Cooling mods for the average Joe

[BigBird]

for the hot head temps on shutdown, honda should have swapped to an electronic water pump like every other tuner car has, to cycle coolant through when the car is off.

Sponsored

 

[blueroadster]

I mostly agree with this. Blankets should substantially reduce any radiated heat. They will also trap heat in the turbo / DP, and that can lead to longer cooldown times, but it can also cause higher turbo / DP peak temps.

It is possible that insulating the turbo / DP lead to higher temps under load and that, in the case of the turbo, this could damage the head gasket downstream (and cool down laps / driving time wouldn't prevent this; they would only prevent damage caused by prolonged cooldown times).

Good point.

 

[Websitesdown]

I'm not picking on @VtecSlayer for selling blankets mind you, I'm really not. I work on jet engines and know that what the guy in the video was talking about from an engineering standpoint, makes sense. These are the kinds of things that we look at when improving things and or when trouble shooting recurring issues.

 

[siwelnosaj]

Testing was a big success on Saturday for the FL5 WOT Spec PWR Triple Pass Radiator and transmission cooler! There is also an FK8 version available.

This was a true torture test with ambient temps getting up to 101°F by the last session.

Testing conditions were very different than 2 weeks ago when it was 62° out so it's impossible to create graphs and such to compare, this was more about performance in an absolute sense. Simply put, could the car run on track for full sessions at 100°F, and the answer to that was yes!

The quick summary is that I was able to run all 5 sessions on the day from start to finish without overheating and that I got a personal best of 1:53.5 in the early session when it was cooler out.

When it got to 100° I was only able to manage a 1:56.5, the tires, brakes, and intake temps just weren't as happy and the tires were at the end of their life with this being their 3rd track day and in the toughest conditions.

As I discuss the results it's important to keep in mind that none of the other Type Rs were able to match this pace. The next best time on the day from an R was a 2:02.98 done in the optional 10 minute time trial session and that was in a 2 hot lap scenario, he won his class. His car is mostly stock and his coolant temps hit 242° on the second hot lap with 92° ambient. The other Rs on the day were all around 2:08-2:13 for their best times in any session.

The most telling examples of the radiator's performance were the 4th and 5th sessions where it was 100° and 101° respectfully.

In the 4th session with 100° ambient I ran behind my buddy who is modded similarly but with the PWR track spec single pass. The plan was to run behind him so I could match his pace for multiple laps in a row and then we could compare temps in a more one for one scenario. We were running 2:08 lap times and at the end of the 4th hot lap his coolant was at 233° and was climbing, mine was steady at 219°. A massive 14° difference! I suspect if we did a few more laps the delta would have only continued to grow larger but he pulled off the track.

The 5th session was the real test though. Most everyone had left because it was just too hot out, so they made it a 40 minute open pit for whoever was willing. I filled up on gas and my plan was to run the whole session at an endurance race pace (around 2 flat give or take). There was a black flag right at the start of the session and so it effectively turned into a 30 minute session. I ran the whole 30 minutes in 101° ambient temp at an average pace of 2:01.9. Coolant temps remained stable at 228° - 233° for the 30 minutes. I could have continued but they waived the checkered flag. By the end of the 30 minutes I think I was the only car still on track.

So I was able to run slightly faster for 30 minutes continuously than the next fastest R did as a time trial effort all while keeping temps stable right around 230°. I was able to match coolant temps but keep them steady and go 7 seconds faster per lap for a mega session. Massive success considering the environment.

I am the only vendor selling the WOT Spec PWR Triple Pass Radiator. It goes for $1600, and $1800 with the optional transmission cooler added, plus shipping. If you're interested in one for yourself message me and I can set up your order. They are build to order with an approximate 4 week turn around shipping direct to you from PWR.

Message me if you have any questions or would like to set up an order.