Swear i just gained 20 hp
 

Finally got down in the 50's in Texas this morning and i swear my car gained
20 more hp! I know cooler engines run better. just had to post this.

You know I was thinking the same thing today, and we were only in the 60's!

ya i have made a post about this too it was down to like 39 the one day it was crazy

It's not a cooler engine, it's cooler air going in. Denser, more oxygen content, allowing more fuel, higher volumetric efficiency, and of course, delayed detontation, allowing more spark advance angle.

Yep, cold air has that nice effect. :tup:
Mine was peppy, it was 32 this morning all the way down here.

I think that why they call it cold air intake :tup:

The only annoying thing with cold weather is that the tires lose grip. So there's a combo effect of 1) the engine actually making more power and 2) the tires having less grip, adding to the sensation of having more power. :icon17:

You could easily see a 10% gain in power from cooler air temps. On this motor that's 25-30 more whp.

Tires will be less sticky tho'...

Need tire heaters? :rolleyes:

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

I ran my car hard Sunday and Saturday nights... definately cold air changes everything. Even throttle response is better. That's why I think "COOLING" mods are most important. Better
thermostats,silicone intake and radiator hoses, better radiator,oil cooler, tranny cooler all would do a greater service to your car than all other mods in the long run. What bogs this engine down is heat. I'm not convinced that aliminum intake tubes on aftermarket CAI's will assist in bringing cooler air into the motor.

That's why 50°-60° temps are best, you don't have that much issues with grip!

For ultimate power, buy a bag of Sonic ice, stab a bunch of small holes in it, and use it as your air filter. You heard it here first!

Just move to Alaska.

More kick on that spirited driving! Maybe hit up some lime creek road!

Hahahahahahahaaaahahahahahaaaa!!! Sonic would definately do it!

:tup:

So I have to ask: Should we run, skip or scurry to the nearest dyno with breathing mods in hand to see the best results our Z's ca possibly have? I don't think of it as cheating. I think of it as best case scenario, and a true measure of our vehicle's capability.

^fixed

:tup:

I guess that means it's Dyno season. Get your Dyno runs in now so you can put higher numbers in your sig and gloat all next summer when people are doing pulls in the heat :)

Doh someone beat me to it.

Really, it doesn't matter though. Temps are just yet another among so many variables that make dyno comparisons between different cars and dynos pretty much useless. The dyno number is just nice for comparing your car to itself before/after changes, on the same dyno in the same weather and fairly close together in time.

If anything you probably don't want to Dyno *Tune* in the cold winter weather as you'll get more timing out of it than you can use in the hot times. But then again, our car self-tunes timing anyways, so that probably doesn't matter much.

I just don't like how long it takes the car to warm up when it gets this cold. Makes it harder to hit my mpg target. :shakes head:

Just curious, how do we know when your cars are warmed up? I usually wait about 35 seconds for the RPMs to drop close to 1k then drive slowly out of my parking structure. Is there an official indicator of when we are warmed up enough?

I do the same on cold mornings. I will let it idle for about 30 sec. or so until the revs drop to ~1krpm and drive it normally. I won't push it hard until the oil temps are at 180, then the fun begins. :driving:

^ This

When the oil temp reaches 180*F you are good to go. Before then keep the revs low. Not only is the oil cold but it's also under quite a bit of pressure.

With an oil cooler, though, it's hard to hit 180 on short drives especially in cool weather.

You need to fabricate a cover for your oil cooler. You want to block off at least half of the rows in cooler weather so you can get the oil warmed up.

Is the 180 mark important for normal highway driving where I stay mostly around 3k and below with the occasional punch for accelerating?

I can agree with this, i felt the same way about a lot of CAI's, that's the reason i bought all of the silicone hoses available,including the post MAF hoses ( of course, i didn't need the breather hose set). I'm very glad Z1 Motorsports had that nice black friday sale, ordered the K&N air filters too. Now all i'm waiting on is delivery of my girl Vanity.:happydance:

Yes you want to get your oil above 180 even in normal driving. If you are making quick trips obviously there is nothing you can do, but if you are in the car longer you really want to get those oil temps up above 180 for sustained driving. And you want the oil warm regardless of how long you're driving if you plan on revving the car at all.

Okay, thanks. Are there any threads about fabricating something to partially block the oil cooler?

I think Modshack might have done a thread on a cover, but I can't remember. I know a few people here have made them.

thanks, I'll do a search when I get home form work.

For mine, I just measured the dimensions of the front of the cooler, then went to a hardware store and bought a sheet of thin (1/16" I think? maybe less) aluminum that was a bit larger, and cut it down to size with tin snips.

Then I got some tough velcro tape strips (keep in mind the heat of the oil cooler vs the glue here!). I put the spiky side of the velcro in two vertical strips along the front side edges of the cooler, and I put the fuzzy part of the velcro along all four edges of the blockoff plate (the top and bottom edges just being to prevent vibration against the cooler).

I have to remove my undertray to add/remove the blockoff plate, but it's pretty much a seasonal thing anyways, so you can do it during an oil change or whatever. Just put it on for the winter a few weeks ago, and other than track days it won't come off until sometime in March probably, once I start noticing higher oil temps on the street.

You said it best with heat being the most cause of hp loss. Good Point UNKNOWN. Not a lot of people get that one

I got a thermostatic plate designed to stay at 180. There are some for 200 but if you pick up a piece of aluminum and cut to size on the cooler, you can drill holes and allow to regulate temp. IF you don't have the thermostatic plate you should block it off entirely. I have 1/4in holes drilled in mine in a 1''x1'' pattern across the cooler. With the temps in the low 40's it hasn't gotten below 180 because of the blockage of air and the thermostatic plate. It isn't hard to fabricate. There is a tutorial about this in the engine and drivetrain section.

I have the thermostatic plate. I'll just pay more attention to my temps and make sure it's getting up to 180.

Even with a 180F thermo plate on your oil cooler, you'll probably still need a blockoff plate for the front. Mine's only a 19-row Setrab, w/ 180F thermo plate, and I still use a full blockoff plate (no drilled holes, full-size) in the winter down here in SE Texas. Without the blockoff, a mid-december highway drive (especially at night) can suck the oil temps down to ~150-160 and hold them there.

Do you need to remove the bumper to install/remove the block-off plate? That was a big pain when installing the oil cooler.

You're going to want your oil warmer than 150-160. Staying closer to 200 is ideal and not exceeding 220 for optimum performance. Cold oil is worse for your engine than hot oil.

My car runs at 200 in this 50 degree weather when not even pushing it. I have not yet driven in the summer time.