romandian

how good/bad is the oil cooler on the 08 c6z06? does it make sense to replace it? (air to oil.)

also: is anybody running it in horizontal configuration?

'12GS

It's an oil cooler. It's not great, but it's better than nothing. A lot of people have seen 280+ on a stock C6Z. My GS (same oil cooler, 100 less hp) saw as high as 270* oil temp on track. They just aren't big/efficient enough to cool a powerful v8 on track. In my opinion, they're also not great because they heat the air going into the radiator. You'd be much better off with a foglight mounted oil cooler.

PRE-Z06

I saw as high as 285* with my C6GS when stock in 95* ambient which is about my comfortable limit with 0W40, but the coolant temp was the reason I came off as my comfort level is 240* and it hit 250*. The C6Z06 making 70hp more and revving another 500rpm higher will overheat faster given the same cooling system, really going to depend ambient temps and how hard you’re driving.

romandian

well, i think the cooler is quite big, im asking if makes sense to replace it with e.g. a bar and plate setrab. would there be a noticable difference? (i will be placing it horizontally, btw.)

PRE-Z06

What are your current oil temps? I did a vented hood and ceramic coated headers to help lower my temps. They’re barely warm enough in the winter cruising though as they’re approximately 100* over ambient, but on track they run around 200* over ambient. Is this a street car still?

romandian

its basically a track day car driven to the track. i plan to do more serious stuff when/if i get it sorted out.

i found this nice cooler for $300 that would probably fit in there horizontally (no, not on ebay, ist produced in germany). as to temps, i dont really know, because i quit at 280° (running 40 grade oil). its still climbing for sure.

PRE-Z06

How far of a drive do you have to the track? Too cold of oil isn’t good for an engine either and one of the things that I’ve wondered if it’s been a contributor to the valve guide wear on the LS7. Have you checked yours? As everyone I know that’s tracked their LS7 has lost their original engine.

romandian

i will be installing a thermostat for that exact reason. then i can run a 50 grade oil.

car has been tracked by po for 10 years. still running like a swiss clock.

Bill Dearborn

I used to track an 08 C6Z at Watkins Glen. On-track temperatures ran 230 deg F coolant and 260 deg F oil. I never worried about them, the car ran great and the oil pressure was always good. Ambient temps at the track varied between 45 deg F and 90 deg F between late April and late September / early October. I never saw an oil temperature over the 260 I mentioned above. Since you are in Switzerland your ambient temps may be closer to what I saw in Watkins Glen, New York Vs people running in Texas. I ran 5W30 oil at the time.

Bill

romandian

thats interesting, both coolers stock? my water magically stays at 99°c (no idea what to think about it) with a 2" rad but i would have no problems getting oil over 300°, i guess. im sure you are a faster driver on top of that. maybe because i usually go to a short track?

PRE-Z06

You’re hitting 300*F oil and only 210*F on the coolant in the C6Z06? As that sounds more like temps from my C5FRC. Track is going to make difference as it’ll affect gearing which will determine rpms and load.

ImprovedRacing

Our customers report 300F+ oil temps all the time with the factory cooler. Our oil cooler kit generally gets peak oil temps down to around 250F on track. The highest I have heard of with our kit is 270F peak on track, which is still acceptable.

Some customers do have issues with elevated coolant temps after adding our kit (hitting around 230-240F) because the cooler is so large. This is only a problem on the C6 because of the small front grill opening. It's not an issue with the C5 at all. Several customers have used our cooler in the lay flat configuration and had amazing results. We are developing a lay flat kit we hope to offer soon as well. We are also looking into a fog light area mounted kit. Our test mule recently had a lifter failure, but once we replace the lifters and cam we should be able to get back to testing.

Our coolers have been out of stock for a while due issues with our tube suppliers, but that is finally all sorted out and we are making more right now. We should be shipping them again in the next 2 weeks. We will open them back up for pre-orders soon. Here's the product page: https://www.improvedracing.com/2005-...t-ec6-600.html

romandian

finally an expert acknowledging the c5 has better cooling than the c6.

DaOtherOne

Very interested in the lay flat kit for my C6 Z06.

ImprovedRacing

PM me your email, I'll add you to our list so make sure you're notified when it's available.

Tron Z

Would the lay flat kit be aimed at only the C6, or will there also be a suitable lay flat kit for the C5?

PRE-Z06

Lol, was this a setup thread?

C5 had a smaller oil capacity and no oil cooler, how does that equal better cooling? I could easily hit 300* oil temp in my C5, but of course the coolant didn’t have a chance to get as hot in a shorter amount of time. Obviously an oil cooler blocking air flow to the radiator doesn’t help the latter. So back to you specifically, you’re running an aftermarket radiator?

ImprovedRacing

The brackets will be made for the c6 specifically, so they won't work on the C5. I don't think there is any need for it on the C5 though. Our current C5 kit works great.

romandian

my 08 c6z06 has a full size 3" rad of unknown provenience. i do not run engine oil through it.

(my c5 has the stock 1" rad, an intercooler in front of it and i see lower water temps when crusing than on the c6z06. both have 70° stats. therefore i believe it has better airflow management, at least at legal speeds.)

PRE-Z06

So you’re talking temps when cruising, I thought you were talking about on the track. Stock radiator is 1.5” I believe, not sure if yours is 2” or double the thickness at 3” like you just posted. Regardless C6GS sits on the stock thermostat when cruising just like my C5 did, both had stock radiators. I didn’t put a lower temp in the C6GS as oil temp already runs too cold when cruising on street with stock external cooler and the C6GS has steeper trans gears than the C6Z06. What is your oil temp when cruising?