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I wouldn't mind leaving one, either - been nothing but impressed with the product.
Not here, on my website. More specifically the product
page has a "write a review" link at the bottom of the page. Other people would like to know your results.
I just spent two days at Road America with Midwest Domestics, and got to see if the upgrades I made in the winter solved many of the issues I was having with heat, brakes and cooling.
DeWitts Radiator - The radiator made a tremendous difference on the track, my water temps never went over 220 degrees even after a 30 minute session, the highest oil temp I saw was 210 degrees. While cruising on the highway my water temps hover at 190-200 and my oil temps are staying around 180 degrees. This single upgrade solves your cooling issues.
Z06 rear ducts - I wrapped my pipes last year near the transmission but put in another 25 feet of wrap, then I installed the Z06 rear vents, my temps on the transmission never went past 200 degrees on the track. On the street I am seeing 180 degrees peak temp. Problem solved with transmission temps.
Wilwood brakes - I have never used Wilwood brakes before, always been a Stoptech guy, but I have to tell you these brakes are amazing. I have the new Aero 6 calipers 6 piston front and four piston rear.
The pedal feel is absolutely amazing, it is very stiff, probably the stiffest I have ever had on a track car. Zero fade! I used their highest level track compound and they had great torque and modulated perfectly. This kit solves all braking issues with the Corvette. Two little complaints....the bridge bolts are held in with a very small pretzel shaped clip. I had one pop out at the track and lost a bridge bolt. I just went to the local hardware store and got a bolt and a clip to hold it in. Other than that killer brakes, the best I have ever owned in a track car.
As for the cam kit, my car is now a two gear car at Road America 3/4 the extra revs and pulling on top are amazing. I was faster everywhere I picked up another 10 mph on every straight. I think I am going to wrap my intake to help keep IAT's lower.
Very happy with the upgrades just need to get some decent tires other than the PSS, although they held up great they are the limiting factor right now.
Re, the DeWitts rad: does the stock Z51 fan and shroud setup get reused on the DeWitts?
Not here, on my website. More specifically the product
page has a "write a review" link at the bottom of the page. Other people would like to know your results.
I'm going to install my Dewitt's this weekend in my 15 Z06 A8 and take pics of install.
I will also report back after going to track and wrapping my exhaust pipes too. I'm also going to fab a heat shield to separate the cat from the supercharger heat exchanger silver block thing that hangs down by the oil filter. ( please forgive me if I got that piece wrong.)
I'm also going to fab a heat shield to separate the cat from the supercharger heat exchanger silver block thing that hangs down by the oil filter. ( please forgive me if I got that piece wrong.)
So does this Dewitts radiator have a built in oil cooler?
No - it's simply a larger (and thermally speaking, better) version of the stock radiator. The oil cooler is a small passively-cooled brick located near the oil filter.
The radiator required just a bit of trimming on some of the plastic, it was installed by the shop that did my Cam. It also required just a slight modification for the hood vent to fit.
This mod alone improves cooling dramatically. I also used DEI wrap on my coolant hoses to keep radiant heat off of the CAI.
This upgrade is a no brainer for a Z06, it should be standard.
I have a DeWitts rad in the shop waiting to go in. The factory manual says A/C must be depressurized and both rads removed to replace just the coolant radiator. Did your shop do this or do they know how to replace just the coolant rad without disturbing the A/C rad or lines? Makes the difference between a do-it-yourself or a shop job for most of us.
I have a DeWitts rad in the shop waiting to go in. The factory manual says A/C must be depressurized and both rads removed to replace just the coolant radiator. Did your shop do this or do they know how to replace just the coolant rad without disturbing the A/C rad or lines? Makes the difference between a do-it-yourself or a shop job for most of us.
I have the same exact question. No one has answered that yet.
No - it's simply a larger (and thermally speaking, better) version of the stock radiator. The oil cooler is a small passively-cooled brick located near the oil filter.
The oil cooler on the Z51 and Z06 are not passively cooled, or at least very little from airflow. Here is how I think it all works, without having taken my car part to really know. Oil cooler 2 in the illustration is a fluid to fluid cooler. Oil from the engine flows in and out of the oil cooler, and coolant from the radiator flows in and out of the cooler and heat is exchanged between the fluids which of course do not mix. That way since the engine coolant heats up faster than the oil, the cold oil will be warmed up quickly after startup to get to operating temperature. Then as the engine load increases, the oil temperature wants to get higher than the coolant temperature and the coolant running through the oil cooler will cool the oil. Virtually all of the oil cooling effect is from the engine coolant radiator.
Hoses 8 and 9 carry the coolant, with 9 going forward from the oil cooler mount to a bib on the radiator and 8 going to a coolant port the engine, with the flow controlled by the action of the water pump. The oil flows in and out of the engine via the two holes in gasket 5 with flow controlled by the oil pump. The oil cooler has 4 holes, 2 for coolant and 2 for oil.
A supplementary oil cooler would likely reroute the coolant hoses 8 and 9 to an add-on air to fluid exchanger core located in front of the existing radiator/AC condenser or in some other part of the car where new air could be sourced. That way the OEM oil cooler would get colder coolant fluid through it. This would require a pump to feed coolant through the add-on core. All hard to do. Another option would be to delete the OEM oil cooler entirely and to run the oil out of gasket 5 through an air to oil cooler core or to tap into the lines going to the dry sump oil tank with a cooler. One has to know the pressures in the dry sump tank lines to know if one can put a cooler in-line with those hoses. None of that is easy to package, so that is why after 2 years there are zero parts available to improve oil cooling on the C7.
The oil cooler on the Z51 and Z06 are not passively cooled, or at least very little from airflow. Here is how I think it all works, without having taken my car part to really know. Oil cooler 2 in the illustration is a fluid to fluid cooler. Oil from the engine flows in and out of the oil cooler, and coolant from the radiator flows in and out of the cooler and heat is exchanged between the fluids which of course do not mix. That way since the engine coolant heats up faster than the oil, the cold oil will be warmed up quickly after startup to get to operating temperature. Then as the engine load increases, the oil temperature wants to get higher than the coolant temperature and the coolant running through the oil cooler will cool the oil. Virtually all of the oil cooling effect is from the engine coolant radiator.
Hoses 8 and 9 carry the coolant, with 9 going forward from the oil cooler mount to a bib on the radiator and 8 going to a coolant port the engine, with the flow controlled by the action of the water pump. The oil flows in and out of the engine via the two holes in gasket 5 with flow controlled by the oil pump. The oil cooler has 4 holes, 2 for coolant and 2 for oil.
A supplementary oil cooler would likely reroute the coolant hoses 8 and 9 to an add-on air to fluid exchanger core located in front of the existing radiator/AC condenser or in some other part of the car where new air could be sourced. That way the OEM oil cooler would get colder coolant fluid through it. This would require a pump to feed coolant through the add-on core. All hard to do. Another option would be to delete the OEM oil cooler entirely and to run the oil out of gasket 5 through an air to oil cooler core or to tap into the lines going to the dry sump oil tank with a cooler. One has to know the pressures in the dry sump tank lines to know if one can put a cooler in-line with those hoses. None of that is easy to package, so that is why after 2 years there are zero parts available to improve oil cooling on the C7.
Thanks for the diagram. I knew it wasn't passive. Still wonder how much heat is gained rather than lost because of catalytic converter only 1" away. Made a heat shield this week between them. Trying it out this weekend before tackling the DeWitts rad.
Wish Theta would ask whoever put his DeWitts in if the A/C condenser had to come out. I have a call in to DeWitts as to whether it can be unclipped from coolant rad and left in or if A/C stuff is in the way of getting it out.
Thanks for the diagram. I knew it wasn't passive. Still wonder how much heat is gained rather than lost because of catalytic converter only 1" away. Made a heat shield this week between them. Trying it out this weekend before tackling the DeWitts rad.
Wish Theta would ask whoever put his DeWitts in if the A/C condenser had to come out. I have a call in to DeWitts as to whether it can be unclipped from coolant rad and left in or if A/C stuff is in the way of getting it out.
I did mine last week. I just unclipped condenser and slid in the dewitts. Getting the fan back in was fun!
I have been running Wilwood brakes for years and have been nothing but impressed. Trying to argue with people about Stoptech, AP Racing, Brembo is like a revolving door because there are too many uniformed people that have never tried the different setups for themselves. The only setup I would even consider over Wilwood is AP Racing. Just because something is twice the price, does not make it twice as good. I have the W6/4A calipers on two of my cars and will be upgrading to its replacement, the Aero 6/4 on my C7 over the next couple weeks. I do have to say that I preferred the design of the W series calipers better as they did not have the bridge, it was easier to change pads out. Wilwood says that the bridge made them more ridged, well that's obvious. I personally don't think it needed it though.
The oil cooler on the Z51 and Z06 are not passively cooled, or at least very little from airflow.
When I give someone a quick answer with a follow-up sentence when it appears they generally don't know the basic workings of the C7, it always seems to be dissected. If you recall the "what is this" thread, it's still not readily apparent to most people that the brick is the oil cooler, let alone is the (relatively) same L2L/F2F design from the previous generations.
Nonetheless, that's a good explanation, and a very astute point regarding the dry sump pressure limiting the experimentation with 'external' oil coolers.
Wish Theta would ask whoever put his DeWitts in if the A/C condenser had to come out. I have a call in to DeWitts as to whether it can be unclipped from coolant rad and left in or if A/C stuff is in the way of getting it out.
I asked, but have not gotten confirmation back. Several other vendors and members here have installed the DeWitts, so while I apologize if I'm inconveniencing you, they are also (potentially) able to answer this.
At the moment, I'm working with a forum vendor to get all of the instructions done for a Z51 -> Z06 transmission cooling swap (as requested), on top of quite a few other things here.
05-06-2015, 04:56 PM
