COMPRESSION TEST
Took the car for a quick drive to get everything up to operating temp for the compression test.
Got 195/185/185/190 with my OTC Compression tester.
Im happy with the result considering the miles and track days. I’ve never done a valve cleaning which is most probably overdue but I haven’t had the misfires associated with carbon buildup.
Following my buddy with a rearward GoPro really gave me a new perspective of what my car is doing. I would pretty much try and get into his trunk coming down through rollercoaster.
One of the things I like about my improved racing thermostat is that they provide different temp kits. So I can swop out the guts of my thermostat and have a different opening temp.
Last year I was chasing high oil temps and knew that I was going to install an oil cooler. I decided to add the R’s Auxiliary radiator to add headroom to the coolant. This worked out great for the track.
With Winter rolling in, I knew that maintaining oil temps on the street would be challenging so I swopped out my 185F stat for 215F internals and it has definitely helped my oil temps on the street. I’m getting up to 170-190 on my commute to work, whereas before I was getting to 140-155F.
Oil temps need to be over 185 to burn off and condensation and moisture in the the oil pan.
@Mini7 Got a few things to throw your way. Did you explore brake ducting at all especially with that R bumper or are you feeling good with what the BBK provides currently and assume you have the RS3 deflectors? Have you corner balanced your car? Have you looked into front strut bracing and rear X bracing behind the seats for more rigidity?
I have explored brake ducting and spent some $$ buying hose and other components. I’ve made a drawing of the backing plate and bought carbon hose connectors from Verus Engineering.
Packaging is tight. Long story short, I never tackled the actual install as I went to a 370x34 BBK. 4-piston BBK’s will benefit from proper brake cooling as it will extend pad and rotor life. A 6-piston BBK will arguably offer a small braking improvement, but will extend pad life as the pad is 35% larger and the system will run cooler. If you are tracking, brake cooling is required but there isn’t an off the shelf solution. As you get better and faster as a driver, a BBK is required as the PP Brake setup starts to become marginal. At VIR you have two big brake events 130-140mph down to 45-50mph on the back straight and then 128-136mph down to 42-45mph on the front straight. The brakes take a beating. I do run RS3 deflectors.
The R-bumper offers better cooling for the radiator/IC stack as well as additional airflow into the wheel wells. Unless you can get them from the breaker yard, they do cost some $$’s.
I will be corner balancing my car over the Winter after investing in a set of scales. Ran out of prep time for the Fall season due to the accident. Then I was chasing the engine niggles. Plan on a small spring rate increase (8 to 9k) at the front to help better support the front end, especially under braking. Reduce rear camber a little and decide how brave I am to reduce rear toe further. I need to think on the last one as I had two code brown moments under braking when the rear stepped out un-expectedly.
Front strut and rear X-brace may provide a marginal improvement but it will not be something you will notice in your lap times. I would divert those funds to the suspension.
I have explored brake ducting and spent some $$ buying hose and other components. I’ve made a drawing of the backing plate and bought carbon hose connectors from Verus Engineering.
Packaging is tight. Long story short, I never tackled the actual install as I went to a 370x34 BBK. 4-piston BBK’s will benefit from proper brake cooling as it will extend pad and rotor life. A 6-piston BBK will arguably offer a small braking improvement, but will extend pad life as the pad is 35% larger and the system will run cooler. If you are tracking, brake cooling is required but there isn’t an off the shelf solution. As you get better and faster as a driver, a BBK is required as the PP Brake setup starts to become marginal. At VIR you have two big brake events 130-140mph down to 45-50mph on the back straight and then 128-136mph down to 42-45mph on the front straight. The brakes take a beating. I do run RS3 deflectors.
The R-bumper offers better cooling for the radiator/IC stack as well as additional airflow into the wheel wells. Unless you can get them from the breaker yard, they do cost some $$’s.
I will be corner balancing my car over the Winter after investing in a set of scales. Ran out of prep time for the Fall season due to the accident. Then I was chasing the engine niggles. Plan on a small spring rate increase (8 to 9k) at the front to help better support the front end, especially under braking. Reduce rear camber a little and decide how brave I am to reduce rear toe further. I need to think on the last one as I had two code brown moments under braking when the rear stepped out un-expectedly.
Front strut and rear X-brace may provide a marginal improvement but it will not be something you will notice in your lap times. I would divert those funds to the suspension.
Thanks for the reply. So I'm debating between the Stoptech 328x28 4-piston ST40 and the 6-piston ProdigyWerks 330x32 BBK for pretty heavy track use on 17" wheels as I'm coming to terms with the Macan Brembos not being the best track brake setup and hedging my bets to get a solid brake. Heard good things about the PW kit as it uses the same pads as a newer WRX STI, rears I'll leave stock and put some Carbotech XP8's or something. Thoughts on either path? 6-piston would be nice for the reasons you've outlined as heat is a big issue I'm facing for brakes and those have inexpensive ring replacements and can bump up to a 356x32 easily if I go 18" wheels in the future.
I was reading ZacR's build thread and he was running the R400 bumper that has similar edge vents like the R along with after-market above-fender vents. Do you take out the wheel well liners or keep them installed when you are on track? I'm thinking on the GTI to remove the fog lights and open the path between the front bumper and the wheel well for some more airflow, maybe even getting the cheap ECS fender flares to keep more air in that area. Question is how/where does that air then leave the wheel well. Fender vents make sense but haven't heard many folks running that for heat management.
I've also looked into Verus and talked with them over email regarding ducting, I'm checking to see if BRZ dust shields work on a GTI since they sell a BRZ/86 kit but realistically there is not much space like you said to install. Seems that a 6-piston with some nicely veined 2-piece rotors is the best option at the moment to keep brake cooling in check on the fronts.
Thanks for the reply. So I'm debating between the Stoptech 328x28 4-piston ST40 and the 6-piston ProdigyWerks 330x32 BBK for pretty heavy track use on 17" wheels as I'm coming to terms with the Macan Brembos not being the best track brake setup and hedging my bets to get a solid brake. Heard good things about the PW kit as it uses the same pads as a newer WRX STI, rears I'll leave stock and put some Carbotech XP8's or something. Thoughts on either path? 6-piston would be nice for the reasons you've outlined as heat is a big issue I'm facing for brakes and those have inexpensive ring replacements and can bump up to a 356x32 easily if I go 18" wheels in the future.
I was reading ZacR's build thread and he was running the R400 bumper that has similar edge vents like the R along with after-market above-fender vents. Do you take out the wheel well liners or keep them installed when you are on track? I'm thinking on the GTI to remove the fog lights and open the path between the front bumper and the wheel well for some more airflow, maybe even getting the cheap ECS fender flares to keep more air in that area. Question is how/where does that air then leave the wheel well. Fender vents make sense but haven't heard many folks running that for heat management.
I've also looked into Verus and talked with them over email regarding ducting, I'm checking to see if BRZ dust shields work on a GTI since they sell a BRZ/86 kit but realistically there is not much space like you said to install. Seems that a 6-piston with some nicely veined 2-piece rotors is the best option at the moment to keep brake cooling in check on the fronts.
For a 17” BBK I would go for the 330x32 rotor as it should have more mass than the 328x28. Im assuming the PW 6-piston caliper will have a larger pad than the ST40. If you go to Apex SM10 17x9 wheels you will be able to fit APR’s 350x34 6-piston BBK without spacers. I like my 370x34 BBK but I miss running 17” wheels and rubber. Definitely prefer my NT01’s to Toyo R888R’s.
If you decide to run the smaller rotor, I would look into getting ducting.
I run the R-lower fender liner that has vents. They are not reasonably priced.
Thanks for the reply. So I'm debating between the Stoptech 328x28 4-piston ST40 and the 6-piston ProdigyWerks 330x32 BBK for pretty heavy track use on 17" wheels as I'm coming to terms with the Macan Brembos not being the best track brake setup and hedging my bets to get a solid brake. Heard good things about the PW kit as it uses the same pads as a newer WRX STI, rears I'll leave stock and put some Carbotech XP8's or something. Thoughts on either path? 6-piston would be nice for the reasons you've outlined as heat is a big issue I'm facing for brakes and those have inexpensive ring replacements and can bump up to a 356x32 easily if I go 18" wheels in the future.
I was reading ZacR's build thread and he was running the R400 bumper that has similar edge vents like the R along with after-market above-fender vents. Do you take out the wheel well liners or keep them installed when you are on track? I'm thinking on the GTI to remove the fog lights and open the path between the front bumper and the wheel well for some more airflow, maybe even getting the cheap ECS fender flares to keep more air in that area. Question is how/where does that air then leave the wheel well. Fender vents make sense but haven't heard many folks running that for heat management.
I've also looked into Verus and talked with them over email regarding ducting, I'm checking to see if BRZ dust shields work on a GTI since they sell a BRZ/86 kit but realistically there is not much space like you said to install. Seems that a 6-piston with some nicely veined 2-piece rotors is the best option at the moment to keep brake cooling in check on the fronts.
Considering the power and weight you are dealing with, I’d recommend going bigger, even if it means moving to 18” wheels. Take into account the availability of serious track pads when trying to decide on a brake kit. Selection for ST40 calipers is pretty good, don’t know about the other setups.
Considering the power and weight you are dealing with, I’d recommend going bigger, even if it means moving to 18” wheels. Take into account the availability of serious track pads when trying to decide on a brake kit. Selection for ST40 calipers is pretty good, don’t know about the other setups.
