My only comment is to say that the mouth opening of the Miata is larger than needed. Thus the ducting does not need to fill the entire thing, only make sure that the air that is pushed into your duct opening all goes through the radiator.

I did re-route, ducting and oil cooler at the same time, so I don't have a feel for which did which, only that my coolant temps are now in check, and the AIT's have not gotten worse. Now if I ever get my oil temp gauge wired, I'll know if I'm over-cooling it.

 

Well, my RX-8's dipstick *IS* pretty idiot proof, and it can be argued that I am an idiot for owning that car, so...

My Miata dipstick follows the amount of oil I add pretty closely, so I'm sure it's close enough. Halfway between min and max with an eye kept on it seems to be the ticket in my case.

 

It is not what it used to be. They have greatly reduced or removed many of the additives that made its a good budget "performance" oil over the years. This was done for diesel emissions reasons.

 

So what is the current golden standard on oil just any race specific oil?

 

Depends upon who you ask. I like the additive package and film strength of Shaeffer's offerings but I know there are plenty of boutique oils and new formulas from established players that didn't exist 10 years ago. Brad Penn, Joe Gibbs, Amsoil, Redline, Valvoline, et al have "ideal" race formulas if you just go by the marketing. You really have to look at the data sheet to decide for yourself or you're really just taking somebody's word for it.

 

I run amsoil in the motorcycle and sleds might as well keep all race motors consistent haha

 

Rotella T6. It's $22/gallon on sale.
If you're actually running the engine oil hot enough to cause serious degradation (>~150*C sustained), then better cooling is required and any boutique oil is just buying a tiny bit more time before BOOM. People spend way too much effort looking for "what is the best." None of us are running a fully billet 1500hp engine; we don't demand that much from our lubrication system. Keep track of pressure and temp and get an analysis to understand how you engine is wearing and will dictate what is best for you: What is the measured viscosity? Is the oil breaking down from heat? Do I need to change it more or less often? What amount of metal and what types are present? FYI our NSX GT3 runs off the shelf Mobil 1 and they change and analyze the engine oil after every session. It's good enough for a $500k race car and will last an entire 24 hours. You don't need some uber exotic oil, but you should start conservative until you understand what your setup requires; then set it and forget it.

 

That's more along the lines of all the research I've done. I alays had the thought that if it's good enough for my kx250f that saw 12k almost constantly it would be good to 7k rpm. Clean cool oil are the biggest factors is what I have always been told with hydraulic pumps

 

Would bang

 

Pretty much this.

I used my RX-8 as a torture test bed for different oils and utilized Blackstone reports to tell me which brands performed better (which amounts to longer), what weight to use, and at what intervals to change the oil. I found that ANY quality synthetic could withstand the brutal shear forces of a Renesis engine for at least 8 track hours. Three notable performers were Mobil 1 0W40, Pennzoil Platinum 0W40, and Rotella T6 5W40 (old formula), which held their viscosity longer than I was comfortable running them (at least 12 track hours), and provided adequate lubrication to keep wear metals very low. Based on my results, I ran Rotella T6 for a couple of years, due to its low price: $16 for 5 quarts on sale. When I tired of the rotary stench and put a race cat on the car, I switched to Mobil 1, due to its ubiquity.

Having said that, Valvoline Synpower, Quaker State synthetic, and several other popular brands performed very well, and I would not hesitate to run them for up to 8 track hours. We are lucky to live in the amber age of quality synthetic oils with excellent additive packages.

If an oil will stand up to rotary abuse, it will certainly hold up in a BP engine--even with reasonable F/I. Start with a quality oil, change it at a conservative interval, and send a sample for analysis. Adjust your interval from there and don't worry about it.

For example, when I bought my Miata a little over a year ago, I had a spare jug of Valvoline Synpower 5W30 sitting on the shelf in my garage. I poured it in, ran the car for 8 track hours, and sent a sample to Blackstone. Results were perfectly fine. I now run Mobil 1 0W40 just to keep things consistent between the 2 cars.

 

My original unopened engine with about 170k miles and like 200+ hours of track use has been on Rotella T6 since I got it.

 

Rodney, is one of those you?

 

Just a guess, but I would guess it's Mike.

 

So I'm a fan of the Laminova heat exchangers, but the plumbing on my SE (MSM) doesn't really lend itself to using the radiator outlet. Maybe when I put the built engine in, but that is not now.

I am now considering a fan boosted Setrab in the rhs wheel well, in front of the tyre. I don't want to use the foglight hole because brake cooling. Also, I want to be able to modulate the cooling to even out oil temperature.

My thinking is that a cooler with a fan sitting in that space will not cool much (unducted) until the fan comes on, facilitating faster warm up. Fan on, and cooling happens.

I would like to use a pwm controller to modulate the fan according to temperature, to even out the temperature and ease the load on the alternator. I can't see anyone here who has done that - am I wrong?

I can use the ECU to do this, or I can use an external controller (Mocal sell one). Is one better than the other?

Will the ots thermostats do the same job of modulation, or are they on/off switches (so to speak)?

Appreciate any comments

Thanks!

 

There is no reason that your idea wont work and your logic is sound. For ducting you can pick up air in front of the radiator in the high pressure area assuming you are ducted properly there already.

 

PWM is totally unnecessary IMO. Oil has a broad range of acceptable temps, so I would just do a simple on/off channel. You'll save a lot of headaches that way (PWM to a fan would require either a fan controller or a solid state relay).

 

I am certainly not properly ducted there yet, that is in train though. My dilemma is that I don't want to cool until the oil warms up, so ducting (ie ducting out of a well sealed inlet) may impede that process. OTOH, just driving my car around the coolant seems to warm up a lot quicker than the racecar, or my previous (NA) street cars. I am wondering if warming the oil in a turbo car is not the 'problem' I think it is (was).

Point taken Sav.

The RPW - Mocal pump controller referred to in my post, for the record. I just noticed that it seems to be grouped under oil pumps, FWTW.

 

I had fitted my oil cooler in the front right hand corner, behind the fog light opening. This is the result of relatively light contact with a tyre barrier - I had to replace the guard, but the bumper and headlight are still serviceable. The oil cooler was mounted with aluminium brackets which tore off with the impact, and sent the cooler under the front wheel.



I still won my class for the event I was competing in, and made it to the top 5 street registered cars at the event, but I had to sit out the last two runs as a result of the oil cooler damage. I will be re-thinking my oil cooler location.

 

Nylon hoses is asking for trouble.