Cooling question - Stock + Track on Cool day OK?

[Moonchopper]

I've read numerous posts about overheating issues in the FiST, especially when tracking. I just bought a 2014 FiST, and I'm planning on tracking it at VIR at the end of February. First, any speculation on whether or not overheating will be a problem in cooler temperatures? I'm hoping it won't be above 60, so that I don't need to worry about any cooling issues, but I'd prefer to have a little more time to figure out how I'm going to handle any cooling issues - hopefully in a way that will reduce the chances of voiding my warranty! Car is completely stock at the moment (though I will likely be getting rotors + brakes), as I'd like to try to stay as close to stock as possible in order to avoid any warranty issues (Car was titled October of last year, so I effectively have the full warranty minus 3 months).

Second, Does anyone have any experience with their warranty being voided for installing an aftermarket radiator and/or oil cooler? I know that's a nebulous question, since that kind of thing can vary greatly between dealerships/brands.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! All of the posts I've seen regarding overheating tend to be from warmer days, so hopefully there's something to that.

 

[Chuckable]

I posted in response to your other question as well. My experience is limited to track day temps in 70s to low 80s with an MP215 tune. The car hit a peak water temp of 231F. Backing off a bit brought the temps down pretty quickly. It'll depend upon your temp and humidity, and upon how hard you're pushing. FYI, Ken from Mountune recommended 100 octane even on the MP215 tune in order to keep an insurance policy against detonation.

As to the oil cooler or radiator, it's not as if you're warranty gets voided, but rather each dealership will determine whether or not your specific issue is still covered by the warranty. If you go in for a bad rear wheel bearing that has nothing to do with your oil cooler/upgraded radiator. If you're all stock and your intake manifold gasket is leaking then that has nothing to do with the oil cooler/upgraded radiator. If you go in for a knock and it turns out to be a bad bearing due to oil starvation or overheating, you'd better bet they're not covering that under warranty due to the mods.

 

[juliog]

Get the oil cooler, pads (Carbotech XP10) and brake fluid. Just replace rotors with blanks if the stock ones already have deep grooves.

I've gotten water temps above 250F in 70F ambient. Car will always overheat when driving above a certain pace, even in cold weather.

Oil cooler is easy to remove if you ever need to take car back to dealership for a any major issue.

 

[BeansNCornbread]

You will be fine. I've not had overheating issues being stock and I'm pushing the car plenty hard. Your brakes will hold up but be at the very edge of the performance or at least mine were. Maybe upgrade your pads.

Always expect your warranty to be good for any modifications. Legally you can probably defend against it, but it will cost as much as the car.

 

[Moonchopper]

I'll definitely get some Carbotech pads, then - I haven't tried them before, but I know they're reputable.

As for the aftermarket cooling, I've noticed that there doesn't appear to be any drop-in radiators currently, so I might have to shelve that for now. Looks like oil cooler installation isn't terribly difficult, though, so I might go ahead and move forward with that.

In any case, much appreciated on the input!

 

[Siestarider]

Log your track events and record charge air, coolant and oil temps. I have seen high 230's coolant and 250 F oil running my 2014 as fast as I can. As long as charge air is below 105 car seems good to go.

On one hand, I cringe. On the other hand, if power is not being reduced by electronic nannies maybe factory is ok with these temps. At least for short term use, 20 min sessions for example. Mine has held together.

I have been looking for easy ways to improve cooling while tracking using stock cooling equipment, just because it seems a good idea. No joy so far.

 

[haste]

All good advice so far.

I attended HPDE 1 at VIR for two days. It was a total of 8 sessions ranging from 20-25 minutes and ambient temps ranged from 55-75f the whole weekend. The car was fine. Stock tune.

The only changes I made were new brake fluid(Torque RT700), which I am still running in the car 10k miles later. I also swapped brake pads for Hawk DTC-60 for the front but kept stock pads on the rear. I removed the front dust shields to facilitate cooling. I still had slight fade a couple times on the 2nd day as I got more comfortable with the speeds but it wasn't enough to slow me down the rest of the lap.

VIR is VERY throttle heavy. I believe it's around 80% full throttle. There are 2 major braking zones and around 3 medium braking areas. Since you are running in February, you should be fine.

Also, remember to completely turn off ESC because if you don't your brakes will be used a lot more by the car nannies.


Of course I have to link to my vir videos!

[video=youtube;untBjnAVPo0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=untBjnAVPo0[/video]

FYI, I was able to take the climbing esses flat out in 4th gear.

 

[Moonchopper]

Hell yea, that's what I like to hear! Those climbing esses are a freaking blast, especially if you hit them right. I could only maintain throttle in the Camaro, but no surprise there when you're pushing 423 RWHP.

Thanks for the input - I think I might actually try the DTC60 in front, OEM pad in back like you did, actually, and see if I hit the limits of that configuration. Good to hear there weren't any problems with overheating.

Obligatory 'Here's own video' from my last session at VIR Full:
[video=youtube;bpG5bbs8Hbg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpG5bbs8Hbg[/video]
(GoPro placement wasn't very great, but I didn't have enough window room to place my phone AND gopro - shouldn't have that problem with the Fiesta, though I was a little leery of mounting it on the outside of the car)

[edit] BTW, did you run stock rotors? I've always thought it would be better to have a set of track rotors with my track pads, so I don't have to worry so much about getting the old pad material off, but it's obviously a bit more work to swap rotors out with every run.

 

[haste]

Yeah, I ran the stock rotors. I also drove home 2 hours away on the dtc60 pads in a cautious manner but it worked well enough.
I am still using the stock rotors and the car has 25k miles on it now. The stock pads went back on without a problem. Next time I go on
track I will get a new set of rotors.

Nice video. I'd love to go out on VIR with a higher horsepower car. Next time my FiST will be stage 3 and rubbed so it will be interesting to see the speed difference on the straights.

 

[Moonchopper]

Good stuff, thanks for the help. I'll probably stick with stock rotors for now, see how they do, and figure out if I need more from there.

Yea, I pretty much just traded fore/aft G's for left/right G's I guess. I'll miss the super hard pull of the Camaro, but it's simply cheaper for me to track a smaller car like the Fiesta. From the looks of your video, it still looks like a hell of a lot of fun, in either case! It looks like you're able to maintain a lot more speed through the turns - I obviously had to slow waaaaaay down on the Camaro. We're running Full course day 1, and Grand day 2, so there's going to be a lot more turning, where I think the Fiesta will beat out the Camaro.

Anyways, best of luck to you at your next session, and thanks again for the input, all.