Civic Type R at the track, goods and bads! Let's share our experience.

metal_driver

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ApexEight, thanks for the 2020 rad pics.
By they way, you may want to touch base with Jason at USR racing re the hood louver(s). They were working on one that inserts into our center scoop location but looks a lot like the type of louver you provided in the links.
Another simple mod that may help is wrapping your inlet pipe with gold foil..
I've also decided to give a turbo blanket a try. Just need a chance to get to track it..
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Lust

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Yeah, I've reconsidered my approach and have boiled things down to 4 mods, and nothing else, no removal of undertray, valve cover plastic, cowl rubber lining, rain duct, none of that.

1) eBay grille
For increased airflow to radiator.
2) 2020 radiator
For cooler water temps. Haven't gotten any track results yet (thanks, COVID), but there is a guy I found on FB that has one and has measured improvements on the street. There appears to be more fins in the 2020. See pic below.
3) Side-mount oil cooler
For cooler oil temps and greater oil capacity.
4) Legit hood vents
For increased airflow behind the radiator and to reduce engine bay temps. Race Louvers makes the most functional vents I've ever seen. Highly recommend their YouTube channel for a bit more info. I'm looking at this model, specifically: https://racelouvers.com/scca-t2-t3-stu-center-hood-louvers-pair-16w-x-11-5d/

These four mods directly impact water and oil temps and airflow into and out of the radiator and engine bay. While I'm not as concerned about heatsoak, these should help alleviate that as well.

A second stage could look like adding an aftermarket catted downpipe (don't want to go catless for practicality reasons) with some sort of heat insulation, and maybe a turbo blanket, but I'm not sure the blanket's effects are what I'd want.

Screenshot_20200425-232931.png
Yea these were shared by my buddy who is a Honda tech. He said the the new radiator seemed to cool down much quicker than the previous MY radiators. This is due to the new radiator having more fins like your mentioned.
Opening up the grill and getting a proper vented hood is key. Oil cooler and radiator would be next on the list for sure and are a must if you track.
 

ApexEight

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ApexEight, thanks for the 2020 rad pics.
By they way, you may want to touch base with Jason at USR racing re the hood louver(s). They were working on one that inserts into our center scoop location but looks a lot like the type of louver you provided in the links.
Another simple mod that may help is wrapping your inlet pipe with gold foil..
I've also decided to give a turbo blanket a try. Just need a chance to get to track it..
No problem. And yeah, I've talked with USR (online, but they're actually like a 30 minutes drive from me), and the vents are being finalized. The hood vent is a really cool design, but I'm liking the greater aggressiveness of the Race Louvers. The front "flap" of the Race Louvers vent stands tall above the hood and creates a low pressure area behind it to let the subsequent vents pull more air out of the engine bay. Race Louvers has wind tunnel tested their vents and claim measurable downforce from that first flap. Also, the subsequent vents seem to "dip" further into the engine bay than any other design I've seen, which I think should help even more. Lastly, the position of the Race Louvers is preferable, in my opinion. It's right above the turbo and any water that gets in would just hit the inlet pipe and turbo heatshield, whereas the USR hood scoop one is right above the valve cover which has a lot of electronics on it. I'm sure the USR ones help though, and for those looking for an easier install, I'm sure just doing the hood scoop vent alone would be a lot easier.
Honda Civic 10th gen Civic Type R at the track, goods and bads!  Let's share our experience. Screenshot_20200426-223340

Honda Civic 10th gen Civic Type R at the track, goods and bads!  Let's share our experience. Screenshot_20200426-224923

Yea these were shared by my buddy who is a Honda tech. He said the the new radiator seemed to cool down much quicker than the previous MY radiators. This is due to the new radiator having more fins like your mentioned.
Opening up the grill and getting a proper vented hood is key. Oil cooler and radiator would be next on the list for sure and are a must if you track.
That's awesome, looking forward to his track results. Glad that it's pretty cheap too.
 

ApexEight

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And oh, I've considered wrapping the inlet pipe, and actually the entire intake box and tract, in gold reflective tape, but have decided to pass for now. I'm sure every little bit helps, but taking the inlet pipe off seems like a total pain. I may do the intake box and a wrapped PRL or Eventuri silicone intake elbow if I get one. As for the turbo blanket, I'm concerned that elevated temps of the hot side of the turbo will cause the CHRA to heat up further too, which would increase oil and water temps since the stock turbo is oil and water cooled, and also potentially shorten the life of the turbo bearings. By leaving it uncovered, I think the hood vent will do a better job of keeping it and surrounding areas cool. I may be wrong about that, but that's where my mind is at now. The blanket undoubtedly reduces heatsoak, and while it's nice to keep heat away from the radiator that the turbo is right next to, I currently think the hood vent is a more effective alternative. Combining the two could be even better, but then I'd worry about water getting in and soaking the blanket... Idk. Also, the install seems like a pain too. I just need to find a good installer for the hood vent. Despite having their own product, I think USR would be happy to help.
 

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yeh the race louvers has some science behind it. the problem with this style oe replacement center vent is its located in the high pressure zone by the cowl and would likely feed air back into the engine bay making it counterproductive. the race louver site has some good info on placement
Honda Civic 10th gen Civic Type R at the track, goods and bads!  Let's share our experience. 1587989065010
 


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ApexEight, you make some good points and your right the turbo blanket is a pain to install let alone pulling the inlet pipe.
I'm going to keep an eye on the J's hood as a possible future option..
 

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Anyone running the Spoon low temp theromsat or have experience running low temp thermostats on track?
The low temp thermostat is unlikely to give a significant improvement. Once you reach the threshold temperature and your stock or Spoon thermostat is fully open, then it’s all up to the cooling system to dissipate the heat. Either thermostat will be equal in sending the coolant to the radiator. Even if the Spoon opens sooner, after 20 seconds of full throttle the stock one will be open too and after that they are equal.

Assuming you have plenty of radiator cooling capacity that can actually hold the temps down to where the Spoon makes a difference (and generally none of us do), the only reason I can think of to have a lower operating temperature is you can delay preignition and thus run slightly more spark advance, and maybe run leaner (which means it runs hotter) for more power.
 

ApexEight

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The low temp thermostat is unlikely to give a significant improvement. Once you reach the threshold temperature and your stock or Spoon thermostat is fully open, then it’s all up to the cooling system to dissipate the heat. Either thermostat will be equal in sending the coolant to the radiator. Even if the Spoon opens sooner, after 20 seconds of full throttle the stock one will be open too and after that they are equal.

Assuming you have plenty of radiator cooling capacity that can actually hold the temps down to where the Spoon makes a difference (and generally none of us do), the only reason I can think of to have a lower operating temperature is you can delay preignition and thus run slightly more spark advance, and maybe run leaner (which means it runs hotter) for more power.
Agreed, makes sense. That JDM markup at ~$130 is also just insane lol.
 

teemmy

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Has anyone deleted the fogs to make any custom ducting to a cooler or to the radiator? Just curious if it's even an option. Looks like the TCR CTR just uses it for ducting
 


ca86108

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I love this thread, a lot of great info. I am only on page 3, so I have more reading to do but.......

I understand the tires the car comes with for the track are trash. I just bought my car yesterday and it came with almost brand new 245/35/20 Michelin Pilot Supersports. Can I run these on a few track days or will they chunk and tear, etc. Are they no better than the tires the car comes with? How many track days will they last or should I go 18s right away? I don't want to waste an almost new tire. *on a side note, I did thrash my MPSS on my m3 in one track day as the shoulder completed melted off. I am an intermediate driver with about 7 track days of experience.
 

CTRismybeater

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I love this thread, a lot of great info. I am only on page 3, so I have more reading to do but.......

I understand the tires the car comes with for the track are trash. I just bought my car yesterday and it came with almost brand new 245/35/20 Michelin Pilot Supersports. Can I run these on a few track days or will they chunk and tear, etc. Are they no better than the tires the car comes with? How many track days will they last or should I go 18s right away? I don't want to waste an almost new tire. *on a side note, I did thrash my MPSS on my m3 in one track day as the shoulder completed melted off. I am an intermediate driver with about 7 track days of experience.
The tires actually aren’t that bad. I’ve got two days on mine and they look like I’ll get 2 or three more. Just keep the pressure up and don’t over drive out of turns like someone who has no sense of feeling what the car is telling you. You won’t gain any grip from PSS’s of PS4S vs the Contis, but I’d that’s the priority go for SC2’s.
 

ca86108

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The tires actually aren’t that bad. I’ve got two days on mine and they look like I’ll get 2 or three more. Just keep the pressure up and don’t over drive out of turns like someone who has no sense of feeling what the car is telling you. You won’t gain any grip from PSS’s of PS4S vs the Contis, but I’d that’s the priority go for SC2’s.

Curious as to why you recommend keeping up high tire pressures? I saw this for this contis in a thread. Usually, when I track MPSS, I go 35 hot MAX. Is it different with this platform and this wheel? only tracked MPSS with a rwd bmw m3.
 

CTRismybeater

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Curious as to why you recommend keeping up high tire pressures? I saw this for this contis in a thread. Usually, when I track MPSS, I go 35 hot MAX. Is it different with this platform and this wheel? only tracked MPSS with a rwd bmw m3.
The Contis do like to roll over as is often discussed here, but the higher pressures mitigate this assuming one doesn’t try to drive out of a turn with the front wheels off angle. I’m getting very even wear doing this and grip is great for this category of tire. In my M, yes ideal pressure in Mich’s is considerably lower.
 

ca86108

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Has anyone tried running Michelin Pilot Sport 4s on the track? I just got my car and it came with a brand new set of 4s tires in 245/30/20. Can these last a track day or two or will the shoulder get chunking and deteriorate on the track? I would hate to waste these tires. I was thinking of doing 1 track day at Laguna before dropping a ton of money on an 18" wheel and tire combo.
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