thinking of getting a larger oil cooler for my E6 TME (possibly HKS) as the oil gets pretty hot after a few laps on the track. Is this worth the money?

 

If you are racing at the track, it is probably worth its weight in gold.
I would definatly upgrade everything in the cooling system if possible. It (usually) never hurts to be too cautious.

 

I was thinking about upgrading too. but a friend mentioned to me that the evo is a group N rally car. designed for extreme amounts of heat. ever see rally in the desert? I don't know. just a point he brought up.

 

Based on some friends with DSM's that go to the track...racing at the track will quickly find the weakest part of your car. In many of their cases its some sort of cooling issue. In almost all cases you can get a better cooler in the aftermarket, and it seems like a great thing to do. Rally is tough on cars but in different ways than the track. In rally its probably the drivetrain that takes more abuse, or from something in the environment (dirt, water etc). On the track you are usually fighting heat when running the car at sustained high rpm.
Upgrading the radiator and oil/power steering coolers are the first thing I will do on my EVO because I plan on much track racing. I might even look into adding a tranny cooler, though its not as much an issue on a manual.

On my galant I have a stock external air oil cooler (also formerly a WRC), but its a joke. I will definitely upgrade if I take it to the track.

 

thanks for the advice. after the Malaysia F1 race, i will definitely upgrade the cooling on the car (hope to go round Sepang soon). will also look at power steering and transmission/gear box cooling

 

Claudius,

I use HKS 5W-50 racing oil. Gets up to about 130C after 4-5 laps, before which I have to slow down and cool the engine down. Since I live in the tropics, track temps are in the 35-40C range and things heat up pretty fast.

Wtih respect to the mods, I got this car 2nd hand and am still working on getting the list of mods (haven't done anything myself yet). I know that I have:
Mines ECU
Cusco twin plate clutch
Tein suspension (upgraded sway bars)
HKS exhaust (cat still on)
Carbon Fibre Cold Air Box
Blitz BC (run 1.3 bar max.)
upgraded hoses (cooling and braking)
front (3 point) and back struts
bunch of gauges

Still new to this so the above is definitely incomplete and may not be 100% correct. Also, any advice is appreciated. Personally though, I think the first thing I need is driving instruction, the car's abilities surpass mine.

Regards

 

Where does the standard temp gauge stay? If it's in the middle there's nothing to worry about. One thing which will also help (provided you haven't done it already) is to remove the shield on the inside of the bonnet vents. But I think it could be be wise to get a bigger oilcooler for you, just for safety reasons as your climate is obviously very hot. If the car overheats, it does seem a little weird to me, especially if it's after only 4-5 laps.

 

Michaelk,

Standard temp gauge 2/3 of the way up, water temp 100-105C. The car does not overheat after 4-5 laps, its just the oil that gets hot and I stop to cool it down instead of risking it. Exhausts temp get ridiculous also (gauge says 900C) so the intercooler spray gets used a bit.

Please let me know of other "danger" areas I should keep in mind with respect to high temps.

Regards

 

I think it sounds about ok what's happening with your car, although 2/3 up is quite a bit. How high does it get under normal use, i.e. traffic? But as long as you stay out of the danger area, it shouldn't be a problem.
How come you know that the oil is too hot? Do you have an oil temp gauge? If you think the EGT is too high, have your ECU remapped or change the timing yourself, or flow more fuel.

 

thanks for all the reassurance guys.

Claudius,
my peak and held boost is 1.3 (stock muffler) and 1.38 (HKS Hypper). might mess with my boost controller and change the peak once I figure out how. Will keep the thicker oil in mind.

Michaelk,
Under normal use oil temp is about 85-100C.
I know this sounds crazy but I have 6 extra gauges in my car. I have 3 Defi gauges (oil temp, egt, water temp) with a recorder, 2 Greddy gauges (boost and A/F) and a HKS gauge (engine block temp, this is useless and will be changed to an oil pressure gauge soon).
It sounds pretty messy but actually looks quite neat.
With respect to remapping ECU, I will have to talk to my mechanic about that, it is way beyond me.

Regards

 

Claudius,

Thanks for the info. Have changed oil twice since I got the car (driven less than 2000km), once, immeadiately after I got it (also replaced all other fluids), and once immeadiately after the track session. I also use a magnetic oil filter (can't remember the brand). Will keep in mind the Castrol for the next oil change, however I hear the HKS is pretty good. It goes in the HKS 4G63 engine, which someone I know is getting for their VII (hopefully I will get to drive it).

Saw the video of the HKS VII breaking the lap record at Tsukuba, pretty amazing.

Regards