tjZ06

I have a full weight (actually, a bit more than full weight w/ a bigger radiator, oil cooler, roll hoop, and some Dynamat) '02 Z06 making about 450RWHP. I'm going coil over soon and do track days on R-compound. I also just stepped up to LG's G-Stop kit and full ducting. I've only done a few track days so far and haven't seen any evidence of trans or diff temp problems. But my track days were at Infineon (not a lot of WOT sections) on cool days (mid 60s tops). I’m cutting a good pace (easily dusting F430s and Exiges driven by coworkers with lots of track experience and a few schools under their belts) but I’m not going 10/10ths or anything.

I intend to do a LOT of track days next year, including places like Thunderhill that have a lot more WOT sections, and can be much hotter ambient (110+). I’d like to get everything squared away on my car so that it’s totally ready for next year.

Should I be doing trans/diff coolers or will I be okay without them? I’m not going to re-route my exhaust out the side or anything like that (I love the sound of my Ti’s and I think C5s look terrible w/o tips out the back). I don’t mind header-wrapping my exhaust but that’s about all I can do to keep heat away from the trans/diff. Well, I was thinking of a cooling duct/scoop once the rear leaf spring is out of the way (looking at a friend’s car I put coil overs on it seems like a great place to pull cooling air for the diff) but that’s too far back for much benefit to the trans.

Thoughts?

-TJ

J.R.

Wrapping will help but the answer on a hot day or long sesssions is going to be coolers. Just figure what just a rear diff seal replacement cost is (unless you do it yourself).

Call Randy at DRM. He can give you correct info along with detailed schematics.

John Shiels

Run hard and want it to live coolers! I have DRM's for 5 years

AU N EGL

Oil and transmission coolers were the best mods I did to my car

OKsweetrides

There are quite a few nifty solutions.
1. to put the trans cooler for one duct, and the diff cooler for the other duct. Really trick

2. if you run straight pipes, there is a huge cavernous area where you can tuck them up in the bumper.

3. top rear of the rear wheel wells, flow through, parts in interior of car.

4. Custom

Try and use electric pumps if you can

0Randy@DRM

Tranny and diff coolers are almost a must on a tighter track. Or during the hot summer monthes of tracking. The biggest problem is the diff. With the clutches in the LSD get smoking hot, which isn't good. The worst part about the diff getting so hot, is it transfers the heat back up into the tranny. Keeping the temps down is huge when it comes to long component life. I have seen-and smelt too many cooked drivetrian parts .

Or other option is to let everyone pass you again during your cool down lap

We have a good kit for keeping both the tranny and diff cool. It is a little hard to install but not too bad for a good "wrench". I would be happy to talk it over with you or anyone else. For both kits we charge $1249 and it comes with 95 percent of the things needed.

Randy
www.dougrippie.com
763-477-9272

96CollectorSport

Hell no tranny and diff coolers aren't needed this is just a lie that Randy from DRM came up with to feed his ice racing obsession!!

There is a reason that GM put tranny and diff coolers on the C6 Z as well as offer a tranny cooler kit for the C5 T1 cars.

I've put in the DRM kit before and it works very well.
Less expensive than the T1 kit also.

yakisoba

I run an oil cooler on mine, and it changed my temps from 310+ to 275 tops. I don't run a trans cooler yet, but that's coming soon. I've seen an over temp warning once so far, which is all you will see in the Z. There's no temp readout for the Z, unlike the C5. Just a warning. I think that hits at 275F or so.

One thing that also helps is shifting a little early. I shift mostly around 5K, or a little higher. I'm not racing, and it saves the engine a little. Also gives me room to over rev if I miss the shift.

0Louis @ LG Motorsports

Ill upload some more installed pics here in a little bit.

C6400hp

where do you guys mount the heat exchangers on a C6?

gkmccready

I've run the hot days at Thunderhill on street tires without issue; I did see oil temps hit 300f a couple of times. The summer heat had passed when I started running the Toyo R888s so the temps never climbed that high. There's not a lot of shifting at Thunderhill; it's a 3rd/4th track.

Now, I'm a '06 C6 non-Z so I have some factory coolers, and, honestly, I think eventually I'll add the coolers you're talking about just to give some more longevity to the equipment... but for me they're definitely not "required" yet. (Plus I still have factory and GMPP warranty!)

glen

0Louis @ LG Motorsports

I will have C6 cooler info in the next few weeks, but its been a work in progress for a while now

tjZ06

Looks like most every kit mounts the coolers behind the rear brake ducts... no issues w/ the increased rear brake heat?

Thanks,

TJ

0Louis @ LG Motorsports

No problems. We dont run them on the WC car, and have had no issues.

Z06 Whisperer

I have a fairly stock '02 Z06 and was getting the tranny high temp warnings towards the end of the '06 season. I had installed (by Joel ) the DRM diff cooler only (I was told that the diff generates most of the heat) and only had the tranny high temp come on once this past year (I did about 20+ track days) and that was early in the season. So it seemed to be a success!

yakisoba

Got to give mad props to Lou's setup too. That pump on the back of the diff is very trick. Had I all the means to do so, I'd run that. And if it was legal in T-1. Not sure it is.

MrEracer

I have a C6 Z51 trans with intrigal trans cooler pump. I plan to use this trans and cooler pump in my C5 track car. Also, I think this trans has M12 gear ratio's. Can anyone confirm this? I would like to build this trans with MN6 (1 thru 4) gear ratios and tighter 5th and 6th gear ratio's to make it compatable with using 5th gear on the track without a big rpm drop. Anyone else done this? I will still need a diff cooler, looks like a DRM w/ electric pump is in order...
Shirl Dickey

RAFTRACER

C6 Z51 trans has M12 gearing................. Converting one to MN6 ratios will not be cheap. Might (probably will) cost less to convert MN6 gearbox to use C6 Z51 cooler pump...........

0Bobby @ LG Motorsports

We also have a single pump version for those using the internal tranny pumps.

Bill Dearborn

C5 manual doesn't have any temp warning at all. I have the GMPP tranny cooler on my Z now and it used to be mounted on my 97. It is thermostat controlled with a thermostat that is screwed to the transmission case. The thermostat is set for 190 degrees and on both cars it would turn on the cooler after 3 laps at the Glen. It didn't depend much on ambient temp as I ran on hot and cold days and it would always turn on during the third hot lap.

Bill