FL5 at Road Atlanta Part 2

[Cdsbblue]

Took the FL5 back to Road Atlanta for a 3 track day event. Pretty experienced on this track with well over 1000 laps. Relevant mods include whiteline front camber joint, SPC rear camber arms, Paragon discs, R5-R7 front brake pads (see below), P3 rear pads, Castrol SRF, RV6 rear sway at middle stiffness, removal of rain shield under the hood, Motul 300V 0w-30, Falken RT 660 - 265/35/18. Camber -3.5 F/2.5R. Mode was Individual so that I could put suspension in Sport mode. Kept nannies on - they come off next track event. I told myself I'd keep nannies on for a couple of events to get accustomed to a front wheel drive car and this one in particular. Ambient temps were 65-80. Dry track. Perfect.

Car is just a blast on the track. Lots of guys were coming over to figure out what I'd done to it - they assumed I'd put a power mod in. What's funny is that it is not real fast in the straights (maybe 135-137 on back straight) but can really carry speed in turns. Eventually drivers of fast movers would just lift in the straights to let me pass and I'd never see them again because there are plenty of turns at Road Atlanta where the FL5 shines. My times were generally in the 1:42 range, with my best at 1:41:09. Stock power with my mods and nannie delete, this car is easily a sub 1:39 car at an intermediate skill level. Someone with talent and an oil cooler - knock off 2 more seconds.

The R5 pads wore at a rate 1MM per day, the P3 pads are still at 7MM (5.5 track days). Road Atlanta has a few heavy braking zones and I like to brake hard and late so I was pleased with wear. No brake fade whatsoever. Continued to see a bit of irregular brake pad deposits so switched to R7 pads for the last day. I bedded them but I needed to be more diligent about removing the pad deposits (via honing or driving with the R7 pads for a couple of hundred miles). By the third lap of each session on the last day I would get significant brake judder and the pads would glaze. Kept trying it for a few sessions, but called it an early day.

I would get three or so laps before I'd have to take it easy due to oil temps. After a few hard laps, the oil temps would get near 270 and I'd have to let up a bit. Within a half-mile or so , they'd be back down in the 240-250s. No other temps moved out of range and I never noticed power being pulled.

The camber settings were spot on. Chalked the tires and adjusted hot psi to around 35. Cold PSI was 26 for left side and front right, 28 for right rear. A little bit more outside wear but pretty even. Before camber adjustments, the outside wear was significant. Keep in mind that almost all high speed corners are cambered right turns so results will vary. I'd also note that trail braking with this car has to be very gentle - turn in is already pretty awesome. Experienced some pushing on track out but only if really running hot - much like any other car really.

One mod I'd like to research is an oil cooler. That was a real bummer.

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[ne_typer]

Even if you invest in an oil cooler, the temps won’t change. The oil temp for these cars is a calculated value based on load, coolant temperatures, IATs, etc. just FYI.

 

[PointByPatrol]

Do you have any cockpit video?

 

[Cdsbblue]

Do you have any cockpit video?

I have a garmin but not sure how to upload and some of the sessions have been overwritten I think.

 

[Cdsbblue]

Even if you invest in an oil cooler, the temps won’t change. The oil temp for these cars is a calculated value based on load, coolant temperatures, IATs, etc. just FYI.

So, I'd need an actual oil temp gauge I guess.

 

[Clutch]

Thanks for both of your writeups on RA. Just recently picked up a CW FL5 and am excited to go there in the spring. I'll probably just go with upgraded pads, fluid, and shims to start.

Sad to hear that overheating is still a potential issue. It would be nice to get some actual oil temperature measurements with and without cooling upgrades. I'd really rather not replace the intercooler, radiator, and add an oil cooler without more solid data (though also thank you to @PointByPatrol for documenting your journey). Also is there an actual source of truth for what the algorithm is for the calculated oil temperature?

 

[PointByPatrol]

No problem! Happy to be the guinea pig! Not sure what the actual equation is for the algorithm, but I would imagine it's a combination of water temp, intake temp, and oil pressure. I've attached below the oil cooler data sheet that shows the results of HEL Performance's testing. Based on the chart, with the oil cooler they didn't seem temps above 224 Fahrenheit, though without the cooler that number was 255 degrees. I'd say it's a very strong representation of how effective an oil cooler can be on curbing unwanted temperatures.

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