Low Temp Thermostat? - No need!
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From: Rochester, NY
Low Temp Thermostat? - No need!
Just wanted to report back my findings on engine temps on the Stock Evo X cooling system. I run 60% water/40% antifreeze with a bottle of Redline Waterwetter, so far I've had zero issues and never seen the fan turn after I shut off the car since I added that stuff.
According to my OBD2 datalogs the car cruises around 174-176 F on the highway which ends up being the first downward wave on the stock digital gauge.
The next upward wave is when the temp is in the 183-199 F range although it may go higher before moving up a notch on the stock gauge. The fan kicked in at 199 F while sitting at idle which increased airflow enough to drop back down to 183 F which was pretty impressive.
Once I hit the highway again it returned to the 174-176 F range so it looks like we have no need for a low temp thermostat on our cars as it opens about as soon as you would ever want it to. If the temps are creeping higher than that, you will want to increase the actual capacity of the cooling system between fluid type and radiator efficiency. I would imagine that pushing the car hard on a road course would reveal what kind of temps the car will raise to even though the thermostat is already wide open at that point. Hopefully with good airflow that will still only be in the 200-210 F range. I'll let the road course drivers chime in on what they have seen temperature wise at the track and how they held it in check.
Hope that info helps.
According to my OBD2 datalogs the car cruises around 174-176 F on the highway which ends up being the first downward wave on the stock digital gauge.
The next upward wave is when the temp is in the 183-199 F range although it may go higher before moving up a notch on the stock gauge. The fan kicked in at 199 F while sitting at idle which increased airflow enough to drop back down to 183 F which was pretty impressive.
Once I hit the highway again it returned to the 174-176 F range so it looks like we have no need for a low temp thermostat on our cars as it opens about as soon as you would ever want it to. If the temps are creeping higher than that, you will want to increase the actual capacity of the cooling system between fluid type and radiator efficiency. I would imagine that pushing the car hard on a road course would reveal what kind of temps the car will raise to even though the thermostat is already wide open at that point. Hopefully with good airflow that will still only be in the 200-210 F range. I'll let the road course drivers chime in on what they have seen temperature wise at the track and how they held it in check.
Hope that info helps.
Water Wetter is good, but I've heard it leaves a wax film in your water jacket and radiator. I just bought a 1.5 (or maybe 1.3, I forget) bar radiator cap and I've never heard the fan turn on with the car off either.
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I've been testing out OBD2Spy and Proscan so far, there may be better free OBD2 loggers I just haven't tested the full range yet.
As far as water wetter it does leave a film on stuff, although I think that may be the corrosion inhibitors so it shouldn't really be harmfull. Nothing a good flush once a year won't fix anyways. The slightly higher pressure cap with pure water seems to work really well too, although never get caught with old hoses since you are more likely to split em. Luckily nobody has old hoses on an X yet though.
As far as water wetter it does leave a film on stuff, although I think that may be the corrosion inhibitors so it shouldn't really be harmfull. Nothing a good flush once a year won't fix anyways. The slightly higher pressure cap with pure water seems to work really well too, although never get caught with old hoses since you are more likely to split em. Luckily nobody has old hoses on an X yet though.
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At a PDX event towards the end of a 85degree day;
The last few laps I pushed the car pretty hard, at much as my skill can, while having the temp screen on my dash. While I got on the straights I glanced down and it was never higher than 50% of the bar. The car was never run lower than 4k RPM's and always shifting at 7k+.
My car is 100% stock. The only mods are AMSoil and tranny fluid. I also removed all the air guides(on the hood) and made my own which I attached to the stock brackets on the hood.
I also never had any brake fade. The next day I had to slam them on a few times to get the sqweeking to go away. >.< I do have the brake-air guides. Who knows how much they help, really, but I did get them for good measure.
Overall the car was solid all day. I did have some idle issues later in the day, but they went away as the ECU re-learned the idle.
The tires were set at 42PSI than after 10 laps they gained 2lbs and after 15laps I gained another 2lbs. Re-adjusting them every 5 laps to 41PSI. Again I have stock tires. I had some rubber-melt off, but nothing like the other cars that day. The tires help up very good. So whatever math it is to figure out the temp increase of 4PSI of pressure, that's how hot my tires got.
So on a stock car with stock cooling, I was very happy.
The last few laps I pushed the car pretty hard, at much as my skill can, while having the temp screen on my dash. While I got on the straights I glanced down and it was never higher than 50% of the bar. The car was never run lower than 4k RPM's and always shifting at 7k+.
My car is 100% stock. The only mods are AMSoil and tranny fluid. I also removed all the air guides(on the hood) and made my own which I attached to the stock brackets on the hood.
I also never had any brake fade. The next day I had to slam them on a few times to get the sqweeking to go away. >.< I do have the brake-air guides. Who knows how much they help, really, but I did get them for good measure.
Overall the car was solid all day. I did have some idle issues later in the day, but they went away as the ECU re-learned the idle.
The tires were set at 42PSI than after 10 laps they gained 2lbs and after 15laps I gained another 2lbs. Re-adjusting them every 5 laps to 41PSI. Again I have stock tires. I had some rubber-melt off, but nothing like the other cars that day. The tires help up very good. So whatever math it is to figure out the temp increase of 4PSI of pressure, that's how hot my tires got.
So on a stock car with stock cooling, I was very happy.
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From: Rochester, NY
At a PDX event towards the end of a 85degree day;
The last few laps I pushed the car pretty hard, at much as my skill can, while having the temp screen on my dash. While I got on the straights I glanced down and it was never higher than 50% of the bar. The car was never run lower than 4k RPM's and always shifting at 7k+.
My car is 100% stock. The only mods are AMSoil and tranny fluid. I also removed all the air guides(on the hood) and made my own which I attached to the stock brackets on the hood.
I also never had any brake fade. The next day I had to slam them on a few times to get the sqweeking to go away. >.< I do have the brake-air guides. Who knows how much they help, really, but I did get them for good measure.
Overall the car was solid all day. I did have some idle issues later in the day, but they went away as the ECU re-learned the idle.
The tires were set at 42PSI than after 10 laps they gained 2lbs and after 15laps I gained another 2lbs. Re-adjusting them every 5 laps to 41PSI. Again I have stock tires. I had some rubber-melt off, but nothing like the other cars that day. The tires help up very good. So whatever math it is to figure out the temp increase of 4PSI of pressure, that's how hot my tires got.
So on a stock car with stock cooling, I was very happy.
The last few laps I pushed the car pretty hard, at much as my skill can, while having the temp screen on my dash. While I got on the straights I glanced down and it was never higher than 50% of the bar. The car was never run lower than 4k RPM's and always shifting at 7k+.
My car is 100% stock. The only mods are AMSoil and tranny fluid. I also removed all the air guides(on the hood) and made my own which I attached to the stock brackets on the hood.
I also never had any brake fade. The next day I had to slam them on a few times to get the sqweeking to go away. >.< I do have the brake-air guides. Who knows how much they help, really, but I did get them for good measure.
Overall the car was solid all day. I did have some idle issues later in the day, but they went away as the ECU re-learned the idle.
The tires were set at 42PSI than after 10 laps they gained 2lbs and after 15laps I gained another 2lbs. Re-adjusting them every 5 laps to 41PSI. Again I have stock tires. I had some rubber-melt off, but nothing like the other cars that day. The tires help up very good. So whatever math it is to figure out the temp increase of 4PSI of pressure, that's how hot my tires got.
So on a stock car with stock cooling, I was very happy.
I've also noticed that cars can get a bit antsy when they are pushed hard then run rough or even stall when sitting at idle with everything so hot after hot lapping. I think the rule of thumb for tire pressure increases is every 10F ambient is 1 PSI increase, so looks like your tires heated the inside air 40F above ambient, I'm sure the rubber was quite a bit hotter though!
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