Suspension & Cooling- Righting some wrongs.

Thank you Boorkus, I'll take all of that on board. That about takes care of me for the meanwhile I reckon.

Thank you very much for taking the time to do such detailed replies

You have a good day mate

 

Colder thermostat is something that you would reasonably expect will affect whether your car is at the proper operating temperature. You would have to ask someone who's been through the ECU's maps to see whether it's actually a problem but mishimotos 'stat is 8C colder than stock. I wouldn't recommend a low temp 'stat for any street driving, the stock unit is fine or if you can find one with stock temperature but higher flow at full open that should be good too.

 

Actually, going back to basics I don't think it's been mentioned yet, are you running any decent temperature gauge? Either a stand-alone aftermarket unit or some sort of consult/ECUtalk device that reads from the ECU. To prescribe changes to your cooling system you should really know how it's behaving to start with, whether it gets hotter at idle, or with sustained highway driving etc.

 

Boorkus mentioned that instead of going for an oil cooler - unless mine was knackered, which it isn't - then an oil/temp gauge was the way to go.

I understand what your saying about finding out what it's behaving like before recommending a fix, at the moment I haven't got anything like that.

Currently its only being driven to and back from the mechanic/tyre shops/etc as bits and pieces are done to it. Sorry to go off on a tangent, but allow me to explain what prompted me wanting a cooler set-up. My battery has something leeching power from it and if my car sits over night, it needs a jump. My mech reckons he'll take a peek at it on Monday when my toe rods/FUCA and seatbelts and things are replaced to try and identify the cause, but for the moment disconnecting the negative will serve me well. Following that I had my wheels and tyres done (15minute round trip) and got it home and in the garage and popped the hood to disconnect the battery and when I grabbed the metal bonnet stand the thing was hot as shit, almost too hot to hold and from such a small trip. Breather mods were always something I was going to do, this experience just put some sense of urgency towards the matter as I'd rather prevent an issue before it occurs.

Will just a $150 oil and temp gauge from supercheap or repco suffice or..?

 

Speaking of Oil and Water temp gauges, what do you guys think of this one: https://www.redarc.com.au/monitoring-gauges-g52-ttt

 

Sorry Boorkus but I have to correct a few points from your post about brakes

I agree that cross drilled (steel) rotors are for show only. But slotted rotors are well and truly proven to provide performance benefits. Just have a look at just about every race series that runs steel rotors, they're all slotted. In fact some manufacturers and teams spend significant R&D on slot designs. Where you see slotted rotors fail is with brands that slot them right to the edge of the rotor. This is where they crack. The quality brands don't do this.

For street performance and mild track work, good pads, good fluid, and decent slotted one piece rotors are the starting point.

As far as brands and quality, DBA is not in the same league as Brembo or Stoptech. Hell they aren't even in the same universe! The DBA Street Slotted are fine for street or mild track use (excluding Bathurst). Absolutely no point spending any more for the DBA 4000 series, or worse, the two piece DBA 5000 series, they are not worth the extra coin. In fact the DBA 5000 series is probably worse as a performance rotor as they are a two piece fixed rotor. If DBA was serious about performance rotors, their 4000 and 5000 series would be curved vein, and their 5000 series would be floating two piece.

That brings me to DBA's 'Kangaroo Paw' marketing bullshit lol. The only true improvement for cooling over straight vein is curved vein. The problem with curved vein is you need separate moulds for left and right, this is why DBA doesn't do it, it costs them too much, but they still charge a premium for their 4000 & 5000 series regardless. And the idea of 'pillared' veins is not new, Brembo have had this in a few of their Sport range, though I don't know if they still do or not. That tells you enough about whether it is truly effective or not.

Stoptech is a quality brand that appears to have started off as a Brembo copy. Originally they were very well priced and quality is good so were a great option. A few years back they suddenly increased their prices, so not as good value now as they were. If you were looking to buy a full new kit back then, Stoptech was great value, nowadays, you'd have to consider paying the little bit extra for a Brembo kit.

So for street performance and mild track days (excluding Bathurst), good pads, good fluid, and decent slotted one piece rotors are the starting point. DBA and RDA are OK. If you want the best OEM replacement, look at importing a set of Brembo Sport Slotted. Hands down in a completely different league to anything else you'll get in Aus, and they're zinc coated so that'll help with your rust issues

For the next step up a Stoptech kit is a good starting point, or the R32(?) Brembo calipers with Stoptech two piece rotors. Avoid fixed two piece rotors, you're paying a premium for a rotor that will underperform a quality one piece in extreme braking conditions, ie serious track days, racing, or track days at Bathurst. Stoptech two piece rotors are (almost) curved vein and full floating.

If you've got the cash go straight to a Brembo GT BBK

 

Temp sensors are easy to make cheaply so yeah any supercheap or whatever unit should do the job ok, although you'll probably find a few among them that although consistent read 5-10 degrees off and may be confusing. I'd just test it with some boiling water before installing. Redarc aren't know much in sports cars but they're well regarded by campervan owners so if the price gap isn't an issue that'd be good too.
It's mainly pressure gauges and wideband O2 sensors where you really need to pay full price to get something worth using.

For your bonnet stay heating up that quickly though that sounds more like you've had air in the system and ended up with steam in the radiator. next time you have it running or move it check the temperature at different spots around the radiator, from the inlet and outlet and the upper and lower fins to see if it's flowing reasonably evenly.

 

If I'm to be replacing the rad, that should sort out the matter then I daresay?

Well after heeding the wisdom on here, and research I've cracked on with outside this forum I have many Carts filled with many things, please allow me to rattle off said items, vendors and prices for the learned members here to be the final judges of these purchases.

Suspension:
Powertrix SS + Swift Springs, Direct from Powertrix, $1805 AUD (8k front, 6k rear fine?)
OEM Shock absorber bushing kit, Z1, $373 AUD (ive opted for the KYB selective option in the drop down as that suits the powertrix's right?

Brakes:
DBA 4000 T3 Slotted rotors front and rear, Brakes Direct, $729 (wanted some zinc Brembos and had a look on Z1 and conceptZ and found a set of fronts but CBF looking further as my brain (and the tab bar) are filled to the brim!)
Project Mu NS 400 front and rear, Sparesbox, $287 (whilst by no means the dearest, I think they'll be adequate)

Clutch & Flywheel:
Exedy Clutch kit, Sparesbox, $570.95
Lightweight Flywheel, Z1, $449.13 AUD
Rear Main Seal Kit, Z1 $40 AUD (I checked all of my invoices from when the engine was lifted to see if had been done, but no)

Breather Mods:
Z1 Howe Radiator, Z1, $531.93

Items from z1 will be approx. $298 to ship, Powertrix i'm not sure as z1 have shipping quotes available whilst viewing the cart

I think that's the lot

 

Oh and as for the SMIC, i'm still on the fence. If the new Rad can sort me out i'll be happy as a pig in shit, but I am really tossing up with these bad boys: https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-pr.../z1-sidemount-intercoolers-smic-set-p-71.html

The only thing holding me back is if it'd be a difficult install or not. I'd rather not have my Mechanic hacking into light housings and things, but I would really, really like more airflow through the middle.

 

There are cheaper for the same on ebay.
Z1 not the only Z part seller.

 

Seriously don't waste your money on the DBA rotors. They are absolute shit compared to the Brembo Sport!

Even the Stoptech 1 piece slotted would probably be a better rotor, and shit load cheaper.

Do some research and you'll find you can get these factory cryo treated in the states.

Don't waste your money on premium priced rubbish.

 

Right well, I ended up with Brembo Sports Series slotted rotors front and rears for $1284.57 AUD delivered. Checked out the single piece Stoptechs, but figured forking out the extra would be worth it.

In fact I ended up spending $5882.32 .... A bit more than I bargained for. You guys with completed Z's .. Christ, that'd be a pretty packet. I daresay that should be me good for a good while now.

I will say that jumping on Aus's Brakes Direct to check out performance rotors leads to a page featuring just DBA branded gear, jumping on any US based part seller leads to an abundance of options. Andy's Auto Sport had Brembo, Stop Tech, DBA, Project Mu (I did like those, but could only find rears), EBC, Hawk and many more. Where the hell is the competing brands available in Aus? Even Sparesbox only seemed to stock DBA. I get that certain retailers are loyal to select suppliers, but a little bit of competition would be nice.

Perhaps I simply wasn't looking in the right place.

 

$1284! Don't know that I would have spent that much, but I guess the Aussie dollar and freight costs bump up the price for us unfortunately. The quality will probably last you the life of the car though.

Yes agree it's very disappointing the available range of performance rotors in Aust. Pretty much the only option is DBA and they are NOT a performance rotor. The US has such a great range of quality products in just about every category that we just can't get here, or if you can it's at such a premium you're still better off buying from the US.

Comes down to population. We just don't have the numbers to make it worthwhile to bring this stuff in and be competitive.

 

I hear ya. I was honestly surprised when Brakes Direct presented no other options.

It was a bit of cash for sure, but I know Brembo are the goods and i'd really just had enough of looking! I just have tried to address my issues adequately with the money I have and i'll tell you what; this forum has been absolutely invaluable, so thanks to the lot of you for steering me in the right direction, i'd buy you all a round if I could.

 

Heh, and here I was thinking I was being a smart cookie and pulling the trigger while the Aussie dollar is that bit higher at the moment, it still stings though! on the plus side, the Powertrix's shipped for free

 

Hey mate, yeah, I am in Rocky.

I am getting a fair bit done, more everyday it seems, just dropped a bit more on a new OEM Upper and Lower shroud and new OEM fan and fan clutch for the new Rad. I Figured its still 4:55am Monday morning in Georgia (Z1's shop) so I might aswell get them sent over with the rest of my order...Shane's to blame for bringing my attention to that !

 

I run AP Racing rotors, you should be able to get them in Aus.

 

AP Racing make an OEM replacement?
Got a part number?