That is pretty close to what the mix would boil at, in normal atmospheric conditions. You have to remember your cooling system is under pressure. .9bar is the factory overflow cap pressure if I remember correctly, thats like 13psi. So the boiling point of that type of mix, under that type of pressure, should be around 300 or more degrees. On this note I will have to apologize to RedDevil, having flushed and filled his radiator recently and now looking at some data I think, per his suggestion, we should have done more water less coolant. I also shouldn't have drank from the coolant jug.

I'm not real sure why the guys at Paradox have said there are NO rediator options for the AT. I thought I had seen one available.

You will want to come in well before you see 260. A certain member of the paradox team should know that quite well. I think i would set mine down if I saw 240*f. I've got my serious doubts you will see those kind of temps though.

 

Ah yes, the old PV=nRT thing...

I think there is another radiator available, but from what I read it wasn't any better than stock. The price someone mentioned for that one was 190 bucks, so I'm thinking its definitely not worth it. Especially since I saw a possible figure of around 600 for the Paradox radiator - something tells me there is a slight difference in quality.

A little ingested coolant is probably good for you every now and then. Keep you from burning up your Irish skin in the sun. I'm not Irish, but I do have the fair skin, so maybe I should try it.

The highest I've seen on the street is about 212. But that was on a real hot day with some aggresive revving. But on the street I obviously don't carry the sustained rpms like I will on the track. Although with Gingerman's short straights, I doubt it will be that bad.

 

Been thinking about that also...could always slow siphon here and there from the overflow tank and add water, won't be fast, but I don't feel like flushing the rad again and with fall approaching I'm not too concerned.

If I saw temps exceeding 225 on a NA engine I'd start to be concerned and would probably pull the car in.

 

After your track day, I predict you'll be going straight for some sway bars.

 

I thought 220 was on the high side but not really out of the question on this motor?

I know BlueRenesis said since he put in his gauges he hasn't seen over 100*C on the track, which would be 212*F.

 

ask MazdaManiac what he uses for a radiator.

 

Yeah, I've already thought about sway bars Do they make any adjustable ones for the 8? I really don't want to sacrifice my street ride quality, but I don't want too much body roll on the track either.

My best guess as to my next mods are (in no particular order):
- upgraded cooling

- better brake pads (both for better braking and fade resistance)

- maybe used wheels and track tires; will depend on how the pirell's do on the track and how often I end up going

- sway bars

But I figure I'd better get a few track days under my belt and get to know the car as is before I get too crazy.

 

Well, after an adventure I have the canopy thingy for our weekend at Gingerman. Red had set one aside for me at his store in Schaumburg, but one of his fellow coworkers sold it to someone else anyway. Red felt terrible, and he called a bunch of stores until he found one. Had to go to St Charles to get it, but they were on clearance at about 25% of the retail price. So after a driving tour of the western suburbs - mission accomplished. Not that it was horrible - it was a beautiful day for a drive.

The good news too is that it looks like it is one piece, so supposedly no assembly required.

 

Back to the water temp discussion. I'm thinking that track speeds and lack of heavy traffic might actually keep water temps not much above regular city/suburban driving. I've noticed that on the highway when there isn't a lot of traffic, my water temps stay pretty low even when running at higher rpms, due to the fact that the engine is getting more air flow for cooling. While the rpms will be higher on the track, the extra air still applies, unless you are drafting someone all the time

 

sway bars actually won't do much to change the ride quality of the car. But there are a couple of brands that make adjustable bars. I know of Whiteline, which is what RedDevil has, and Progress. The progress bars are substancially stiffer than like whiteline's. Whitelines ~80% stiffer than OE and Progress ~230% stiffer.

I've got a set of racing beat sways sitting in my garage that I just haven't put on yet.

 

I second that, after put in the MS sways I only noticed a difference in hard cornering.

 

pics!

 

or ban

 

Not sure what color the one I bought is (still in the box) but here it is...

http://www.amazon.com/Bravo-Marketpl...outThisProduct

 

looks pretty much identical to what BlueRenesis has. simple setup and tear down. good choice.

 

And cheap at 39 bucks...

Plus I'm all about simple - it matches my mind.

 

That's good to know. I thought I had remembered someone telling me that the ride quality would be worse on uneven pavement; for example, a bunch of pothole patches under your left side, but smooth pavement under the right side.

DD - Did you notice a big difference on the track with the MS sways? The M3 guy thinks your MS mods made you very fast.

RD - what do you think of your sways that Mac mentioned? The idea of adjustable sways intrigues me, especially after playing a bit of forza2 and really being able to change the car's handling by adjusting the sway bars Definitely helped in dialing out oversteer/understeer, at least on the xbox 360...

Getting ahead of myself here a bit - like I said, figure I'd better do at least a few track days before I start modding too much. But it is fun to talk about anyway

 

I don't think he has ever change the setting on the sway bars except for when he put in his coilovers. He is from the "set it and forget it" camp. Personally thats not my philosophy. My last car had an adjustable bar. I didn't play with it too much but I did every now and again and was happy that it was adjustable.

 

How hard are they to adjust? You just get under there with a socket wrench or something?

 

a box end wrench and an allen wrench but you're on the right track. its not hard unless something becomes stripped out.

once it is installed adjusting it should be about a 15 minute process doing it the long way.

Putting it in can be hazardous to your windshield though. do'h!

 

I might screw with them a bit more but at the moment with the threads and nuts being in not ideal condition any more I'm just leaving them as is...

 

I hate it when my nuts aren't in ideal condition...

So I have to ask - how can installing swaybars be hazardous to your windshield? Sounds like there is a good story behind that...

 

Since I wasn't there I don't think I am the best person to do the telling....

*awaits RedDevils response*

 

Getting off track here, but what the hell... we were discussing mods for the track, so...

A couple other mods I've thought about are a high-flow cat of some sort and a high flow air filter. Any thoughts on these from my local experts?

My concern with the high flow cat would be noise. I have the Mazdaspeed dual exhaust. I would be ok with a bit more noise, but not a ton more. I believe RD told me I could get one with a resonator that would help keep the noise down - am I remembering right? Also, any warranty/CEL issues with high flow cats?

As far as the air filter goes, some have said they've gotten better throttle response with a K&N, Mazdaspeed (I see you can get the Mazdaspeed one on japanparts.com), etc. Any thoughts on this? Seems like some people love the K&Ns, some hate them. My first thought about high flow filters is that if it lets more air through, it must let more bad stuff through, but some things I've read said that is not necessarily the case, or at least not significantly so, due to differences in filter design, materials, etc. I did see where K&N will pay your repair costs if a Mazda dealer denies your repair under warranty due to the K&N filter. They pay the dealer and then fight with the dealer to get their money back.

 

Depending on how this first track weekend goes, I might try one of these days. Assuming you guys think autobahn would be ok for someone with only one track weekend at Gingerman under their belt.

Which autobahn track would be best for a beginner like myself?

Does autobahn have many blind corners? That's the only thing that kind of spooks me, at least right now. Forgetting about the blind corner and coming fast over the hill, only to find I'm missing the turn and smashing into something...

I've also talked to Mac and RD about doing a test and tune later in September at Gingerman. I might do both, but most likely just one or the other. Advantage of Gingerman is that I'd have seen it before and could practice the line more, hopefully reinforcing what I've learned next weekend and remembering more of it over the offseason. Advantage to autobahn is that it would be different; plus it is closer and I wouldn't have to get a hotel for a night. Getting a hotel for one night for the test and tune is not a big deal for me, but if the group thinks I'd be better served by going to this autobahn day I might do that.

We'll just have to see how this first weekend goes - I'm just throwing some thoughts out there to see what you guys think.