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Here at Circuit Motorsports we are always striving to bring new products to our loyal customers. If we see a gap in the market, we look to fill it.
We are currently looking into making a vehicle specific, bolt-on oil cooler kit. The advantage to buying our CMS oil cooler kits will be that they have been designed to bolt in to your specific vehicle, using brackets or fasteners. This won't be some cheap ebay "DIY" debacle, where you have to use zip ties or worse to try and get the oil cooler into your vehicle.
Why do you want an oil cooler?
When oil gets hot it breaks down, and when oil breaks down it gets very thin and it loses it's abiltiy to lubricate properly. Oil pressure drops, and bad things can happen in your engine. I have personally seen at least 4 cars pop motors at track events, most of them caused by overheating their oil or coolant. With the extreme temps seen on a track and it being so hot in the summer, it just makes sense to protect your engine.
An external oil cooler works just like your cars radiator, it uses thermal transfer from the air being pushed over the surface of the heat exchanger to cool down your oil before being pumped back into the engine.
So we want to make you IS-F owners a kit. But we need a vehicle for test fitting. Anyone near Orlando, FL want to volunteer?
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The IS-F already comes with an Engine Oil cooler, right along with a Transmission Fluid cooler, from the Factory...
Joe Z
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Lexus IS-F ~ Smoky Granite Mica ~ Black Leather ~ NAV ~ ML
Joe Z Intake - Designed by an Enthusiast for Enthusiasts
Performance Tube Systems Full True Dual 304 SS Exhaust
Five Axis R5:F 19x8.5 & 19x9.5 ~ Continental ExtremeContact DW 235-35 & 265-30
Project Mu ~ D2 Racing Sport Coils ~ Optic Blue AeroTect ~ Xenon Depot LEDs
"The Relentless Pursuit Continues...."
Last edited by Joe Z; 06-24-09 at 03:51 PM..
Reason: added "from the Factory... "
The IS-F already comes with an Engine Oil cooler, right along with a Transmission Fluid cooler, from the Factory...
Joe Z
I haven't seen one yet, so you know how many rows it is, or core size?
I figured I would ask and see if anyone wanted an aftermarekt kit, stainless lines, a/n fittings and an oil sandwhich plate with extra mounting holes for oil pressure/temp sensors.
It does not have vehicle specific brackets or fittings. Ebay universal kits are ok, if you want questionable fittings, sandwhich plates and the hassle of making your own mounting solutions.
I haven't seen one yet, so you know how many rows it is, or core size?
I figured I would ask and see if anyone wanted an aftermarekt kit, stainless lines, a/n fittings and an oil sandwhich plate with extra mounting holes for oil pressure/temp sensors.
It's actually Liquid Cooled...
Also, comes with the Oil Temp sensor / gauge. Shown below on the left, under the "D" with 3 bars..
__________________
Lexus IS-F ~ Smoky Granite Mica ~ Black Leather ~ NAV ~ ML
Joe Z Intake - Designed by an Enthusiast for Enthusiasts
Performance Tube Systems Full True Dual 304 SS Exhaust
Five Axis R5:F 19x8.5 & 19x9.5 ~ Continental ExtremeContact DW 235-35 & 265-30
Project Mu ~ D2 Racing Sport Coils ~ Optic Blue AeroTect ~ Xenon Depot LEDs
"The Relentless Pursuit Continues...."
At the track on a 102 degree day, that gauge will read one bar from the top. It would be helpful to know what those bars actually mean. It would also help if there were additional capacity for the existing cooler. The water/oil cooler is pretty much identical to the one in the 2JZ-GTE. Those coolers are known to lack sufficient capacity even when stock.
If it were possible to double the capacity of the cooler, I believe we'd have a winner. I'm not a big fan of air/oil heat exchangers simply because the water/oil units will do a better job of stabilizing the oil temperature - both warming and cooling as necessary depending on the engine's operating parameters because the cooling system is temperature controlled.
I suspect if I had removed the long life coolant and replaced it with distilled water and Water Wetter (or some other anti-corrosive) my temps would have been somewhat lower overall, but I also think the OEM unit is just big enough for light duty and not big enough for extended duty on a very hot day.
Most performance mods need a watch and timed course to demonstrate actual improvement. Few deliver the advertised claims. Many are actually worse than stock. The best performance mods are made to the driver.
Emotional arguments - They're not just for chicks anymore.
I have read many heated debates about cooling oil Vs cooling the engine block.
But with out a doubt, I truly believe, the more cooling options you can have the better.
As lobux has stated, it seems the stock engine oil cooler is just about maxed out when pushed on hard / hot track conditions. I have to admit, one would think, the IS-f was pushed hard enough (during testing phases) to reach overheating operating limits, resulting in a beyond capable cooling system.
Maybe it would never go past the "last bar" threshold? Has anyone seen the oil temperature gauge hit the top bar? And would this induce limp mode? A question that remains to be answered.
Ahhhh that's the kind of oil cooler it has. I know how that works, my Subaru STI has the same exact oil cooler from the factory. They are adequate for street use but definitely don't hold up to track duty.
It would be a good idea to get some kind of gauge if one plans on doing track days, so they can properly monitor oil temp. Anything over 270* is getting pretty hot, and getting on to 300* means you should definitely cool it down before further driving. Maybe we should post up some of the gauges we have...
Anyway, it would be nice to have a bigger air/water heat exchanger for the oil cooler but as the stock system is setup it would take quite a bit of moving stuff around if the oil filter is where I think it is. On the STi the oil filter is already getting low if you use a sandwhich plate. If you were to make the cooling element bigger, or longer, to aid in oil cooling, you could be pushing the oil filter down to a dangerous height. Meaning you could risk hitting the oil filter on road debris and that would be real bad.
And air/air oil cooler is definitely the easiest and cheapest, compared to a big air/water setup. Same for intercoolers. I'll post up some pics of what we would be using for the basis of our kit.
If there is interest we'll try and make one up for you fellas.
At the track on a 102 degree day, that gauge will read one bar from the top. It would be helpful to know what those bars actually mean. It would also help if there were additional capacity for the existing cooler. The water/oil cooler is pretty much identical to the one in the 2JZ-GTE. Those coolers are known to lack sufficient capacity even when stock.
If it were possible to double the capacity of the cooler, I believe we'd have a winner. I'm not a big fan of air/oil heat exchangers simply because the water/oil units will do a better job of stabilizing the oil temperature - both warming and cooling as necessary depending on the engine's operating parameters because the cooling system is temperature controlled.
I suspect if I had removed the long life coolant and replaced it with distilled water and Water Wetter (or some other anti-corrosive) my temps would have been somewhat lower overall, but I also think the OEM unit is just big enough for light duty and not big enough for extended duty on a very hot day.
^^ Great stuff Lance... !!
If we are already at 10 Qts.. I wonder how much more oil would be needed for an external air cooled system.... ?
Also, shouldn't one of the Lexus hand held OBDII readers or Tech Stream Lap Top pick up the oil temp reading that goes to the digital gauge??
It would be great to know what the threshold temperature is for each bar as it passes to the next level..
Regards,
Joe Z
__________________
Lexus IS-F ~ Smoky Granite Mica ~ Black Leather ~ NAV ~ ML
Joe Z Intake - Designed by an Enthusiast for Enthusiasts
Performance Tube Systems Full True Dual 304 SS Exhaust
Five Axis R5:F 19x8.5 & 19x9.5 ~ Continental ExtremeContact DW 235-35 & 265-30
Project Mu ~ D2 Racing Sport Coils ~ Optic Blue AeroTect ~ Xenon Depot LEDs
"The Relentless Pursuit Continues...."
Lexus IS-F ~ Smoky Granite Mica ~ Black Leather ~ NAV ~ ML
Joe Z Intake - Designed by an Enthusiast for Enthusiasts
Performance Tube Systems Full True Dual 304 SS Exhaust
Five Axis R5:F 19x8.5 & 19x9.5 ~ Continental ExtremeContact DW 235-35 & 265-30
Project Mu ~ D2 Racing Sport Coils ~ Optic Blue AeroTect ~ Xenon Depot LEDs
"The Relentless Pursuit Continues...."
^^^^ Not yet Joe, I still see the "D" instead of "M"... close but not there yet.
LoL... that happened right after I put my cell phone down...
__________________
Lexus IS-F ~ Smoky Granite Mica ~ Black Leather ~ NAV ~ ML
Joe Z Intake - Designed by an Enthusiast for Enthusiasts
Performance Tube Systems Full True Dual 304 SS Exhaust
Five Axis R5:F 19x8.5 & 19x9.5 ~ Continental ExtremeContact DW 235-35 & 265-30
Project Mu ~ D2 Racing Sport Coils ~ Optic Blue AeroTect ~ Xenon Depot LEDs
"The Relentless Pursuit Continues...."
Who wants an IS-F specific Oil Cooler kit?
Linear Mode
