Since that inaugural event, we've had 5 events all over the tracks in So Cal. Once a month. I have now raced Streets of Willow, clockwise and counter clockwise, Big Willow in the rain, and dry, and Chuckwalla. I missed the Buttonwillow event, which was a bummer because I keep hearing that's the best track out here. I still haven't spun out or gone off the track once! Throughout these events, and continuing the autocrosses, I grew more and more familiar with the car, and where I wanted to upgrade. Autocross has me thinking the suspension is way too soft, and that the open diff is total garbage. Big Willow in the rain showed me again just how crappy the open rear diff is. Chuckwalla in upper 90 degree heat showed me the importance of an oil cooler. Chuckwalla was in early may, and after that I had a clear plan of how I wanted to mod the car.
I had a Stillen oil cooler sitting on the shelf since about two weeks after I bought the car. It was a purchase I made after lurking around here for a while and taking some advice on mods you should do right away if you're planning on tracking. I never installed it until after Chuckwalla when I saw 270-275 degree spikes in oil temp! You can't get any closer than that without going into limp mode! That was the first time I saw the temps creep that high, and that next week the car was in for a oil cooler install.
The install went terribly. It turns out the core was damaged, and pissed oil all over the place as soon as the car started up. Total bummer.
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After talking with Stillen, I just decided to cough up the dough and buy an upgraded 25 row Setrab core from them. I was kinda pissed they took the core and didn't reimburse me, but whatever. I might be done with them after that, I don't know. The install with the Setrab core went nice and smooth and has held up well at the track. I've run an autocross and Big Willow with it and it performed flawlessly. Temps spiked at about 240 degrees. I also decided to mount the cooler my own way, on the drivers side of the car instead of the pass. side like Stillen says. There is a perfect spot for it on the drivers side where you don't have to disturb anything mounted in the front. It fits like a glove.
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