My C7 Z06 Perfected. LG Cooling System + D3PE 5 Gal Expansion Tank = so much awesome
 

Having purchased my Z last year shortly after I heard its jaw dropping numbers, 0-60 2.9 , shifts faster than a porsche PDK, goes around Nürburgring in 3 seconds or less, makes you caramel macchiatos in traffic, and will tap dance for you every time you walk into you garage, I did what every normal corvette nut would do , ran over the my dealer , probably paid more than I should have and proudly walked home with my new spaceship.

While I do think my spaceship is amazing, my spaceship did have some shortcomings, quite a few actually, but the one that needed the most attention was cooling, so this post will be about that.

I would go out at night to my local canyons and very quickly I found the car to gradually have less and less power. By no means was the car overheating, but losing power to the point where sometimes it felt on par with my C7 Z51 in terms of straight line power.

What surprised me the most, was the inconsistency of acceleration, between the lack of traction and a little supercharger that would get too hot even after a few pulls, you were left with a car that performed well only in certain conditions, it had to be cold out, but not too cold otherwise you would’nt get good traction so the additional power would’nt help anyway.

For a while, when I first bought the car, I’d go out for a drive and sometimes it would impress and other times it just wouldn’t. I know my cars, driven almost everything under the sun (under 300K), the lt4 power plant however was a bit of a mystery - very impressive 0-80 past 100+ and it feels like it would lose steam particularly after repeated wots so in other words the 1st few wots were very stout and gradually decreasing. I would back to back take my other cars for a drive and would be left thinking , thats not 650hp , maybe 530? Which made sense as I regularly watched videos of cars with less power keeping up with the z, like porsche turbos etc… and then of course that one video of a callaway 757 chasing a turbo S and couldn’t pull on it in the straights. To me that made no sense, 580 vs 757 , shouldn’t the corvette should be pulling ? unless of course its not really making 757hp once the system gets hot.
link to video:

The following fix is not for the faint of heart, and requires deep pockets but it works fantastically, in the sense that I finally have a CONSISTENT 650hp on tap at all times, regardless of ambient temps, power doesn’t fluctuate and I get the same acceleration pull after pull. consistency to me is key

note: I will be doing some embellishments to the front bumper , I bought a pretty pretty hexagonal grill (picture provided) and will try to make the black intakes more flush and painted to match the bumper. Will post photos when done...

I bought the LG cooling Solution, all of it
- Split intercooler,
- LG super cool radiator,
- LG trans cooler
- Front mounted oil cooler

- and then just to be sure, I purchased the “D3PE C7 Corvette A2W Trunk Ice Tank with Pump”

which adds 5 gallons of fluids to a now more robust intercooler system. I believe the total gain with the LG intercoolers is 6 gallons of fluid in total additional to the stock system. This unit also comes with a pump which from my understanding is a lot more powerful than the stock pump , and is not prone to the pump cavitation issue that gspeed reported. (side note & neat feature: It was installed so that I can run the pump when the car is off)

Well last night drive was finally a proper one, I had consistent pulls the entire night, really happy, I don’t usually spend that much time out, but I really wanted to see how well the overall solution worked.

The car accelerates with the same fury it does in the first 5 minutes then it does after 30, pretty awesome.

One thing that I will say now, all these magazine tests would of been a whole lot different would they have had this sort of cooling. I think Motortrend would of seen 5-8 seconds shaved off that gt3 / viper acr /z06 comparison.
link to article:
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/dodge...he-911-gt3-rs/

To me, after 12K of driving this car nightly with stock cooling and seeing its effects,I believe this car never made it to the end of nurburgring track. I would love for somebody to put on these cooling mods and go to nurburgring… maybe Ill just man up and do it.
It will be one of those morning, Ill wake up on the wrong side of the bed, pack up the dog and a couple t-shirts and bring you guys a time of 6:59.

Its amazing how prior to these mods , I would open the hood after 20-30 minutes of canyon running and you would feel so much heat coming off the engine bay, particularly the supercharger , post cooling mods, the engine is warm , I can keep my hand on the supercharger lid , albeit the back of the lid s/c lid is considerably hotter than the front. (ambient temps 50-67 deg)

I get the feeling, and I have no evidence of this,that the 5 gallon tank with pump plays a major effect in this overall system working as well as it does.

Oil temps while cruising are super low -ranging between 136-165 depending on temps. So relocating the oil cooler to the front is a good move. I had a similar effect when AAcorvette did this to my C6.

Also, the LG super cool radiator seems to work very well, if Im WOT for a few minutes than back of the gas, within minutes the temps will return to cruising temps. That applies to both oil and coolant temps, but more so coolant temps, they spike and once I let off the gas they return very quickly to normal.

The car now accelerates in the fury that you would expect with 650HP, (I might be close to 700hp with hall tech). I primarily run canyons, some super twisties , others with long straights and smooth bends , so nice to live in an area where I can stretch my spaceship’s legs a little.

I’ve signed up to a speed venture event, I will provide PDR data and in car cam to show temps throughout my session.

I will update this thread periodically as Im still testing this overall solution, overall its fantastic. Very promising , I will give the final blessing post track time & in varying temps.

and now for the thank yous

Thank you LG!!!!!!!! Lou and Anthony, Your C7 Z06 Cooling kit works :) Anthony did a great job getting this kit to me, and assisted AA corvette in getting everything installed.
I was a bit hissy , worried throughout this entire process because this is not a routine install for any speed shop and it did require some elbow grease, but LG worked with my installer and got it done, kudos.

Thank you D3PE for making a very nice trunk tank that actually has noteworthy capacity for increasing intercooler fluids. Fitment is perfect! Pump is nice and quiet.

Thank you AA Corvette, known these guys for a bazillion years. Simply put, if not for this shop, I wouldn’t have attempted this. Andy, Jessi, Josh are cool dudes who know their stuff and have repeatedly done outstanding work on all my corvettes (and camaros).
If you ever thinking of getting some work done on your vette and live in SoCal, don’t hesitate, visit AAcorvete.
aacorvette.com


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Oil temps post canyon (driving for about 40 minutes) while cruising in 58-65 degree weather
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UPDATE Dec, 21st 2016

Gave bodyshop instructions to paint bumper and spats oem black, while making the intake vents look like they were oem/part of the bumper. Intercooler mesh looks much better painted, love the new look,

I feel they did a fantastic job! Wanted to share some pics with you guys :D

next up... Speed ventures


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In the video you quoted, I was there and can say that was a "fun run", as evidenced by the passenger filming with a "loose camera" and chuckling back and forth with the driver throughout. As I recall, there was a camera mounted to the Callaway SC757 Z06, and the goal was to film the Porsche as it went around the track.

Now, when it came time for business, the Callaway SC757 Z06 ran all day long, through three tanks of fuel - and was 3 seconds per lap quicker around the main track at Summit Point than the 2017 911 Turbo S. That's impressive.

So now you know the rest of the story, from someone who was there. But should you require corroboration, ArturoX2 is a Corvette Forum Member, and was the passenger in the video. I hope this helps, and glad you found the video of interest. :cool:

^^^^ Im a big fan of Callaway, Im more saying that the lack of cooling takes away from its potential peak performance. If that car had this cooling, I think the gap could of potentially been alot more :)

Actually, and you know I want this Chris ... a Callaway with these mods would probably be the ultimate dream package.

Maybe in 2017...

I'm happy that you have your cooling issue solved. One comment though, the Z06 would not be 5-8 seconds faster at LS with just a cooling kit. I think on a dry track (The track was wet when the ACR/GT3 RS/C7Z comparison happened) it would be in the mid to low 1:32 range rather than a very low 1:33.

^^^ Hmm, I'm not a track guy, but I say this only because the car pulls alot harder overall

I'm a big fan of LG and happy to hear they solved this problem for you thus far. The welds on the tank look nice. I'd keep an eye on the coolant lines going into that plastic hole. Long term would that plastic wear the rubber from friction? Looking forward to your speed venture results.

Hi,
glad to hear another one of our Cooling packages solves the C7 Overheating issues. We have plenty of customers wth them installed with the same results.

Some cars go into limp home mode but other cars just lose power. We have tested all the way up to 103 degrees here in Texas and had no issues so we are confident that our LG System will do the job.

We have a customer in Europe who is installing our Cooling System for a run at Nurburgring. That will be interesting since the GM test car has failed in 4 attempts.

Congratulations on the kit and the A&A Install. Andy and his men are first class.

Thanks

Lou Gigliotti
LG Motorsports


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Funny you say that, first customer car that received the package was a Callaway car.


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You are quite welcome! Glad to hear everything went together and your out enjoying the car!

We have worked with Andy and the guys at A&A for well over a decade now and they always take care of the customer!

Let us know if you need anything at all or have any questions. :thumbs:

Readers should understand that your description of the video above is not correct--the Callaway isn't chasing the Porsche at all!! As Chris mentioned, this was a fun run/photo op for Motor Week at Summit Point, WV. Neither driver is going much faster than parade lap speeds!

I was a passenger in the Callaway for part of the day. At track speeds, it outran the Porsche every lap. No cooling issues on a very hot day.

I am glad you believe your potential heating problems are resolved. I took a less aggressive, but effective approach with Callaway and some basic mods for HPDEs.

Get out there and have a good time!!.

Let me know if you get the car out on track, love to see some customer video!

bumped for updates :)

Looks great in all black! :thumbs:

I know it's an old thread but I'm about to pull the trigger on LG Cooling package you installed. So how is it holding up? Any suggestions to make this system moor efficient?

BTW Great wright up thanks!!

This is the our Nurburgring car full video where outside temp was 80 degrees at Sebring and our engine temp never went above 194 F. No worries.
AND we are on our way to Nurburgring with our "Ring" car. :thumbs:

thanks
Lou Gigliotti
LG Motorsports
972-429-1963




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Thanks for the write up and the updates..
Love your build!
We have seen a significant drop in IAT temps as well as consistency with extended runs and hot laps at the track with our 5 gallon trunk tank.

We don't use the tank on our system other than our Drag -1/2 mile car. On the drag car is works fine.

Our Road race system is self contained and functional with our stand alone system.

LG

Only way an A8 will work on track
 

JonaOhana,

I did the same thing to my 2015 Zo7 last year (I got a post somewhere) except i only did phase one, the split intercoolers on a precut bumper from LG along with MadDogs EOC duct, cat wraps etc. Last year I was able to run up to 92 degrees ambient without the ECT going over 220, EOT in the 275 range. Before that I would overheat and leave the track in the 83 degrees range at HPR in Colorado.. The LG kit phase one was a huge improvement as the car was a 3 lap wonder in anything over 83 degrees+- before that. I will see how far LG phase 1 will take me at my driving level (intermediate because i was in the pits so much) and then if i need something else, I will add a radiator, and so on. I think for 100+ temps with 9/10 driving, I will have to add the oil and trans cooler as well, but I am not there yet.
If GM had been on top of it, they could have at least done their version of my LG mods and most people who do 5-10 or so HPDE days would have been happy. My set up cost $6K with help on the install, but I did a lot of the work myself. Congratulations to you and good luck with some fast fast laps!! The best deal out there now is a 2015-2016 used z06 and adding this mod. For $70K you could probably have a sick street/track car.:thumbs:

We have added to our stage 1 system now with increased coolant capacity, a better oil cooler and our LG Super cool radiator with our Racing fan and hood

Now we can run under 200 all day long. :thumbs:

At Sebring we ran 194 F max temp all day long lap after lap.

Give us a call anytime,.

thanks
Lou G

Do you guys sell the front fender vents or screens? I have my own oil cooler custom built and want to open up some air flow through the front bumper. I see other solutions but just curious if you sell those separately. Thanks!