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Update: I got a chance to do a mountain run today, but there were quite a few people going up the mountain so I didn't really get much of a chance to do a lot of spirited driving. For the short amount of time that I did have an opportunity to get on it, the temps did shoot up quite quickly.
According to my logs, I got 2 minutes and 15 seconds to open it up and drive at 7 tenths on a 5 - 6% grade uphill section with a few good turns. In that time, the transmission outlet temps went from 217 degrees up to 235 degrees. The temps from the factory cooler started at 212 and ended up at 223.
The interesting thing is that it took 38 minutes going an average of 40mph in traffic for the temps to get down to a more reasonable temperature of 212 degrees. Basically, once I got to the top of the mountain and had been driving for about 10 minutes, the temps came back down to normal.
Now I will say that "spirited driving" is rather vague and depends heavily on the terrain and the road you are driving on. Obviously, an uphill section is going to put more heat into the transmission than a downhill section where you are beating up your brakes more. Also, a relatively flat section that is full of tight hairpins where you aren't really going that fast and have very short sections where you are on the throttle isn't going to beat things up too badly even though you are having a great time.
Ambient temperatures also play a factor in the transmission temps. Down in the valley, temps were up at 106 degrees and up in the mountain, temps were 78 degrees. Remember, the transmission is an aluminum case and aluminum is great at conducting heat. The steel plates, drums, shafts and whatnot do store a bit more heat so it takes them a little longer to dump any heat they absorb.
The conclusion of this testing shows that even at stock power, an ft86 driven on the track really ought to have a transmission cooler. If you just use your car as a daily driver, never do track days or spirited driving, don't worry about it. If you do spirited driving, I highly recommend a transmission fluid temperature gauge, preferably one with a warning feature you can set for 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius). If you find that you are consistently hitting that warning on canyon runs or whatever, it's time to invest in a transmission cooler. Ultimately, this is a lot cheaper than replacing/rebuilding the transmission.
One last thing I'm going to do before installing the transmission cooler is get a UOA on the transmission fluid. I only have 11k on the clock, but with a track day and a few hard runs, I want to know how it is holding up.
Stay tuned for more updates after installing and testing a transmission cooler.
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