Last night I got around 10 runs in, but there was also a pro nitro event going on which they closed the staging lanes for a couple times. Usually between runs I'll sit in the pits with the hood open and the fan on to cool it down. Then I'll make another run 10-15 minutes later and I'll run gradually slower. But every time they closed the staging lanes for 45 minutes or so, I'd come in and run a full tenth quicker.

Just wondering what other people do to cool their car down in the pits, and also keep it cool in long staging lanes.

 

Big bag of ice helps. It gets a little messy though.

 

Hot lapping is hard to get a car cool even for a race car. During final rounds we may only have about 15 minutes before the next round. Dial in slower and hope for the best.

There's not a lot you can do with a street car. Having your fans on while in the pits cools the fluid in the rad but does nothing for the hot coolent in the engine. At least a race car usually has an electric water pump and no thermostat to circulate the coolent through the entire system while cooling down.

Don't leave the car running in the staging lanes. Shut it off whenever you're not moving. You could leave it running since by the time you get to the starting line, the car will always be the same hot temperature. Bracket racing is consistancy and if the engine is always the same temperature, it should run the same even if it's slower than you like.

I've seen people with garden sprayers soaking the rad in the pits to help get the temperature down. Just make sure there's no water dripping as you get to the starting line.

 

saw a mustang putting bags of ice on his intake before rus, guess that helps?

 

Icing down the intake is an old stock eliminator trick. It makes the air/fuel charge colder which makes more power but really doesn't do much for cooling the motor. Most of us who race have electric fans and water pumps. We'll run these between rounds to cool as much as possible and don't let the car idle in lanes. But as was said earlier, round-robinning is hard on your car and worse in hot summer months. I've seen some guys fill those hand pumped garden sprayers with a lot of ice and water and use these to spray on the radiator while pump pump/fan is circulating coolant in motor.

 

i have an electric water pump and fans on my cr. i just wired in a switch for each of them so i could turn them on with the engine shut off. i can take the car from aroun 190 down to about 100degrees in under 2 mins. it's really amazing how fast the water will cool down without the engien on.

later
tim

 

A friend of mine has a '95 Mustang, and he brings 2 bags of ice Wrapped in towels. One for the intake, and another ontop of the maifold. Maybe that would help.

 

there is a company called pro-cooler that takes the bag of ice thing to the next level. it is a gel bag that you put in the freezer only it is really high tech. teh cover is tough and can take being banged around a lot and the gel stays cold for a long time. a bunch of guys at e-town use them instead of ice. i like the idea because it keeps water off the track.

later
tim

 

Sounds like a medical compress bag with that blue gel in it. That's not a bad idea, actually....

 

I went to the track today, and I allowed an hour between my runs, with the hood up in the face of the wind and left my manual fan switch on for about 15 minutes after turning the car off. I have my A/c out and smog pump, so technically there is not much to stay hot in there, but then again I had an exhaust leak so that doesn't help when I am sucking in my own exhaust. It's like a not purposly EGR.