Chets LS3

X25, Ive had good luck using a ram suction cup mount to the top rear edge of the rear window and mounting upside down. I worry about your setup now and vibration. I could be wrong but if it proves to be unstable you can try the ram mount (great mount) and the rear window, just get the long extension arm

X25

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually have that, too; I just don't like putting suction cups on defogger lines. I'll soon see how the video turned out, and I should say, all my videos shake a bit when mounted on harness bars, regardless of extension.

There should be a clutch bleeder by the top of clutch, but it's usually very hard to reach. I'd portably need to install a remote bleeder, but it would be the ultimate solution. I use mixmizer, and it has about 6"-long hose.

Harness bar is Shark bar. It attaches to the B-column seat belt anchor; it's pretty stout.

Chets LS3

Ive followed this thread a good bit, Some things I'm ahead of you on as Ive had my car for 10+ months. Did you do anything for the oil cooler and oil lines. I mentioned my oil and water temps in 90* weather on your threat, I think oil was 277* on a 90*+ day. I wrapped the heck out of my lines, and created a shield, and wedged some aero stuff in the shield as well. I had to buy a HUGE roll of mcmaster shielding (you can try to light it on fire on one side and cold to touch with hand on the other) If you decide to do any wrapping of any sort, LMK i have a ton of that stuff!

X25

So far, my oil temp has not exceeded ~265 level, even when I ran at 95 degrees; I'm pretty happy with the combination of AUX rad + Z06 grille. Actually, I even wondered if there could be an adverse impact of an aftermarket radiator on the aux radiator, since aftermarket units usually use turbulence-inducing fins, causing more back-pressure. Since they (both rads) share the same compartment, it might become an issue. Needless to say, I'm very happy with it.

Cooling the heat exchanger, which has a very thick outer shell does not make sense to me. The rubber dry-sump hoses that go to the engine sump are also very thick, and, they sure look like they would insulate the oil very well. In other words, I am not convinced that cooling those components would make a noticeable impact, especially considering their heat transfer rate must be very low, and in the meantime the oil cooler is shedding heat at a massive 60K btu/hr or more rate, making these small changes relatively miniscule. This is just my opinion; I've not tested the impact.

Actually, I am a bit more concerned about the transmission temps. It appears I heat up transmission faster in cooler weather, which must be since I myself don't overheat and dehydrate as quick, so I get to stay at the track longer :P Anyhow, throughout the day today at the track, I have consistently come close to the red ticks (but still 20-30 degrees below redline) on transmission temp, and this is happening despite running Z06 cooler core; this makes me wonder what do the guys with Z51 do with their stock M7 transmission cooler.


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Speaking of which, I had a fun track day today, and started improving my times:
I also had laps at the 1:55s, but the GPS transponder puked out, so this is the best lap backed by data so far :P

Remarks:

• Oil temp: As has been before, was always at or below 265s as far as I could see; very nice! I will soon stop staring at the oil temp gauge : )
• Transmission temp: It always stayed comfortably below the redline, but it was up there. Moreover, it did not cool down fast. It took two cool-down laps to noticeably lower the temps. I am planning to stress-test it at the ORP on 15th. The drivers today were very competitive (A group only, and many of them prepped cars on slicks), so I did not get to play with the car and monitor temps.
• Lap times: It dropped from 2:00 of my first track day with this car to 1:56s (and even unofficially 1:55s),but it's still a mess. I need to get acclimated with the car, and unlike my brother, I fear I might be a bit sissy on pushing it, evidenced by my throttle input in the video. I will hopefully improve in time. I just passed my best times with the Camaro, so there must be a vast potential for improvement. I don't know if I can ever do so, but it should hit 1:50 flat at the Ridge (with a driver with steel ***** at turn 1, right after straight).
• Harness: For some reason, my HANS device literally stabbed me over my right shoulder as I tightened the harness. Perhaps I'm wearing it wrong, or perhaps angles are not right. I will play with the seat recline angles, the HANS device's adjustable chest support angle, etc. to see if I can remedy it. I am still sore!
• Gauges, camera mount, etc.: I think the mount works great! The position also sees most of the track, as well as it can be from this car's narrow front window. I also worked hard on gauges overlayed on the video, and I love the new look : )

daleong

Awesome work on the video - thanks for posting. What were the transmission temps actually? I believe redline is 300F.

Do you know what factors drive higher transmission temps? Number of shifts? Average rev's or time on throttle?

The packaging is so tight at the back, that all the systems back there (diff, trans and exhausts) are interdependent regarding thermal management and that airflow under the car would be a huge factor.

CDH76

Just a suggestion. You may want to mount the camera up higher to get more view of the track. It mounts perfectly to the release for the top. Here is a video of mine to give you an idea of the view and some pictures of it mounted. That orange piece is optional. I put it there to reduce any possible vibration.

X25

Thank you! I don't know what actual numbers it hits, since the only way I can see (as far as I could find) is logging using Torque App, but I cannot do that since I much prefer RaceChrono to collect all my logs (including OBD II) to make it easier to sync data with video. I think it hit 270s, but it was not too hot outside. I am surprised that it did not overheat back when I tried it at 95+ degrees of weather. My current guess is that either that track allows better cooling (I shift less for sure), or perhaps I did more cool-downs there due to me personally suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion.

I still did not overheat anything, but if this becomes an issue, I have a solution in mind: adding the OEM Z51 cooler inline for additional cooling.

Regarding what causes it, I am not sure. I suspect high RPMs also turning the shafts of transmission faster, causing higher temps.

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually considered it myself, too. What changed my mind was the natural movement of that handle, which would increase the shake of the video. Looks like our points of view in the video shots were similar. I should note, I also have longer sticks in case I wanted to set it higher.

X25

We were at the Oregon Raceway Park today. It was supposed to be a cool day @ 78 degrees F max, and I was very excited with the idea of a 'cool' track day in August! Well, the forecast kept creeping up every day, and we ended up starting at 80s in the morning, and finishing the day at 95+ degrees F!

Nevertheless, I was able to improve my time by a second. I had a very hard time adjusting the tire pressures to match ever increasing temps. I kept bleeding to keep the pressures sane, but I think I should have rather increased it or not touch it, since I probably bled too much air, resulting in too hot tires. The pyrometer was reading 150/150/160 degrees F at the paddock on left front (the track config was CW) even before I started bleeding!


Here's hoping Aug 28th provides much better weather; we'll soon see.

X25

After 4 track days, I decided to make a thorough inspection of the car, and replace some of the fluids:



Brake pads are in excellent condition, both front and rear. There is almost no significant wear after 4 track days. Raybestos pads always last much longer than most others anyway.


The pad deposit on the rotor quiets down the brakes. There is actually no noise whatsoever. An aggressive driving when the brakes are cold (e.g. autocross) would bring back a bit of noise, though, since race pads scrub quite a bit when cold.



Rears are also in pretty good standing. There is no lip on any rotor yet.


Rear tires show very even and good wear. NT01s start life with 6.2/32" of thread, and the grooves go away at around 4/32", turning the tire into slick (which some do from the start by getting them shaved). Looks like I'm not even there yet.


Fronts show a bit more wear, which is expected. 285s would definitely help (instead of 275s)


I overfilled transmission a tiny bit to make sure it has enough fluid in case the new core still has air in it, etc. Somehow, it managed to leak from the fill port, even though it was tightened enough. Perhaps there are very high pressures involved, which make this happen. When I opened the plug, the transmission was still overfilled a little bit. I drained the excess fluid and cleaned it up.


Looks like the fill plug does not have as much gasket on it as it used to. No worries!



Front side air dams are trimmed during track use.


The wheel used to hit the air ducting at full lock, and the noise eventually disappeared. I presume this little damage is enough to stop the wheel from touching.


Changed the oil and filled a sample tube. We'll soon see the results of 4 track days in the last 1500 miles.


Changed the clutch fluid at it reservoir for the 4th time since I bought the car. Finally, the color started getting brighter.


This was a bit concerning. The brake fluid in the reservoir goes very dark! I don't think brake system does much of a recycling (except ABS perhaps?), so I think the fluid is just getting baked in the engine compartment. This prompted me to change my process at the track a bit. From now on, I will pop the hood as soon as I park at the paddock area. Another idea is that, just like the clutch, the color is coming from the wax of new parts. If so, it should not get as dark next time; we'll see.


Brakes never missed a beat, but looks like the fluid was ready to be replaced.


Once replaced, the fluid color looked much better in the reservoir.


CCW wheels' paint is chipping from lug nut locations, besides a few other places. It just feels like it's not a good quality paint, which is surprising considering the price.

daleong

Thanks for all the time you take to take pics and post this info!

X25

My pleasure! Hopefully these are the common inspection points, so they are relevant to others, too. I'm also looking forward to the oil analysis.

The car is ready for duty! My current plan is to attend another day at the Ridge on 26th, and directly drive from there to ORP for a day on 27th, probably using the truck.

Kamran

This is very encouraging. My GS is being built next week. Should be ready for duty next season. I'm looking forward to actually being able to run the Nittos for more than three or four days before they are corded on my current ride. Even though I turn the tires inside out, rotate the best one to front right, etc, this last time I got two full days and two half days (switched to rain one day, broke CV axle the other day), I corded my front right. Max I've been getting on the Nittos is four to four and a half days. Temp variation between inside and outside is never more than 10 to 12 degrees. I'm hoping these monster tires and monster rotors help reduce consumable. Or at least I don't have take everything apart for inspection every other Trackday!
By the way, it's good practice to pop the hood open. Even I do that with my silly little car!

X25

Yeah, I used to pop the hood all the time, but never really needed it on the Miata. I'll keep an eye on brake/clutch fluids, as well as the transmission fluid, and that seems to be it.

Overall, it's so far pretty problem free! I'm a bit surprised to be honest. Now if only someone could help me replace that rear lower control arm..

Car54

In post 114 you show replacing the Z51 rear trans cooler core with the Z06 rear cooler core but you do not show a pic of the fan installed. Were you able to reinstall the Z51 fan on the Z06 cooler and did it clear the Z51 fender ok?

It looks like the way the Z06 mounts to the Z51, there is about an inch or two extra width that went toward the rear of the car but most of the extra length of the core went toward the front of the car. Am I looking at it correctly or is it just an optical delusion?

thanks

bill

X25

My car is a manual; I don't think manuals come with a fan. My car certainly didn't as bone stock.

Yep, you're right about where it takes space; it grows mostly towards the front. I enlarged the ducting's opening accordingly to accommodate the increase in size.

Car54

Thanks. It dawned on me after I posted that your car was M7 and did not come with a fan but you answered so quick that I did not have a chance to edit my post. I really appreciate the quick reply. I am still struggling with why I cannot find the correct Trans Line for my Z51 A8. I continue to be given the line that will fit a Z06. I am about to believe that the '16 Z51 A8 came with a Z06 core and therefore the line that I continue to get would fit. I was in hopes that your thread would prove that theory but since you don't have the fan then I still don't know.

thanks

bill

X25

Are you talking about the fluid line? Then you might be right. You can always get it and find out yourself

Car54

The line that is the issue is the line that goes over the drivers rear wheelhouse and connects to the line running thru the rocker panel to the front cooler. It also connects to the rear most port of the rear transmission cooler. The line I keep getting from the parts catalog (even when they look up a 2016 Z51 A8) is about 2-3 inches too long which means it is for the larger Z06 cooler:

Here is a pic:

X25

I see. Just get the bigger cooler core; it is cheap and will help regardless : )

Car54

I would if I knew that the z51 fan would fit on the z06 core AND clear the fender.