R33 Boost For Track Days

[evil_weevil]

Hey guys,

thought I'd post it in here for the motorsport gurus to answer!

Ok, so my car makes 195rwkw on 12psi but for some reason, I have a "thing" in the back of my mind that tells me not to run on the high boost for track days, so with the boost controller its on 7psi - but does spike a bit upto around 9

What psi do you guys with stock turbos run at the track?

Has there been issues?

Im scared the turbo will let go on the higher boost setting on 12 - although does have a tendancy to spike a bit also

(mods - fmic, turbosmart b/c, powerFC/full exhaust)

I always do the "warm up" laps, go hard for a few and cool down after - I guess Im just doing "prevention over cure"

I guess my post is asking - would it be safe to run that amount of boost through the standard turbo for track days - Im not out there competing, but for events like hill climbs and the bathurst super sprint I may use the high oost as its only for 30-60 seconds per go.

I dont know of my post is making sense!

d'oh!

Cheers,

Chris

[gts-4 dreamer]

with a decent controller, good cooling, sub 20deg days 10psi on standard turbo for 20 min sprints should be ok... Mine holds up on that and I do hold it in higher revs longer but there are 2 other things... I have other cooling, a larger radiator and a spare turbo so i care allot less.

got oil cooler ?

Im guessing you removed the covers of the brakes front AND BACK ?

Edited June 12, 2007 by gts-4 dreamer

[evil_weevil]

yep, got an 11 row oil cooler at the front guard

ah no...havent removed them....

Yeah, with you having a spare turbo thats good, Im considering it - thats my main concern, dont want to do any damage to the turbo.

Motor I look after pretty will I say

[JDSracing]

yep, got an 11 row oil cooler at the front guard

ah no...havent removed them....

Yeah, with you having a spare turbo thats good, Im considering it - thats my main concern, dont want to do any damage to the turbo.

Motor I look after pretty will I say

These cars are a lot tougher than most people think, I've had my turbo (standard) glowing red many times (I'm pretty sure that isn't good, but it's held up very well considering), aslong as you let it cool down properly you should have too much of a problem. I run 9psi on the track, no problems with it.

I just have an intercooler, no oil cooler, standard radiator (1.5cm thick) - my oil hits about the 120 / 125 degree mark (assuming the guage is accurate) and i haven't had any problems as yet (fingers crossed).

If you need a bit of extra cooling you can always pop out the passenger side headlight too, I've found that can add a decent amount of cooling if you start running a bit hot, also good if you have a tendancy to boil power steering or brakes on an ABS car.

I am completely open to more brake cooling ideas though, already have ducting onto them.

Is it worth taking off the dust covers? Was it a noticeable improvement?

[evil_weevil]

Im very interested in the brake cooling!

So by the sounds of it most people are running near on stock boost at the track - sounds good, I'll just keep doing what Im doing

[Sydneykid]

12 psi for 3 laps = ceramic in the cat, done it twice, seen it happen at least 5 times, maybe more.

10 psi for 5 laps = no problem

Oil at 125 degrees is bad news, stay under 115.

cheers

[Duncan]

I did eleventy billion track days on my gtst on 10psi with no problems. I think its when people are trying to push 50-100% more power without improving cooling that they have trouble

[Roy]

Im still yet to personally see an R33 GTS25t munch a turbo on the track. I hear that it is common, its just that i have never seen it. Even at all the SAU DECA days down in Victoria, which have been running since 2005...not a single failed turbo.

So no doubt it does happen, but hmm. If you cant afford to have one let go then i woudl say dont touch the boost control at all, just run std pressure. I know GTRGeoff thought he had a high flowed turbo on his red R33 GTS25t. I know it did a fair few track days with the turbo boosted all the way up to make about 220rwkws...lol when it came off it was s std R33 turbo

[evil_weevil]

Cheers guys!

Well - I can afford a hi-flow / new turbo but I prefer to put my $$$ elsewhere such as the cooling/suspension/brakes which 3/4 is complete rather than power.

I'd just like to keep my turbo/motor as safe as possible

[JDSracing]

Oil at 125 degrees is bad news, stay under 115.

Thanks for the heads up, when I have the money I'll look into a oil cooler!

[evil_weevil]

Thanks for the heads up, when I have the money I'll look into a oil cooler!

I got mine through performance wise and took just over a week from ordering

Got Grey Imports to install it and looks good and work done great

[gts-4 dreamer]

I thought dust cover removal, bleeding brakes after SOME hard use and good pads were common stuff? I could be wrong.. anyone confirm increaseing airflow to the inside of the disc help cooling and not just help prevent warping rotors under stress ?

I cant give you ANY sort of numbers on dust covers helping cooling of the brakes unfortunately. Its something my father always did with his cars and always did with mine though they WERE earlier cars... I have removed anything I can conceive of hindering airflow around the brakes. I can tell you my rotors have lasted longer than some of my friends but they tend to use thier brakes more somehow, may be the different pads also. Im still running the sumimotos as the brembos are nice but not tuned to my abs / brake balanceing systems and the last thing I need is to go for light braking on a long bend aka turn 1 ec, an come ass infront of tits.... which I have seen on the upgraded shit boxes like mine. haveing to stick with abs is hard to get used to... turfing abs is not an option as I need the bloody thing to run my diff properly.. besides it would have saved my car on the street a couple of times in the wet by now as I would have stuffed the braking many a time by now id say. my car does track work and weekender stuff around the place.. love it.

[Frink]

my stock disc's were badly warped after a trackday. would recommend buying slotted rotors, however, if your sensible about how you drive and do 2-3 quick laps followed by 1-2 cool down laps, then you shouldn't have too much of a problem with both your brakes and your engine oil temps... i would also recommend getting some stainless steel braided brake lines to replace the standard rubber ones, as they expand with the heat and will undoubtly contribute to brake fade. its a scary thing trying to pump pressure into your brake lines while your doing 180kph and trying to slow down for turn 1 at wakefield!

[Duncan]

best thing you can do for your brakes, wallet, fun levels and all round sanity is buy some proper track tyres/semi slicks. You get significantly higher corner speeds which means you need to brake heaps less, and the fun on tracks is all about going round corners quickly right?

And it will save you wrecking road tyres - you can kill a set of them in 1 track day while semis should last 4-6 days depending on how many laps you run

[tjandriesen]

my stock disc's were badly warped after a trackday. would recommend buying slotted rotors, however, if your sensible about how you drive and do 2-3 quick laps followed by 1-2 cool down laps, then you shouldn't have too much of a problem with both your brakes and your engine oil temps... i would also recommend getting some stainless steel braided brake lines to replace the standard rubber ones, as they expand with the heat and will undoubtly contribute to brake fade. its a scary thing trying to pump pressure into your brake lines while your doing 180kph and trying to slow down for turn 1 at wakefield!

One cause of warped rotors is pulling your handbrake when you come in after a run.

[tjandriesen]

And it will save you wrecking road tyres - you can kill a set of them in 1 track day while semis should last 4-6 days depending on how many laps you run

I can confirm that. Had one disintegrated on the way home from the track.

[evil_weevil]

semis - check

going fast through corners? hmm...sometimes I fail and will just drift them haha

one thing I always do is do 3 laps of the car park after each session

[deant1]

just buy some carbon disks! problem solved. not like they cost much or anything............. oh and maybe get some asbestos pads to suit

Like mentioned above though, never pull your handbrake on after youve being giving your brakes some stick. not only can it warp the disks it can also fark up your pads, boil your fluid and whatever else bad things people know of. pull in and leave it in gear. no worries

[R31Nismoid]

Im still yet to personally see an R33 GTS25t munch a turbo on the track. I hear that it is common, its just that i have never seen it. Even at all the SAU DECA days down in Victoria, which have been running since 2005...not a single failed turbo.

So no doubt it does happen, but hmm. If you cant afford to have one let go then i woudl say dont touch the boost control at all, just run std pressure. I know GTRGeoff thought he had a high flowed turbo on his red R33 GTS25t. I know it did a fair few track days with the turbo boosted all the way up to make about 220rwkws...lol when it came off it was s std R33 turbo

There have been one or two @ DECA now.

They dont get into the track/drag day and there are another 4-5 aswell i think off the top of my head

[Roy]

I havent seen one at DECA. I have missed two though. And i did finally see one at Heathcote the other day