I always worry about that too on hot days (95F + 90% humidity ... usually July), but once I get moving the airflow always keeps things cool. Keep an eye on your temp gauge, and it will be allright. Go get them out there! Excited for for you man!

 

What is the weather forecast for your track day? It's too hot for me to be tracking my car... 105° -110° air temperatures! I'll be waiting for some cooler weather out here.
Good luck out there at Road America! I love that track on Forza 5

 

high is 108f at Road Atlanta (Sat). Tire temps and greasiness are a concern

 

That is definitely hot! No doubt your fastest session will be the first one. Tire greasiness will definitely be a factor. Don't push it too hard. Stay cool!

 

Forza is the only time I got to drive Road America too.

Wow, that's hot. Drink plenty of liquids and might be worthwhile to drop the tire pressure a few PSI. Good luck!

 

Road Atlanta Trackday done. Driving in 100+ temps highlighted the cars weak spot. Had zero brake fade (thankful I installed cooling ducts) but car overheated (no not running ac). Tires were fine but the engine temps climbing forced me to mix hot/cool laps. Met some great people and had a blast. GoPro footage is zero since I deleted/formatted sd card and made it undetectable :-( ended up using Harry for lap data but no footage. Pic below is my run group and family :-) unfortunately I also got to see a gt350 blow it's engine

 

Great pics! Nice looking run-group. I especially like that blue first-gen Mustang. Your lack of video is funny...I thought I was the only one who messed up track-day recordings all the time. Glad you and the kids had fun.

 

Hey SGwick, no worries about footage, the goals are to keep it shiny side up, not hit anyone or anything, stay on the track .... good footage is number 67 on the list

So you had some engine overheating issues then? Water temp? When was the last time you changed your radiator fluid? I keep wondering when I should change mine, it's been almost 3 years (since the car was new!). I change oil and brake fluid religiously, but never touched the radiator fluid which thinking about it sounds a bit

Glad you had a blast and met all your major goals. Well done!

So what happened with the Voodoo??

 

P.S. How did the Challenger do? I've only seen one at the track so far, and he was struggling with all that weight!

 

in my 2nd session I ran ***** to the wall (pleasantly surprised) lap after passing (getting point by's) then heading up to the bridge the engine went into limp mode, luckily I was by the pit entrance on the right, after the bridge. Stopped in the pit and coolant everywhere, then had it towed back. After letting it cool, replaced coolant, it started back up. The next sessions I had to manage the temps (hot lap, then cool laps). It got irritating after a while because I would catch and pass cars only to let them pass because of the engine temp. Met a crew chief for one of the Ferrari teams out there and he was educating me on my options for engine cooling and why (interesting to note, he said Ferrari's were POS, it's just the supply/demand and hype). Also met Seth Thomas of Next Level European racing (Cayman), he was there running a Ferrari. Met some really kind people, I was offered a free Trackday (for today) but I was worried on my cooling issues and my budget didn't allow for it (so now it's a coupon for other trackdays), and we offered any Major race pit passes (24 Day, 12 Seb, 6 WG) when we want :-) People's kindness really caught me and my wife off guard and really made a difference this weekend. The crew chief was continually stopping by to see how were we doing, but I didn't bother him much since they were racing. About the voodoo, heard from a another driver he blew his engine in turn one going uphill shifting from 3 to 1 (should have been 4th), not sure if correct but he slid into the gravel and was done for the day. Looking to upgrade my radiator, fan, and thermostat.

 

only got the see the challenger during our lead/follow session but it seemed pretty nimble, I later saw the car close up and he showed me his chassis mods.

 

Ferrari, McLaren, and my run group :-)

 

What are the options for engine cooling?

 

Sorry to hear about your overheating issues. Tracking a car in 100° plus temperatures is hard on any car, even ones with extra cooling capacity. A larger capacity radiator and open upper radiator grille will definitely help. Hood extractors will also keep the engine temperature down. Not sure if you still have the factory grill with the fog lights. If so, that is part of your problem.
When I track my car I push it and beat on it pretty hard. I would have to go 70% on very hot days. I choose not to run in hot weather for obvious reasons of overheating and extra wear on other components.
Either upgrade cooling components or wait for cooler weather.

 

Hey SGwick, sounds like a hell of a weekend at the track! Sorry to hear about your overheat issues. Did you coolant leak from under the cap of the radiator itself, or from the tank up top? I had noticed a few splashes of coolant coming from the cap of the tank, not a lot, but never noticed it before. It looked like when hot my coolant level was over the max line.

I think your next mods are spot on. Are you looking for a Boss radiator/fan?

And good job going all out one a few laps. I take it you feel confident with the track now. And how did the tire/wheel combo do?

 

"long story disclaimer"
hey brother, I wish our forum group was face to face so much to talk about :-) luckily coolant only leaked from the cap and not from a crack in the radiator. When I replaced the coolant there wasn't any leak inside the bay or on the ground. I've started to look at radiators/fans but nothing solid yet (boss/ford racing were on the list). I felt pretty confident after our first session that was a lead/follow run (instructor car + 3 cars). During the session I was looking at the curb heights, back straight brake markers, tree markers going uphill after turn 1 (trying to brake in a straight line before turning right), and playing with different gearing (paying close attention to shift light) at different parts on the track. After that I was ***** to the wall man (relative of course to my skillset :-)) Wheel/tire combo was nothing short of amazing, considering how hot it was, I didn't feel a slight slip until my last session (4th) after turn 1 going uphill. Zero tire/brake issues. Running at 33/34 hot was ideal for my tires and even looking at it today, the wear was right on the tread wear arrows :-) Highly recommend cooling ducts if you're planning to run in the heat. Driver mod is the biggest factor in the track I think. I was passing cars (some I had no business passing) and making a lot of ground during the straights and on par in the brake zones :-) I was on gas uphill/past the bridge and hitting 3.8K (shiftlight) in 3rd gear downhill into the right turn approaching the apex, I'd shift to 4th slightly before or at the start/finish line, scared I'd unsettle the car. You really have to commit in the last turn since your left side is fully loaded, car is in a steep decline, steering right (thank you harness) keeping in mind to shift and you can't let off the gas fearing you'll get the rear light and eat it :-) Ended up being a great trackday, met new friends, and was a confidence builder for me :-) Again sorry so long

 

Correction: from the cap/tank up top

 

Some great track discussion in this thread. I just had my first track day at Motorsports Park Hastings in Hastings, NE. I have only been to one other track but for my first day at this track I was able to pull the 4th fastest lap time of the day (out of about 20 cars) and according to Race Monitor I would have came in second if it was a race . Which really means nothing but it made me feel good about my performance. All but about 6 people there were had previous experience on the track and many had much more modified cars. I just swap brakes and tires for the track otherwise I'm stock. Unfortunately I didn't notice that my phone was out of storage so no Track Addict video but here's some screen shots from Race Monitor (Jim).

 

Well .... It certainly looks like you had a lot of fun and a **** good time! The issue with the overheating is one that hits close to me since I have a Boss which is NOTORIOUS for having overheating issues on track. It seems that depending on the temperature and even the elevation people will either have cooling issues or no cooling issues and be able to run all day. One of the most effective mods that you can do is to pull out the grill when you run on a hot day or buy a different more free flowing grill. Some of the best would be the Roush, the Cobra Jet grill (which is nothing more than a GT/CS grill with the sides drilled out), the Saleen, anything that will allow large amounts of airflow into the grill. You can get into the heat extractor hoods as well if you would like. I still believe the Tiger Racing hood removes underhood heat even though some people haven't noticed changes in oil or coolant temperatures. You can go with a bigger radiator, but even the Boss 302R or S (I forget which one it is) that Ford Racing makes doesn't do that great of a job of removing heat nor does the C&R/Shelby Radiator. It seems that the only one that really does help is the Fluidyne Boss302R-HX which also includes an oil cooler as well. It was created when a driving school kept sending their Boss's (if I am rembering correctly) into limp mode so they contacted Fluidyne to help solve their issues and it did the trick. It is expensive at around $1,000, but when you think that you are also getting an oil cooler and a radiator that works, it doesn't seem like too steep of a price. Even if you get a regular Boss 302 radiator you can also piece together an oil cooler setup for fairly cheap. I can get further into detail on oil cooler setups once I get to a computer if you are interested.

 

nothing major when I read about it in the forums, your usual suspects (larger radiator, fan (no parasitic loss, slight gain in hp, racing thermostat optimum 170 w/ fan "on" adjustment, and water wetter). At the time I was dealing with what to do at the track since it was the first time it had happened to me. After researching in on line it all makes sense.