What's the verdict on the need of oil cooler?

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by orthojoe

Why is gmookher banned?

I have absolutely no idea. I didn't even know he was until I read your post.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by orthojoe

Hmmm... Now I'm even more confused.

a) 0w-20 or 5w-30
b) oil cooler or no oil cooler

I'm only going to track the BRZ 3-4 times a year, so probably the best thing to do for now is keep everything stock....?

As with any other component on the car, you want to prepare for when you have the *most* stress on your car. Tracking the car once isn't any harder during that individual day, than tracking it 20 separate times.

If you've never tracked before, you'll likely be okay stock.

If you're a heavy tracker or have experience, it's better safe than sorry. Good oil and an oil cooler are relatively cheap items.

[Hanakuso]

Noob question but is there any negatives to having a oil cooler? Other then the obvious of cost, weight, and adding more oil? Example would be less cool air entering the radiator since technically it will add more heat that passes onto the radiator?

I'll probably go with Perrin or HKS, depending on if I can get the HKS for cheaper then Perrin but I like the Perrin OEMish look

[orthojoe]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

As with any other component on the car, you want to prepare for when you have the *most* stress on your car. Tracking the car once isn't any harder during that individual day, than tracking it 20 separate times.

If you've never tracked before, you'll likely be okay stock.

If you're a heavy tracker or have experience, it's better safe than sorry. Good oil and an oil cooler are relatively cheap items.

I've got about 4 years experience. In my other cars I run 1:56 at Sears Point, 1:45 at Laguna Seca, and 2:07 over the top at Thunderhill. I was hoping that the stock BRZ platform was light weight enough and low enough on power to avoid heat issues at the track, but it looks like that might not be the case.

Your recommendation of 5w30 makes sense to me, but I would have liked to hear more details on why gmookher has a differing view.

I'm probably only going to track the BRZ 3-4 times a year, and I'd really like to keep it as stock as possible. If I have to get an oil cooler, though, I will. Thanks for your help again, as always.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by orthojoe

I've got about 4 years experience. In my other cars I run 1:56 at Sears Point, 1:45 at Laguna Seca, and 2:07 over the top at Thunderhill. I was hoping that the stock BRZ platform was light weight enough and low enough on power to avoid heat issues at the track, but it looks like that might not be the case.

Your recommendation of 5w30 makes sense to me, but I would have liked to hear more details on why gmookher has a differing view.

I'm probably only going to track the BRZ 3-4 times a year, and I'd really like to keep it as stock as possible. If I have to get an oil cooler, though, I will. Thanks for your help again, as always.

What's your other car(s) and their mods and tires? I do a 1:45 at MRLS in a stock s2000 with just square 255 RS3 :p

[orthojoe]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

What's your other car(s) and their mods and tires? I do a 1:45 at MRLS in a stock s2000 with just square 255 RS3 :p

Stock boxster spyder running NT01s at Laguna. My friend with the same car and setup runs 1:41, so obviously I've got much more to learn. I'm hoping that the BRZ will teach me how to drive the spyder faster. No doubt you're a much better driver than me. I'm not a novice, though. :happy0180:

[orthojoe]

Totally OT, but since I have your attention, how many miles do you think I should have on the car before my track day in March? I figured 1000 miles would be ok, but why not get an opinion?

[balance]

Originally Posted by Hanakuso

Noob question but is there any negatives to having a oil cooler? Other then the obvious of cost, weight, and adding more oil? Example would be less cool air entering the radiator since technically it will add more heat that passes onto the radiator?

I'll probably go with Perrin or HKS, depending on if I can get the HKS for cheaper then Perrin but I like the Perrin OEMish look

Cooler oil will result in lower water temp. Even if an oil cooler is located in front of radiator and there is enough space between the oil cooler and radiator, the air will be able to get around the cooler and hit the radiator.

Complete kits offered by tuning companies are nice in that they come with everything including installation instructions, but you can achieve the same by assembling your own kit and save money.

[Doborder]

Would some please put up a DIY oil cooler kit?

[orthojoe]

Doborder!!!! Your first post! LOL.

[Doborder]

Still working on getting one

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by orthojoe

Why is gmookher banned?

Because he single handedly ruined the FI sub-forum along with several long, negative and insulting rants.

edit: Ruined might be unfair.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by Doborder

Would some please put up a DIY oil cooler kit?

I will if no one beats me to it.

[rice_classic]

Here's my thoughts on oil, pressure and temp. I do not claim these as truths or facts but observations, opinions and recommendations.

The OEM engine is designed to run 100C oil during normal city driving, sometimes a bit more or less depending on conditions. So don't worry about 100C temps, or even 130C (only 266F). Synthetic oil won't break down but if you're going to sustain temps above 120C then you can take two routes:

1: Cool your oil
or
2: Thicken your oil

Neither is wrong or right inherently, the point is to hit the target. The whole point of the game is to match cSt to temp and pressure to RPM. Our engine is designed to be at roughly 8-9cSt @100C and we should have 10 PSI of pressure for every 1000RPMs.

What happens if I install an oil cooler and I'm at 110-120C but I don't have enough pressure? Well, then I need to consider something thicker than the 0w-20. And guess what, our factory manual even states that a thicker oil may be needed for track use.

Basically the reality is that engines like heat, actually they LOVE IT. After all, the hotter they are, the more efficient they become but the problem with that is that at some point things melt, things expand, things go...kaboom. So while engines love heat from an thermodynamic efficiency point of view, their parts do not. So we have to keep our heat in check. The answer isn't always cooler = better. There's nothing wrong with running high oil temps, really high oil temps... ask the Audi Lemans teams or Joe Gibbs or Ferrari. The oil, however, has to be able to withstand it and Joe Gibbs, AUDI Le Mans and Ferrari F1 aren't buying off the shelf oil.

"But rice, if we can run really hot oil and engines like heat, why would anyone install an oil cooler?"

OK, so we know that a good synthetic oil can withstand 300F or 150C for extended durations and we know that amount of temp isn't over burdening the metal of the engine so why seek to lower it? The answer? So we can add more power!!!... or at the very least keep from losing what we have.

Oil is also a coolant for our engines and as this vital cooling fluid becomes hotter it doesn't pull as much heat away from really hot areas. The result is that oil's decreased ability to do its job as a coolant can lead to our engine developing knock and forcing the computer to retard timing... LOST POWER. On the flip side, if we cool our oil very effectively then we might be able to add power like advancing timing or increasing boost without developing ping/knock/pre-det.

So on a track dedicated car or a race car the oil cooler makes really good sense from a maximizing-every-advantage aspect. On a daily driver with an oil you cooler you face the fact that your oil can take much longer to heat up and you could be running your engine less efficiently by over cooling your oil (which thickens it). So yeah, it will do a great job while on track but for 99% of the miles you're going to put on it, it may be overkill.. or it may not. Look at your readings after install, only those will be definitive. Another option is an oil cooler with a thermostat to give you optimal temps all the time.

p.s. I run an oil cooler on my race car, my direct competitor (same car) does not. I use a 30w or a 40w and he uses a 40w or 50w. His engines last just as long as mine (sometimes longer but that's another topic!).