It has been a long while since I have updated this post , figure I would resurrect it from deep being that I recently had a fun experience with the car and a great aah ha moment. If you have followed this build you already know I have had problems with the car while out at track days. Overheating was always the biggest issue and I had tried multiple things to correct it. Started with better ducting and cleaning up air gaps , cavitation from the water pump, oil being too hot, turbo working out of its efficiency range, etc. All these little things did add up and it seemed to keep my car slightly cooler with each addition. Next came a splitter which I think did provide some better air flow and I pretty much left it here for a while.
At this point in time I have done around 6 or so track days, and not once have I completed the entire day with out something breaking. Three events ago in session 3 of 4 the driver axle came off the aluminum hubs for the CV's which ended my day. The following I was taken out from the wastegate building so much heat it melted a hole in a couple for the hot side of the turbo . Every event was kicking my ass and I was pretty much over taking the car to track days. On the streets and on spirited drives I had no issues like I did on the track , it really showed me the stress the car sees that doesn't happen on the streets.
I felt like I was wasting money when I couldn't even last the full day , I really just wanted to start saving for a dedicated track build on a budget. Timing was actually pretty decent to give up for a while on going out to the track as my wife was accepted to the Dental Hygiene program . This would mean that her income at the time would be gone and her time also . Life really came quick having to step in a be super dad taking care of the child and the wife while she was full force into school. At this point she is still in school but life is now in a routine and going pretty smooth.
And now into more of the reason I started this post......
My hood flew up on me and was completely destroyed. So I sourced a used hood on craigslist and while I was at it I decided to throw on these vents. I was reading up on their claims of overall cooler underhood temps so I figured right now would be the ideal time to go for it. After the install I did not a test with some craft yarn tied under the hood. At 25-35 MPH a few of the strings would come out the hood and at 50+ they all were sucked out. With seeing the benefits of the vents this way plus watching my temps from driving around town I decided to give it another go at the track.
https://youtu.be/-_2zz3OI4JY
So I was able to get my personal best on this configuration. I told my self from the beginning of the day to not push the car as hard and try to make it all day. I made sure to stay in a gear higher than normal on a few of the turns and let the torque do its thing. The first session my temps were cooler than they ever were, never reached over 191 when they usually sit around 205. This session I did a 3:01.xx so I knew I already dropped 4 seconds from my previous test. Second session is where I was able to get the run above .........and then the dreaded third session....my nemesis.
Like clock work I failed to finish this session. I noticed on a few of the hard right hand turns on this course something was contacting from the g forces. Turned out that my motor mounts allowed the engine to move so much my wastegaste was contacting the strut tower which eventually it broke the weld off the manifold clean off! My day had ended just as expected. Usually I would get really frustrated but actually seeing the results from the hood vents and the "smoother is faster" theory really was inspiring . Dropping close to 9 seconds off my time and finally getting into the 2 min lap time was an accomplishment.
looking for pass. side arm rest