wstar's Journal

wstar

No idea. Some people have mentioned in other threads that it's probably a poor idea to open them arbitrarily, as you'll likely just gain wind resistance for nothing. RCZ is looking at making some ducting to open them and route the air to cool the front brakes, which might be worth it.

With an otherwise stock config, all it's going to do is open up more airflow into the radiator area, and off to the sides at that, so not very effective. There's no open path from them towards the brakes on the stock car, some things will have to be cut or moved to make room.

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ssqpolo

nice work man. cant wait for moar dynos!

wstar

My plan (tentatively anyways) is to do my next dyno after my next oil change (which is the switch to Motul). Judging by the shipping delays for my filters and the rate I'm putting miles on the car, I would estimate about 1.5 weeks from now. So any differences from the last dyno run will have three factors in play: The underdrive pulley, the switch to synthetic, and more break-in miles.

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ssqpolo

im just about to switch over to synthetic, and i am having the hardest time deciding which oil to put. i've read about those horror stories about engines getting raped because they didnt have ester oil, ive heard many mixed reviews about motul (mostly not so good), and think amsoil is super expensive. i dont know. i might just put that nissan ester oil in again until im really comfortable with an oil. im at 6k now

wstar

Well, honestly any quality oil (API SM) of appropriate weight isn't going to rape your engine, especially not in one change. By 6k, if it were me, I'd want to be on *some* kind of synthetic. Mobil1 wouldn't be a bad choice, or Castrol Syntec. Edit: or Mobil1 Extended Performance supposedly has the ester additives.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the good or bad results various oils got in the thread you're thinking of. There were far too few samples (in many cases, just 1 sample). We don't know what those engines were going through at the time, or how the mileage on them compared, etc.

Also, some of the results people are quoting are really from DE engines, not VHRs, which could change things as well.

If you're worried, buy some mail order oil analysis kits and track the oil in your car and find out how your choices do in your engine, with your habits, etc.

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ssqpolo

nah im not that worried. u and semtex seem to be switching to motul, so i might as well follow the crowd on this one. which motul are u using btw

wstar

I'm going to the expensive stuff, 300V in 5W30, at least for a couple of oil changes, until I've seen how the analysis goes. But don't do it just because we're doing it, because I don't want to hear you complaining to me if we chose poorly

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ssqpolo

nah, i wont complain...maybe about the price! anyway, ur car seems to be coming along great. congrats

Bibimbap

Sorry if this has been asked before (tried to search), but have you gotten a baseline dyno? Keep up the awesome analysis on your car!

wstar

I never did a baseline on this car stock, the only dyno info I have is from after the full exhaust and gen3 intakes were in place.

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semtex

Hey wstar, you and I have identical setups right now, don't we? All except for 6MT vs. 7AT? It's interesting to see the difference in our whp, given that we both dyno'd on Dyno Dynamics.

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"There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna
316.8whp & 248 ft/lbs (Dyno Dynamics) | 319whp & 256 ft/lbs (DynoJet) (04/23/10)
Stillen G3 CAI, CBE, Pulley / F.I. LTH / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.

travisjb

Sounds like a little friendly competition !

Wstar, also I recall you hit about 250 oil temp a while back... have you seen anything higher since ? ... I'm still trying to validate my theory that the guys driving AT cars aren't overheating nearly as often as the rest of us

wstar

I've been up to 260 peak. I wouldn't think the transmission would make the difference though. It's probably just that nobody in a 7AT has really tracked the car.

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SoCal 370Z

This poses an interesting quandary as Nissan will void a warranty on a 370Z where there is "overheating of the powertrain." Does anyone here know what is recorded by the engine's ECU that can be read by Nissan techs? And at what temperature, and above, does Nissan consider the 370Z's engine overheated?

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travisjb

There's prob some truth to your point that fewer AT folks are inclined to track their cars... and I agree the transmission itself isn't likely... and I also think this car runs hot regardless of transmission... but I think with the manual folks are spending more time at higher RPMs, which is a contributing factor... oil heats up with friction and I suspect friction increases non-linearly with RPMs... automatic transmissions should reduce time at higher RPMs vs manual b/c when it upshifts it does so with 99% precision... and I think realistically, most of us guys with manual transmissions are keeping on the gas at least a little between upshifts... and so for example even if we shift at 7,400 rpm, the car is running up to 7,800 rpm when the clutch is pressed... I suspect a lot of heat is building up between 7,500 and 8,000 rpm for the 6mts... Drivers can help by lifting the gas sooner, but I don't blame it all on us drivers, I think the engagement points in the clutch are too high in the pedal stroke... Based on my own experience and from watching videos of guys driving this car, I'm convinced it is happening a lot... until I find some AT guys overheating, I'm going to keep asking the question... sorry for the long-winded explanation!