Last weekend, I was out testing with my Cougar (ex WC) and an interesting problem popped up. The track is a very tight track with a lot of hard second and third gear running and only into fourth a couple of times a lap. We normally run with the electric fans running. On initial startup the car generated 120+ oil pressure at idle (normal for car) and I let it warm up to about 190 water and 160 oil. I then went out on track and started building up some speed. oil temps at 4,000 rpm were about 60 lbs and rising to about 90 psi at 8000 rpm. Granted the first few laps were slow as I was feeling out the car after having just put it back together with a different gearbox. As I started to get on it the oil temps started to climb up to about the 240 degree range and the water to the 200 degree range and it all stabilized.

What was very interesting is that with the oil temps at about 240 degrees I started to get a bit concerned about temps and pressures so I pulled into the pits. The oil pressures at idle (2500 rpm) were around 55 - 60 psi and at 7,000 they had only climbed to about 75 psi. Not much pressure rise from idle. What I want to understand is why? Is it a problem with cooling and the need for more airflow with a higher speed fan? Should I go to a higher viscosity oil or a lower viscosity one? At Mosport the oil temps and pressures are not an issue as the track is a ton faster with more airflow.

After I let the car cool down fully the oil pressures were back to 120 psi cold at idle and after warming it up to 190 water and 180 oil the pressures were over 100 psi at 7000. The problem seems to be fairly localized to that one track. Air temps were over 90 F with about 60% humidity.

I am running Redline 20-50 in the motor and I know that the car is hard on oil and replace it every race weekend. The car has a 2 quart Accusump, a monster oil cooler and normally takes 8 quarts to change. The car has a 2.5l Duratec motor with 13.2:1 compression and pretty aggressive cams. I was running on an unleaded 110 octane fuel (all we can use now in Canada) and I was wondering if this could play a part as the car normally used to run on VP C12. The tech guy at Redline suggested going to their Race 40 Weight as it has better heat transfer abilities. Sounds good, but I am just trying to understand why.

I want to work out the system issues before I take this car out racing again. Improved Touring guys have to work things out from first principles to correct issues like this, so I am hoping you can help. Ideas?

Eric