sushisean

OK guys and gals I have returned from 2 days at Chuckwalla and want to report on how the car did in the blazing heat. While I can't say this is the definitive report on the matter, I think it should serve as a very solid update on what to expect when tracking your Z in 90+ degree temps.

Track Conditions:

• 92-105 Ambient Air Temps
• 125-142 Track Temps
• Dry, Dusty
• 15-20 min sessions

Vehicle Info:

• Z07
• M7
• Forgeline wheels with Continental Slicks
• 3500 miles

Hot Track Prep:

• 20% coolant and 80% water
• WaterWetter
• Removed weather strip at base of windshield (LawDogg tip!)
• 1 bottle Lucas Oil Octane Booster per Tank of 91 gas
• Factory Spec track alignment
• RBF 600 Brake Fluid
• No A/C running

Car Stats:

• Max Oil temp 261
• Max Trans Temp 228
• Max Water Temp 234

I was obviously very concerned that my car wouldn't be able to run more than 10 minutes this weekend without overheating and going into limp mode. Saturday we had air temps over 100 all day and track temps around 140. On Saturday I tried driving the track mainly in 3rd gear and really had no issues. To maximize your times I suppose you'd be in 2/3 for the entire track but there are very few areas where dropping down into 2nd made sense. I'm sure this had a lot to do with why the car ran so cool Saturday even in 104 degree air temps.

Sunday I drove the car more in 2/3 and temps did raise a bit. Overall the results of the weekend were I had absolutely nothing to worry about. I don't know how much each of my prep components helped, but the end result was no heat soak that I could detect, no warnings, and the car running like a champ.

I do wish I could have had some longer sessions to make this more conclusive, but I can safely say I wouldnt' hesitate to go track this car in any temp, and that I'm going to stick with my hot air recipe above for maximizing the way the car runs in these conditions.

SBC_and_a_stick

Congrats. The car seems to cool down enough for you, almost as if you have a different car than I do. I got higher temps than you on a 54 degree day.

The only big noticeable setup differences are the water/coolant mix or the driver. What group were you running in?

sushisean

I think the water/coolant/WaterWetter combo was by far the biggest contribution to the change. In this video I was running Greens because there were a bunch of crazy's in Yellow which is where I belong

thebishman

This is very encouraging news and your 'hot track prep' is easy to duplicate.

Thanks for sharing.

Bish

SBC_and_a_stick

Ok, good to know. Pending some miracle from Tadge this is likely our best mod. Is green intermediate with point by or something else?

thebishman

Green generally 'Novice' group; Blue 'Intermediate; Black or Red 'Advanced' usually iirc.

Bish

Babaron

Don't forget Lawdogg's tip... Might also have made a difference!

lawdogg149

Im taking small offerings into my paypal account for my mod!!!!

Indeed it makes a difference.

Good running!!!

sushisean

Green is with immediate point by yes.

This weekend, and typically around here
Blue: Novice
Green: 10 track days
Yellow: Advanced
Red: Race

Yep did that, that was the weatherstrip point I made above.

rkolkmeier

I think the water wetter/water made the biggest difference. When we switched from coolant/water mixture to 100% distilled water and wetter in our sprint cars we dropped almost 25 degrees since no chance of freezing where I am I'm going to 100% pure water/wetter solution

SBC_and_a_stick

This car runs 260* plus coolant before shut down. High risk for boiling over with just water but I do believe it will take a lot longer to get to that temperature without any glycol.

Cyclone09Z06

sushisean, no offense as it is the track you were on, but some who do not know any better might get the wrong report, yes if you drive the car between 3k and 4.5 k for 95% of the time and only hit 5.5 k on one straight with a speed of 100mph keeping your sessions to 14 mins than yes the car will be fine.

PS it would drive me nuts to drive through that sand storm

sushisean

None taken. I tried to be clear that due to the conditions this certainly wasn't a conclusive event, but I am 90% confident if you follow the recipe for warm weather you'll be ok. I pushed as hard as I could given the track, but based on past reports I still expected it to be far worse.

Cyclone09Z06

I wish it was that easy here in Florida, I've been running the 20/80 for two months now. I tried doing more testing this last weekend by removing the plastic pieces from the radiator to the hood.

My car is still doing something weird when in race or everything off mode as it will only run 1-2 laps with full power it than only has like 50% power. I can get it to go sometimes if I turn the nannies back on so my testing has been slowed.

Doc New

Many thanks for the report. Best regards. DN

Snorman

I think your car is afraid of you.
S.

LSs1Power

I would say you are driving at 50 to 60% of car performance capacity. If you push 90 to 100% you will not complete 2 to 3 laps without overheating.

Not going to 2nd gear on some tracks I ran before slowed me down by 2 seconds a lap on a 1.30 min lap. It also helped cooling greatly, but where is the fun in that. I usually like to run at 90 to 100% to have fun and gets my adrenaline pumping.

skxf430

I have run Chuckwalla a number of times and there isn't much shifting on that track. It is primarily just 3rd and 4th gear in my C6Z, and I haven't experienced too many heating issues like other tracks I have driven on even in temperatures over 100F.

RandomTask

Relative humidity also plays a key difference as an FYI. Those in arid climates might do better than those in more humid climates.

TKOGTO

I don't know the PDR/Cosworth system so forgive if this is ignorant. I see your high temps were reached after just 4 laps. Is that correct?