Oil Cooler Install in NoVa

Misnomer

Thanks, Tigger and EmilZ! All of my research pointed firmly to "track = oil cooler," but I never saw any mention of potential downsides. I think (hope!) I got the right/best options from Z1.

And yeah, my oil temp got up to 250-260 one day last summer just driving from Baltimore to DC. No fun driving with one eye on the gauge! (Hmm, maybe the "NJ Turnpike on Memorial Day" thing wasn't as much of a joke as I thought... )

Tigger, some follow-up questions if you don't mind:

Yeah, I'll definitely do the brakes and upgrade the brake fluid. Car and Driver also recommends brake-cooling ducts, but I've seen conflicting opinions on those. Plus I'm not going to be at VIR or living at the track or anything: I'll take her to one or two FATTs at Summit Point this summer, and might finally try an autocross event (maybe). I just want to be able to do that without overheating or going into a gravel pit. What do you think about brake-cooling ducts? Overkill?

I wasn't willing to put in a blocking plate myself, but you think I'm gonna change my brake pads at the track??

I know it's sexy for a woman to work on her own car -- and probably more appropriate for this forum -- but that just ain't me. I don't have a garage or any storage space, and have never been mechanically inclined. I don't feel like I couldn't do it, I'm just not interested. But I try to be educated about my vehicle and I do my best to take good care of her, and I don't feel the need to pretend to know more than I do.

I've also heard conflicting opinions about those. The previous owner did leave me the original parts...how much power we talking about?

Z Stig

Misnomer: I'm jumping in with an opinion...

"Yeah, I'll definitely do the brakes and upgrade the brake fluid. Car and Driver also recommends brake-cooling ducts, but I've seen conflicting opinions on those. Plus I'm not going to be at VIR or living at the track or anything: I'll take her to one or two FATTs at Summit Point this summer, and might finally try an autocross event (maybe). I just want to be able to do that without overheating or going into a gravel pit. What do you think about brake-cooling ducts? Overkill?"


DEFINITELY NOT overkill! I tracked mine without them and had some fade and brake pad buildup so bad on the rotors that it felt like I had warped the rotors. Good news was that it was just buildup. Also drove the Dragon without them at ZDAYZ and had some serious brake overheating. I put the Stiller cooling duct kit on and did not have any more problems at the track or the Dragon.

Takjak2 is right, they are super easy to do. I think I could change a set in two minutes after taking the wheel off using a small Phillips screwdriver and some needle nose pliers. Easiest car to change pads that I have ever worked on.

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Tigger

If you want to hit the track, as long as you do get your lines and fluid changed (I always used Catrol SRF, Many like the Motul stuff...and its way cheaper but has a lower boiling point. SRF is the highest boiling point of any so your pads will fade long before your fluid goes to ****) then you really shouldn't have much of a problem using the stock pads. However! If you smoke those pads at the track, you'll really need to change them before you leave. Someone might be willing to assist but I doubt anyone is going to just do the work, as simple as it is, entirely for you. So if there is one thing I recommend you get familiar with and learn to do, it's changing those pads. You can do each wheel in five minutes. It has nothing to do with being sexy or anything. There's lots of women that do this sort of thing. I would say you could be completely hands off the mechanical stuff if you wanted but the fact that you want to track it occasionally will force you into having to do these things whether you really want to or not.

Cooling ducts are a very cheap mod and well worth it like Z Stig said. You need to keep your brakes and your oil cool. Once you have those bases covered you can thrash the **** out of that car.

And those pop-chargers. lol... Yes. There will be conflicting information on this. Short ram intakes are well known for only increasing noise and robbing you of power and there's two reasons. One is the length of the tube to the filter from the manifold and the fact that they suck in hot air from the bay. I would run the stock intake before I ever thought about changing for the SRI. If you want to keep an intake on there, get the Stillen G3s. They come up for sale fairly often in the classifieds.

Lots of information. I have a habit of being very long-winded and I apologize. Just hope you are getting all the information you need. This forum is full of great information. Just keep digging in some of the older threads. You'll find an answer for almost everything else.

And definitely hit up Takjak!!!! Great guy. And if you are nice he might give you a ride in his track car. Buckle up fo' rilz. .

Misnomer

Thanks, everyone!!

I might just take you up on that! I got my kit on Saturday, but haven't gotten any quotes yet. I'm in no hurry for the oil cooler itself, but I am due for an oil change -- as the Z loves to remind me every time I start her -- and don't want to put that off too much longer. By the end of this week I'll know my schedule for the next month and will (hopefully) have made some calls; I'll PM you if interested. Thanks so much for the offer!

Noted; thanks! LOL!

Point taken.

Woah! I would never expect anyone to do any work on my car for free/just to help me out. First of all, no one would: I'm old and fat. (Offer still good, takjak2?? ) But second, and more to the point, that's totally not my style. If something needs to be done and I'm not willing/able to do it myself, I fully expect to pay someone.

...but only because of this car. Not in general. This will be the third car I've tracked and I never had to worry about doing "these things" with either of the others. It's just a bit frustrating that with this car SO MUCH CRAP has to be added/monitored/replaced just for a day at the track.

Not all all! This whole thread has been good stuff. I really appreciate everyone's input.

There is no "everything else." The questions I've had, I've posted here.

And I've been "digging in some of the older threads" since I joined/got my Z 16 months ago -- that's how I knew which oil cooler to get in the first place.

takjak2

yup

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Misnomer

Excellent.

Also, I feel the need to soften my "so much crap" whining by stating that I FREAKING LOVE MY CAR. I could never track her at all and be fine: I'm happy every single time I get behind the wheel. I haven't had many cars, and only one other RWD (a Mazda RX-8), but this is by far my favorite in the almost 30 years that I've been licensed.

(love.my.car)

Misnomer

The kit arrived on 3/21, but work blew up and I only got around to requesting a couple of quotes this week. The first place I contacted -- a dealership -- said they couldn't give me a quote for the labor because they'd never installed an oil cooler before, but that if I told them the other estimates I was getting they'd work something out. I'm sure that's totally legit, but it just didn't sit right with me so I told them thanks but no thanks. The second place, P-Tuning, said it would take 4.5 hours ("It does tend to be a little time consuming because removal of the front bumper is required") and they'd charge $335 + the cost of an oil change. That sounded reasonable, and I told them I'd let them know.

BUT, after thinking about some of the points made in this thread (e.g., likelihood of limp mode while just daily driving, recommended brake upgrades for the track, etc.) and realizing how much more work/money would be involved in making me feel like I could reasonably safely track my Z, I've (almost) decided to stop doing track events. I always have a blast, but frankly there are other things I think I'd rather spend my time and that kind of money on. At the very least, I'm fairly certain that I won't be getting the oil cooler installed anytime soon: I still have a little over a week to decide if I want to return it to Z1 Motorsports, or just hang onto it in case I ever change my mind (or have oil temp issues). I'm leaning toward keeping it -- just in case -- though it's kind of an expensive paperweight. It would have been great if I could have come to this conclusion before buying the kit, but que sera, sera.

Anyway, just thought I'd post a follow-up. Can't thank all of y'all enough for your comments!