Unless you are doing road racing events, you don't need them.

 

Seriously...I can do a slow cruise with the hood popped into the driveway and not see a decrease of 7 degrees.

 

IMHO the KEY to having a good cooling setup on the FD is *proper fan control*. Keep the temps down and you'll be in good shape. Sitting at a stoplight on a hot day, doesn't matter how efficient your antifreeze is, you're not getting airflow through the radiator without the fans running.

Here's my review/writeup on the HKS Fan Controller -

http://www.clubrx.org/default.asp?id...ntent=41&mnu=3

I've run this all summer. 50/50 water/antifreeze, stock radiator, stock cooling cap, stock thermostat, etc. and I saw high temps at 90-91 deg. C in high 90s super humid Florida weather with the AC on full blast. I have the fan controller kick one speed on at 85 deg. C and the second at 90 deg. C.

IMHO, a fan controller should be one of the FIRST mods on an FD. Heat is the enemy of these cars - heat kills water seals, blows motors, bakes wiring harnesses, and causes engine fires. If you can control heat, you can solve a LOT of the problems that the FD has.

Dale

 

Best way to keep the FD cool is to

NOT DRIVE IT..

just kidding..

Radiator/DOWNPIPE....

 

I know...I searched around and that was the best one I could find.

 

[QUOTE=DaleClark]IMHO the KEY to having a good cooling setup on the FD is *proper fan control* [QUOTE]

Fans only dominate when stopped and at low speeds though. What really matters is how much heat the cooling system is capable of shedding into the airstream and a higher ratio of water and ducting of the radiator inlet makes for a much more efficient heat exchanger than merely actuating the fans at lower temps. This is profoundly illustrated when driving the car hard under nearly constant boost.

 

A fan mod will keep your engine cool when it isn't moving. I huge plus IMO.

Fan mod link:
http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/fan_mod.html

 

I noticed a pretty big drop in temps when I installed my '99 spec bumper. On the highway my temps went from around 190F to around 170F. It also takes a lot longer to heat up under 'spirited' driving conditions. With my stock bumper the coolant would heat up to 220+ in no time, now it is rare to see temps above 215F.

 

I got my Evans in a group buy on the forum here, it was sold by Pineapple Racing. I bought 4 gallons (wich left me plenty extra) and will probably pickup an extra gallon or two in the near future as I don't know how much I'll lose when I swap out my turbo's. I've had it in the car three years not operating it in Fla. heat with the AC on when ever I'm in the car (summertime) and have had no issues. Jack

 

oh well thanks any ways.

so why would some one switch to a coolant that will increase your overall temps??? just because it doesnt boil?

 

I don't do any track days so I can't say that there is an increase in operating temperature. I do auto-x every now and again but have seen nothing in the way of abnormal or higher temps. I was more interested in prventing the failures inherent in a pressurized system and really didn't care if it ran a few degrees hotter (which I haven't seen) I figured if it didn't cause bearings to fail, hoses to burst, or contribute to electrolosis/corrossion then that's what I wanted in my car. Should something major fail on my car nothing prevents me from repairing it and returning to a conventional cooling fluid. It's much like synthetic products vs dino grade oils....it's a preference or choice. In my case it's no more of a problem to work on the car than it was when I had conventional fluids in it. I'd say since my car doesn't boil over it can't overheat without a major failure, which I have taken the steps to reduce. I've done the fan mod, I run a Koyo radiator, and have sealed off all that I can to force air through the radiator.

 

any one have pics of their ducting? just for ideas.

what about keeping things cool with a front mount ic ,any other tricks to help. I know i have heard of many people having problems with overheating because of a fmic.

 

just wondering where you got your 99 spec bumper from and what it costs, if you dont mind me asking that is.

 

what kinda ducting material do you guys use to cover the sides of the radiator?
planning to do mine but just wanted to see whats the best stuff out there to complete the job with.

 

I don't run NPG and don't claim to be an authority, but IIRC it transfers/conducts heat more efficiently than typical coolant or water. So it's probably normal to see higher indicated temps on a guage, since the guage sensor is placed in the path of whatever coolant your using. The actual parts that you want to keep cool however, are likely staying cooler.

 

I went to a fabric/sewing store and bought some upholstery foam. IIRC, about 4" thick. Then just cut and stuffed in and around the gaps. Anywhere where air might bypass the radiator/condensor. You can't see it, and it costs < $10. Seems to work for me.

 

I bought mine from Mazdacomp for around $400, but that is only a fraction of the cost to convert the front end.

 

Galvanized tin from the hardware store. It is cheap and weatherproof.

My ducts seal the inlet to the sides of the condensor and radiator. Much more efficient than just stuffing something in the gap between the radiator and chassis. I'll take better pics next time I have the belly pan off.

The duct on the driver side has a hole in it for the power steering line to pass through. They are simple flat shapes that are mounted under the screws of the a/c condensor and extend down into the belly ban.

 

So what else needs to be done to convert it to a 99 spec?

 

The lights, the lip, rebar and paint. Could be more I forgot?

 

Also the undertray and the updated brake/oil cooler 'ducts'. You can modify some of the old stuff to work with the new bumper, I'd recommend a search to find out what works. Lots of good threads out there.

 

There is a peice of weather stripping on the back of the engine bay. If you pull it off, the hood doesnt seal in the back, but rain gutters are there, so no water comes in, and heat can get out from under the hood. 7 degrees was alot for me..i went from 101 to 94.

 

Nope. That doesn't work, aerodynamically, at least not with the car in motion. Wargasm even did instrumented testing with it....http://www.zeroglabs.com/rx7/freecooling.htm

 

I've done pretty much everything you can do as far as cooling modification without altering the stock body of the car. If it's over 90 F I will get too hot after a 4-5 laps and need to take it easy for a lap to bring the temps down. I can then do another 2 laps or so and then must cool again. Of course some tracks are harder on the car than others.

For a street driven car a 100% stock cooling system in good condition should work just fine.

Fans only help at low speed. I've wired my fans to run full blast at all time at the track before and it really made no difference once you're at speed.

 

i use to run 70/30 water/coolant however the car seemed to want to take forever to cool down. later i ran the car and put just coolant after putting the 70/30 which equaled to more coolant (probable (57/43) and it seemed to cool a whole lot faster. and the temps didnt go over (87c within the past week) but i have a koyo