Stock rad - good enough on track?

[Tim_B]

Is the stock rad on the FD sufficient for track days with a stock engine?  

I have read mixed things on here, so was just after some more thoughts.

Wanna take my RX7 on track, don\'t want anything to go wrong, but equally I don\'t like spending money replacing something that does a decent job anyway :3Confused

[Jit]

i would have thought so yes. Im taking mine on the ring next week with a stock rad and engine (bar a mazdaspeed exhaust) so ill assume it would be fine..

[interloper393]

u may find the temps going quite high if its a hot day, keep the a/c on full when yer on the track bud

[Tim_B]

i would have thought so yes. Im taking mine on the ring next week with a stock rad and engine (bar a mazdaspeed exhaust) so ill assume it would be fine..

Well let me know if you have a problem with it - if so I might upgrade mine lol!

Was at the ring last week in my integra, awesome place :3gears-rh

Dunno if you\'ve been before or not, but be careful if its a busy day as you may end up needing to queue to get off.  Possibly leading to overheating, better to start cooling down early.

Aircon on full?  You sure - I\'d have thought that would increase under bonnet heat?

[interloper393]

with the a/c the fans will switch on and cool the radiator bud..

[Jit]

yeah i been there before in my integra....i know what to expect!! Also we wont be there on the public weekend...only on the evening sessions so it should be a bit cooler!

[iaint]

If you\'re really on it you will see elevated temps.  Stock enging and sotck rad at silverstone on a hot day will see most stanard FDs neeeding to take it easy for a lap after 3 or 4 hot laps.

Really key thing to ensure is that you have some form of aftermarkey water temp gauge easily visibly while you\'re on track.

I generally have the Apexi commander just diasplaying water temps gaffer taped in clear view for track days.  If you see it getting towards 105C it\'s definately time to reel it in for a bit!

As for the aircon - it\'sa clever little bugger that turns itsself off while you\'re giving it beans to reduce load on the engine and pass as much power to the wheels as possible!

I have found that heating on full hot and blowers up high really cuts down temps but, for a track day that\'s a bit too hot in the cabin!

[Mazdarotaryparts]

Is the stock rad on the FD sufficient for track days with a stock engine?  

I have read mixed things on here, so was just after some more thoughts.

Wanna take my RX7 on track, don\'t want anything to go wrong, but equally I don\'t like spending money replacing something that does a decent job anyway :3Confused

Hi Tim,

We did an article for Japanese performance a while ago about reliability and sited the poor old radiator as normally the most neglected item on the 3rd Gen RX-7.

Most people forget they are running around with a ten year old rad that is no way as efficient as when it was new due to silting up in side with water debris.

Also people forget or overlook that when you make more power with ANY mod, power converts to heat which then radiates out through the poor old already over worked radiator.

With an FD if it overheats just once properly, within the next 1,000 miles the engine normaly dies with water seal problems.

All this makes the Radiator and the AST tank (which splits with age) the two most important things on an FD.  

Try and think of it this way " a rad and new AST tank is far cheaper than an engine"!




Hope this helps,

[Bramble]

Personally I think the stock rad is barely good enough for occasional road use let alone track work. Its the first thing to upgrade imho.