) how much better it fared.

I'm running 70/30 with Watter Wetter

The water pump will really do more for cooling than any coolant mixture will.

The right radiator will do even more than that.

if ONLY we had a place that sold superior radiators! ;)

+1

A Good rad + upgraded water pump pwnz Any coolant mixture :)

Oh yes I heard of this Black Halo Racing Radiator has a new design, it can hold more coolant Plus it has MUCH better air flow design. and its not expensive.

I was about to go get BHR but my rad is not even 1 yr old (replaced it myself last year with another brand). I wait a bit. :) and I already got Paul's upgrade water pump. Have yet to try it on a track, I should try it this year.

But if you want to get better performance, get Mazmart's Upgraded water pump and BHR's upgrade radiator.

Thats what I did. I also plan to run a 70/30 coolant mix with the fans turning on earlier via a reflash. Now, how long before someone comes out with an upgraded thermostat?

I think Paul @ Mazmart mention about it a while ago, but no other news yet.

They seem pretty busy rebuilding engines. Hopefully they have not given up on this. Its my missing link.

With the BHR rad your fans won't need to come on earlier!:lol2:

I can't be over careful, right?

Seriously, the next part that will REALLY help the RX-8's cooling system(especially while boosted/racing) will be a 180-degree thermostat. To have a good radiator, better water pump, new t-stat, and the fans cycling in coordination with all this is best.

$$$$$$$$$$

I need more of that :|

There is a bank nearby :)

The quickest way to do is :

Put somt stockings to cover your face.
Take a knife from the kitchen
Walk to the nearest Commerce Bank :)

lol trust me, I've read some news b4, thats what happened to one of the robbers,

There's also a statistic somewhere that the vast majority of bank robbers get away with the job, so if you only do it once the odds are on your side. I'm sure CRH won't ask where the money is from!

lol !

gaahh, i just read through threads about mazsport's water pump and upgraded radiator, now it makes me want to get them so much!! yay more $$$$$

thanks a lot guys :|

EDIT: sorry about the mixup, it's mazmart's water pump and BHR radiator, my mind wasn't thinking straight :Eyecrazy:

Mazsport doesn't offer a water pump nor their own radiator.

70/30 distilled water/coolant 1 bottle Water Wetter.
It was 81 here today so summer is a coming. Lets see if this can take the heat.

easy: what did your temps look like?

I just have the factory gauge Jedi. But the fan did run about 30-40 seconds after turning the car off this afternoon.
I want some gauges, just got a low budget right now.
If it starts running hot again , I have Paul's water pump in the garage ready to go in.
And of course lest we not mention the BEST AT RADIATOR available,,, BHR!

**cough cough** guagues like mine! *cough cough**

I'm REALLY curious to see what my temps will look like this summer with the mazmart pump thrown into the mix.

Easy, who's your man for gauges and a new rad? You know who........:lol2:

Me too!

ray sells gauges? damn, what did I miss out on NOW? :scratchhe

Hush you two. I am aware of where the parts that I want are. All it takes is MONEY. And right now I don't have any. :crying:

You mean Mazmart. :) They sell water pumps, but not upgraded radiators.

For Upgrade Radiator you have to ask Charles R. Hill, PM him. :)

I think he made the same mistakes as I did, want to say Mazmart but said Mazsport instead :)

My Gauges PWNZ ur gauges ! :lol: :lol:

Same same. Im going to flush my coolant soon, Add some 50/50 first, then add more Distilled water to give it around 40/60 mix. Then I will add Purple Ice this time. (I have WW right now)

What the Hell did I pay vendor fees for if I can't even get my closest friends on the forum to stay on top of my progress! Geeeeez Louise. Jorge, look at my "BHR Product Line" thread, post #1, near the bottom. Suffice it to say I am the forum's Godfather when it comes to all sorts of parts. If I can't beat a price, which is extremely rare, I will tell you where the best price is. I always include shipping, too!

........and I thought I might have been too aggressive in my marketing lately.:lol2:

did you not get my last PM where I asked about what was new with BHR??? GEEZ Loise Ray!!! ;)

haha, off to check out that thread right now. Speakin' of marketing, I gotta buy somethin' from ya so I can put your banner in my siggy.

Dude, you can put my banner in your sig even if you still haven't bought anything. I am a free-market, 1st Amendment supporter.:)

What's new? TMTL. Go look at the thread, asap.

Here's my situation, I bought my car roughly a year ago. 04 AT. Not quite 25000 miles on it yet. At high RPMS, the engine coolant light (lincoln memorial) flashes but doesnt stay on. I looked in the coolant resovoir and it appears low. I bought some of that Redline Water Wetter you guys are mentioning. Do I dump the entire bottle in? Or just some? Do I mix it?

it will be better if u can do it after you flush your coolant.

anyway if u want to add it now, you can pour the whole bottle into the system, then Pour a little bit of 50/50, after that, run your car @ idle for about 10-15 minutes. Then rev it at around 2.5K RPM for a minute or 2, that way your engine should be hot, Thermostats fully open, and water pump will help mixing everything up.

^ yup.

If you've never flushed your coolant, I would probably suggest doing that.

[QUOTE=Charles R. Hill;2322322] Suffice it to say I am the forum's Godfather when it comes to all sorts of parts.

[QUOTE]

What! !!! I thought you were the Daddy of Drag Racing.

You Fink! You dirty RAT FINK!

:rant:

I'm new to RX-8's or rotary's for that matter, but I've been using on all the motorcycles I had over the years Just distilled water and Water Wetter, with no corrosion problems at all. On new Hondas because of their digital temp gauge you can really see a severe drop in temperature about 15 degrees on average, and up to 20 when going fast when compared to factory coolant. Actually we have Dynoed the bikes before and after swaping coolant and we get a couple of horses extras, the theory being that there's less drag on the pump with these lighter fluids. Lubrication doesn't seem to be a problem. I did around 50,000 miles on a ZX-9 with no water pump problems.