when building a turbo system that will see track time, what do you consider?
 

Aside from a big radiator, oil cooler, and intercooler, what other things must be considered on these cars?

I have a big aluminum radiator from a dirt track car, and a heat exchanger for a turbo diesel dodge dually. Aside from a t-stat flange/oil filter relocation thingy, what should I consider?

I don't want this car to run like my turbo vw did in the texas heat...always on the verge of meltdown.

coolant reroute
brakes
syn Oil
Making sure all the hoses are in good shape
fuel filter
all the stupid little stuff you dont normally think about

whats up with the coolant re-route?

Make sure you have adequate flow to the radiator. First time I was on the track I was overheating on the straight. I did not have my undertray installed. I since reinstalled the tray and made a DIY scoop for the radiator to scavenge airflow below the intercooler, I was pegged at 180* at 125mph in 95* weather.

Make sure you have racing pads and fluid. Air ducts are my next step.

Once you know the car is going to be able to handle to abuse, spend money on comfort and safety. The more I autox and race my miata the more I understand why people spend big bucks on racing seats and harnesses. Even the G-Lock is worth it in the meantime. My knees hurt bad after 20min on the track.

Learn to drive fast on street tires. I'm still running 195 azenis and still outperforming tons of cars with R-compounds. Another added bonus is that they still squeal, so you know what the limits are. You can hear them before a lock-up or loss of traction, that way you can correct yourself. R's give out without warning and require more understanding of how your car performs.

180? pegged? that's not hot.

Basically this mod blocks the T/stat opening at the front of the engine and pulls all the flow out of he rear so that you get decent cooling to 3 and 4 cylinder. When the engine was grabbed from a FWD car to put into the Miata, they didn't think out the coolant route so well and had the back cylinder cooling limited at the maximum that the heater core would flow.

Also make sure its in a good state of tune so that you aren't running too lean anywhere there are a sustained amount of high RPMs.

All the usual things that the other guys have mentioned are very important: radiator, oil cooler, sufficient flow over the radiator, synthetic oil, etc. Also, I cannot stress brake fluid enough when tracking any car. The stickier the tires, the more heat the brakes will see. I run Motul RBF600 in my spec miata w/ RA-1s without any issues.

I also agree with Braineack -- seats and harnesses are sooo important. Nothing like using your legs to hold you up while cornering over 1.2gs -- it just doesn't work too well. You'll also be so much smoother with a good seat and harnesses.

You should be a lot better off than the turbo VW. I too used to track a turbo VW, and the Miata is hand over fist a better track car (I am comparing my spec instead of a turbo miata). VWs tend to run hotter from the factory than most cars anyway.

exactly! :bigtu:

As has already been said, but never hurts repeating....brakes, fresh brake fluid, and sticky tires. (and spare parts + tools just in case. b/c it sucks to be out of commission just b/c a simple fix like a set of plugs or plug wires)

I was thinking about this aswell only a different part of the question I suppose. If your building a track(as in lapping not auto-x) turbo system would you not want a larger turbo to keep temps down opposed to a smaller turbo running faster/harder and heating things up. You wouldn't be worried about lag as your rpm's never really drop off that much, so bascilly bigger snail better for extended track times??

Oil temp could stand to be higher than 180f. Higher temps help evaporate the moisture and contaminants from the oil. That sends them through the vent/pvc to get burned and gets them out of the crankcase. It's been my exerience that Miata engines make more power over 200f oil temps.
:confused: I'm amazed that your temp is that low on track...in the summer?
-rob

I think those are his water temps, not oil temps.

I'm just guestimating from the oem temp gauge. Bacially it never went higher than normal operating temperatures. I'm assuming it's water temps. Oil & EGTs I have no clue.

can I get more info on this coolant mod. I'm about to get laid off, so i bought some fresh suspension, seats, made a roll bar, and looking for something to occupy my time.

Here is one:

http://members.aol.com/solomiata/CoolantReroute.html

Searching this forum and Mnet will yield quite a few different ways to accomplish it.

Stock water temp gauge is crap. Its VERY non linear. I put an aftermarket gauge in and you would be surprised at how much the H20 temp fluctuates and yet the stock needle stays the same.

I realize that and plan on doing the resistor mod to cure it. However, just going off that gauge from one event to the next and working on giving the radiator as much air as possible (stealing the BEGi scooper idea) made a signifigant difference in how the temps reacted. Not seeing the gauge move at all at 125mph vs. watching it climb to red at 100mph.

I think the OE gauge tells enough for most. It gives a fair warning when the temps climb. Most of the SMs I've raced use the stock temp gauge and it's worked fine. But it's reaction is entertaining- with my palm showing the temp vs. the OE temp gauge, the needle never moved (showing normal) while the palm showed a temp climb from 80-98c.

You are absolutely correct, for most the stock gauge will suffice.

I love to track mine and had it overheat on me at Rockingham (85* temps),in what seemed to be a blink of an eye. That is when I decided to spring for a temp gauge.

Water Injection to add a huge safety margin during those long flogging sessions.