Advice please.

[Mark 4]

Need some input please chaps.

Moving house soon and freeing up some cash to live a little and put some extra capital into my business. I have already decided (with permission of Mrs 4) that once things are sorted the car will be going to Eurospec for a gearbox upgrade, Vipec ECU, thorough underseal and any other small things that Ben and the boys find wrong.

Over the past 12 months or so I have slowly been getting some of the wearing parts like wheel bearings etc checked and replaced where necessary. Transfer box has been rebuilt and I will have a refurbished AYC pump. Brembos are on the front and I plan to fit them at the rear as well in order to have a balanced setup. Might try and fit a F/R bias valve as well if it’s possible.

A lot of supporting mods have already been done. EVO 8 diff is in there, Teins, ARB’s, Polybushes, fuel pump, FPR, Intercooler, Car PC running Evoscan ( even though I don’t understand how to use it yet ). Battery is in the boot, new plugs recently fitted with Magnecor leads, Sard R2D2 BOV

So when the car comes back from Eurospec it will be in pretty good condition mechanically. Bodywork is not too good but that is the last job on my list.

A while ago I bought a 2 stage progressive controller for the Nos. It monitors AFR and will cut the Nos if it starts to run lean. It is fully programmable with ramp up times, different settings for each gear etc. I have 2 x 11 lb cylinders in the boot with a balance pipe , safety pressure switches and a transducer to send a pressure signal to the dashboard.

This is what I shall be playing with this autumn.

But this is where I need help. Swinks posted up some info today about an EVO radiator with a bigger core and slimline fans. I checked myself. Normally I would have just gone ahead and asked Tomasz to get the same for me but I stopped and thought do I really need that right now. Then I thought about gearbox and engine oil coolers and started worrying that there may be other supporting mods that I need to consider.

I know that some of you will think I am mad to start playing with the Nos again but it is something that I have wanted to do since I was about 13 and watched the top fuellers flying down the strip at Santa Pod.

So, please tell me if I have overlooked something and advise me on the radiator and oil coolers. Please also tell me anything you want that is constructive.

[The Vee]

Not sure about the Evo rad thing. I can certainly see the theoretical gains, but never seen mine go above half way even when being thrashed round the ring in 30degrees with slightly upped boost. Having said that, it cetainly can't do any harm. Oil cooler yes bearing in mind as with the rad you're looking at upping the power somewhat. My only concern is the NOS. Only my opinion, but not keen on it for our engines. Not sure there's enough headroom in the 6A13 (strengthwise) for constant shots of the stuff...............

[Kenneth]

I wouldn't look at upgrading the radiator until you find you need to. You might want to invest (if you haven't already) in equipment for data logging to find out what is happening to your engine. There is no way you can see enough information on the dash board. For example, my logs tell me that the coolant temperature rises on heavy acceleration by about 5 degrees centigrade and then comes back down, however this is never visible on the dash.

If I had to choose one over the other, I would do oil cooling first. (Transmission and Engine). I was talking to a guy who built race cars and he was telling me how important it was to keep an eye on oil temperatures as small changes (increase in RPM limit etc) can have quite a significant impact on oil temperatures.

Also, NO2 has as probably been attributed to more engine failures than any other single cause I know of. I would want to be data logging through the setup and ensuring that you don't run with detonation. I personally wouldn't be running it above 6500RPM either. For one the engine is past its efficiency/power peak and as such you are just wasting NO2 and secondly the rods don't look to be suited for high RPM power (which the engine doesn't normally deliver)

[Mark 4]

Thanks chaps, oil coolers it is then. I will be very cautious with the Nos this time around. Full monitoring/logging will be in place and will be starting with very small jets.

[orionn2o]

and by small jets you mean 100 shot

[Mark 4]

No Matt, I cannot afford a blown engine at the moment so it will probably be 2 x 50. Can get a bit braver later when I have some cash in the bank.

[swinks]

Oil cooler - first. Other stuff for later.