I'm interested in buying a set and like to get some feedback from customers if they noticed any appreciable improvements.

 

How often do you road race your FD?

Do you have an oil temp gauge?

 

the rotary extremes look to be able to cool in anything.
"34row"

 

i like to start road racing the FD and no i don't have oil temp.

 

My recommendation is to get an oil temp gauge and then try a few track events. Once you get some temp readings, you'll know if you really need to upgrade your oil cooling or not.

 

TRUST and its my next mod hehe

 

What is the ideal temp for oil? 180F?
My understanding is that heat destroys the oil properties. So if we keep it low, it would increase oil pressure and the same time make the oil last longer.

 

Something custom made, with custom ducts, of course that wouldn't be a "kit", it also wouldn't be as costly.

 

i think the oil is hotter than 180F........... i could be wrong.

 

I don't know, I think Mazda made a pretty good one about 10 years ago...

 

Ideal? Well, I'm sure that's debateable but most people see around 180-220 or so.

The main thing is that street driving pretty much will not surpass the stock oil cooling. So upgrading it just to drive it on the street is a waste of money. Also, unless you know what your temps are to begin with, you don't know if you've good or bad with the upgrade (which is why I suggest getting an oil temp gauge and seeing where things are to start with).

 

what about upgrading to R1 kit?

is that even worth it?

 

I’ve talked with several experienced people about oil coolers. A single stock oil cooler is about worthless for road race apps. We’re talking 300+°F oil temps and elevated water temps. A single huge cooler is better, but you are still limited by the small opening in the bumper. Based on info I’ve gotten, this set-up isn’t adequate. Stock dual coolers are adequate, but the ducting plain sucks. Rubber flaps held on by a single rivet (that’s most likely torn through by now) and gaps around the sides. Seal the ducting and they’ll perform much better. For the serious track junky or if you want maximum longevity, nothing less then a CWC, Rotary Extreme, etc. will suffice.
My memory isn’t good enough to give you relative oil temps for each set-up. Take into account that oil temps do impact water temps since the oil does a fair amount of a rotary’s cooling. Figure about a 10°C water temp difference between in inadequate stock single oil cooler and a CWC kit.
I run the stock dual oil coolers and no oil temp gauge. As long as my water temps stay safe with the stock radiator I’m comfortable leaving well enough alone.

 

1st to 3rd, what do you consider "safe" water temps to be for driving on the track?

 

how hard would it be to add the second oil cooler to a touring fd? and has anyone done it?

 

You absolutely always want your oil over 212 degrees everytime you drive your car...the boiling point of water(did I get that right?)...so all the condensed water gets boiled out of the oil. This applies to any car. This is why a 2 minute trip to the grocery store isn't really all that good for your car.

a typical "solid" sweet spot temp for oil when racing is about 240. If you get much over 280...you're in trouble.

good synthetics break down at about 450...dinos around 350ish.

cold oil is not always a good thing. This is why most oil housings have a thermostat built in that won't even allow oil to the coolers till the oil reaches a certain temp. And a lot of kits i've seen for the 7s have them added on. Not sure what the deal is there yet...haven't really researched the stock oil cooling system much in the mazda.

This is based on my experience of rallying a open class turbo mitsubishi.

john

 

what about adding a fan?? i know someone has done it but in his case, is it worth adding a fan to the backof his single oil cooler? also, what about buying a new universal oil cooler and making the lines and fittings work??

 

Unless you plan on building EXCELLENT ducting yourself, the CWR kits are the only ones with good, tight-fitting ducts. I'd rather have smaller, properly ducted coolers than huge unducted ones. Everybody learned this lesson with radiators, right?

 

Lets see, my oil temp gauge rarely move past 180F. During hard driving, I mean really hard, it would go to about 200-210F, thats it. Highway runs 4th 5th gear 60-120mph, would not let it go past 150F.

Is that bad?

 

Interesting point that u bring up on boiling the water out of the oil, but water starts to evaporate at lower temps. Just look at the oceans of the world contributing to clouds.

It doesn't take much for oil to flucuate from 240 - 280 degrees on the rotory.

I think a good synthetic like Redine breaks down at a higher temp than 450 since it's Polyester basestocks are used to lubricate turbine engines which run much hotter.

Oil doesn't dissipate heat as easily as water. That is why Porsche went to water cooled on their 996 going forward.

 

I have the CWC oil cooler kit (dual).

Whoever designed the oil cooler kit must be on crack, the thermostat is located right under the black underbrace and it has a 90 degree fitting going directly to the block without a hose.

During the summer, I went to buttonwillow and the fitting from above snapped, and i leaked oil all over the track, I could have blown my motor if i hadn't noticed the oil light come on quick enough, thank goodness I did. However, that incident left my FD stranded and I had to tow it back to the bay area from bakersfield--not fun. Since then i've replaced that said fitting and the ******* thing snapped again after 6 months! I am always fighting oil leaks so i'm pissed off. Also if you use the CWC oil cooler, kit, you will not be able to fit a FMIC due to where the thermostat is located.

I'm going to redo the entire oil lines that came with the kit to make sure that they don't snap again, but in retrospect, it would definitely have been cheaper to piece one together by myself

 

Would u have gone with another kit or R1 kit if u had to do it all over again?

 

R1 kit.

stainless steel lines **** up the paint under the hood of your car. Also fittings tend to crack or break whenever the engine moves due to acceleration, the stock ones are the most reliable and trouble free, get the dual R1's

 

OK, that is all I needed to know.

Thanks for ur input.

I have decided to go R1.

 

I say just upgrade the drivers side cooler to a larger one and make a good duct for it.

That way you can leave the passenger side emply to fit something your all going to wish you had when I get done building it. As a hint I'll say I'm still going to use a cooler on the passenger side but its not going to be for oil haha

STEPHEN