New power steering cooler and ducting fitted. Opinions please.

[pedrosixfour]

Spent the day getting a cooler plumbed into the car and once there was no sign of any leaks I turned my attention to the required vent and ducting.

 

To say I'm a butcher would be a slight against those in the meat industry but I always wanted a reason to carve a hole in the top section of the front bumper and the cooler was the perfect excuse.

 

I sliced through the bumper on three sides and then folded the resulting flap in order to make the "floor" of the vent/duct feeding the cooler.

 

I found a little piece of tin and decided to use this to fashion the sides and the top of the duct, this was only meant to fill the gap between the bumper and the cooler but then the child in me got too loud to ignore and I ended up with this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A cooler in every hole:)

 

 

Please please, try to ignore the shocking appearance of the car in general, I'm painting it soon if I get the opportunity, what I want to know from you good people is if the protruding section of the duct is completely ridiculous.

 

I thought the blue material was removeable and I'd have a polished finish at the end of the day but it appears to be stuck fast so logic would suggest I paint it the same as the rest of the car when I do it.

 

I myself can't decide at the moment, there is still a bit of work needed to secure it so the bumper can remain as a quick release jobbie and maybe I'd need to see it out in the daylight with fresher eyes.

 

So what do you think, keep the vent as it is or pare it back flush with the bumper?

Edited March 16, 2013 by pedrosixfour (see edit history)

[hodge]

It doesn't need to be there, the hole in the bumper is way enough air flow for the cooler.

[tooquicktostop]

Looks terrible

[Guest Nicholas]

Barryboys are gonna love that! did you use rubber mounts for the cooler? if not you could have a problem after a few bumps.

[listy]

Cut it down please, I beg you!

 

Make it flush mate, it looks a bit silly as it is, and could redirect any track debris straight into the cooler too (unlikely I know, but possible )

[pedrosixfour]

Barryboys are gonna love that! did you use rubber mounts for the cooler? if not you could have a problem after a few bumps.

 

I didn't use mounts, no. The cooler is mounted at all four corners and can only move in unison with the crossmembers its fitted to.

[downimpact]

looks a bit gash, though saw a 300zx running the same idea on a track day recently, so you are not alone.

[buster]

Ew could that not have gone behind the bumper as its only for the power steering

[pedrosixfour]

Ew could that not have gone behind the bumper as its only for the power steering

 

Eh, the cooler still needs a good flow of air over it in order to be useful so no, the cooler is in the right place so don't worry about that, its just the vent I had doubts about.

 

I think I'll shave it back to follow the lines of the bumper lads, it won't make any difference to the performance of the cooler and I do think it would look better like that now myself in fairness.

[Slutters]

Try this next....

 

 

[jazz1]

Lol I couldn't stop laughing, seriously Toyota did not design it like that, get a new bumper, or go veilside.

[Brazil]

Really budget mod..! You are trying to re-invent the wheel there buddy...!

[pedrosixfour]

Try this next...

 

Why? Thats just silly. Blocking the car's radiator like that.

 

Lol I couldn't stop laughing, seriously Toyota did not design it like that, get a new bumper, or go veilside.

 

No, I'm happy with the one I have thanks.

 

Really budget mod..! You are trying to re-invent the wheel there buddy...!

 

All I'm actually trying to do is stop my power steering fluid from boiling while out on

the track, I thought that much was obvious.

 

I'll cut it back tomorrow, but now i've decided to see what it looks like when not entirely flush but enough that it doesn't cause offence.

[Scooter]

Why don't people with track cars perhaps get a bigger reservoir instead/as well as better cooling?

[Brazil]

Did Paul's, Steve's or Ryan G's time attack supra have such contraption? errmmm no...!

[pedrosixfour]

Did Paul's, Steve's or Ryan G's time attack supra have such contraption? errmmm no...!

 

Since when has a properly ducted power steering cooler been regarded as a "contraption"?

 

I for one would imagine that the majority of the cars that see a lot of track use on this forum have some form of power steering cooler, albeit mounted elsewhere.

[pedrosixfour]

Why don't people with track cars perhaps get a bigger reservoir instead/as well as better cooling?

 

Because a bigger reserve, on its own, would probably only delay the problem mate. Unless the reservoir is considerably bigger and somewhere other than the hot

engine bay the cooler will do a better job without needing to alter the remainder of the system.

 

As far as I can figure anyway.

[Kirk]

Question D, wouldn't it of been easier to convert to an auto rad and plumb the PS pipes into that, utilising the built in cooler? A bit late now granted!

[The-Plethora]

Functionality aside can you imagine hitting a pedestrian with that?

[Kirk]

It's a track car, not a road car ffs.

[pedrosixfour]

Question D, wouldn't it of been easier to convert to an auto rad and plumb the PS pipes into that, utilising the built in cooler? A bit late now granted!

 

Oh probably mate, but where is the fun in that? And it seemed a shame not to cut a new hole

in the car.

 

Functionality aside can you imagine hitting a pedestrian with that?

 

And all joking aside if pedestrians were a concern, which they aren't, I believe (and correct me if I am wrong) the beading with a radius of more than 3mm I fitted to the leading edge of the vent means it would actually comply with the regulations concerning road cars.

 

I only fitted it as it was to hand but its irrelevant at this stage.

[jagman]

Opinion;

The heat from power steering is generated by the high hydraulic load , the highest load is with the car stationary and moving the front tyres ,parking and slow engine speed moving , high speed front tyre movement has a lesser load and faster pump operation and less tyre movement .

race cars usually have less weight too , and many public roads more turns per mile ,so why does the stock cooling need improvement ?

[pedrosixfour]

Well I can't speak for anyone else that tracks their car but my fluid boils every time I go to Mondello, which is a particularly tight one for the Supra to negotiate.

 

I would have to suggest that some of the extra forces that the car experiences while cornering at a track must also be experienced by the fluid in the steering rack. More force means more work means more heat, no?

 

Surely the power steering system suffers the same performance issues that all the car's systems do on a track, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the characteristics of that particular track?

 

Aren't a car's shortcomings usually highlighted at a track?

Edited March 18, 2013 by pedrosixfour (see edit history)

[jagman]

I would say your steering pump or rack or lines has a problem then if you boil fluid .

what extra forces? you only turn left or right , its rear wheel drive so no torque steer , any outboard weight roll load in a bend is off set by less inboard weight load ?

Maximum force must be against maximum friction ie stationary . wider tyre would increase force needed sure .

Not everything is maximum on a track , you cant climb a 30 mile hill or decend a 30 mile hill on brakes constantly , you dont stop after 5 laps and queue in traffic for half an hour like the m25 , then hoon off ,only to stop again , you dont race in snow (usually) , you probably never select reverse gear for example and seldom first gear .

Dont/didnt lots of race cars have no power steering at all? how did they drive them with the "extra force"?

[pedrosixfour]

Why so arguementative?

 

Some race cars have no power steering, yes. Some also don't have a brake servo, should I remove mine too?

 

But race cars usually come with a race car driver, that type of person who through years of training and preparation is now so physically tuned they are capable of operating such a machine at the ragged edge with little or no assistance on the controls. These people aren't employed for their good looks. If my head was subjected to a force of 4g I would break my neck, these people can withstand that assault for hours at a time, heavy steering is not something they are going to complain about. Therefore its a system the manufacturers can ignore in the design.

 

But to continue with that particular arguement the above only seems to cover a certain type of racing, once you venture into anything that uses production based vehicles as the starting point I think you'll find that power steering becomes crucial to performance. I don't know if you've watched much rallying but on several occasions I seen drivers comment that they lost a lot of time during a particular stage because the power steering failed. Why don't they simply build a car without the system onboard? I don't know, go ask them if you are that keen to get to the root of all of this.

 

I've never claimed to be a good track driver, I enjoy it, but thats different. I usually need to correct my line into a corner, taking a second and possibly even a third bite of the cherry to find the correct entry point, then missing it completely anyway because my brain can't get the signal to my hands quick enough. When I do finally turn in I can usually hear the overloaded front tyres complain about what they are being asked to do as I find my foot still firmly planted on the brake and all the car wants to do is let its momentum carry it on into the gravel traps so it can have a little rest. Once the car begins to follow the road again my right foot gets all giddy and stamps on the accelerator which leads to the rear trying to over take the front, if I'm quick enough I can usually catch this with the front wheels, balancing a small slide at the rear with furious corrective steering to keep the front...well, in front.

 

Now are you seriously going to sit there and tell me that that type of driving won't adversely affect the fluid in the system which is connected to the big round thing in front of me that I am sawing away at? Steering is used constanly on the road, even a straight one to counter undulations, I accept that, but it would never be the 3/4 lock I've had to apply to the wheel to keep from eating armco now would it?

 

I'm not the first person on this forum to fit a power steering cooler, I might be a tight bastard but I'm sure the others would correct any problem in their lines or pump before trying to "band-aid" the problem with a cooler.

 

Thats all I'm going to say on the matter, I've too much work to do on the car before its next track outing to spend anymore time defending what I've done to it so far.

 

Christ, I mean wait until you see what else I have planned.