MY04 and cooling mods, a couple questions
05-05-2004, 06:00 PM
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MY04 and cooling mods, a couple questions
OK I've gone through the bunch of search items and read a bunch about the Mugen/Spoon thermostats/fan switches. I'm curious at their performance on the MY04. I know Road Rage has the Mugen set up installed on his car. I assume the MY04 runs the same operating temperature ranges as the MY00-03, right? Anybody test this? Does it keep the same temp ranges or higher/lower?
It appears from reading that the radiators caps tend to almost always be benefitial(or at least not harmful the engine), with the spoon cap being a higher pressure one than Mugen.
It seems to me that the only reason to install the thermostat/fan switch is if you are in cyclic temperature environment, i.e. the thermostat actually closes from time to time but the engine will run hot. It seems that this is only really an issue with tracking the car or with FI. Has anyone done full temp traces while tracking to see if the thermostat actually turns off? If the thermostat stays open the entire time, then it doesn't seem that this may be the best option. Improving the efficieny of the cooling system will be a better choice.
My concern which alot of people have, is keeping the engine temps too cool during normal driving and actually deriving benefit from it when I start tracking.
It appears from reading that the radiators caps tend to almost always be benefitial(or at least not harmful the engine), with the spoon cap being a higher pressure one than Mugen.
It seems to me that the only reason to install the thermostat/fan switch is if you are in cyclic temperature environment, i.e. the thermostat actually closes from time to time but the engine will run hot. It seems that this is only really an issue with tracking the car or with FI. Has anyone done full temp traces while tracking to see if the thermostat actually turns off? If the thermostat stays open the entire time, then it doesn't seem that this may be the best option. Improving the efficieny of the cooling system will be a better choice.
My concern which alot of people have, is keeping the engine temps too cool during normal driving and actually deriving benefit from it when I start tracking.
05-05-2004, 07:19 PM
#2
I have monitored (w/carchip) coolant temps on the track with the Mugen mods. I would say that generally the thermostat will stay open (using the stock radiator) but it depends upon the track and the ambient temperature. The long straight at TWS which allows speeds of about 130 also drives coolant temp up to about 200F, but it drops to 185 or so in the back of the course.. with a stock system I would guess the coolant would not dip as low so it might go and stay higher. If I ever had reason to replace the radiator I would try one with slightly more capacity to see if the peak temps might be lower.
With street and highway driving the temps will generally stay lower than with a stock system.
(I would provide better detail but lost all my data with a hard drive crash so this is from my memory).
With street and highway driving the temps will generally stay lower than with a stock system.
(I would provide better detail but lost all my data with a hard drive crash so this is from my memory).
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