Flyin' Miata : Cooling tech

Turbo Miatas are often prone to cooling problems. Why? Well, on FM turbo systems the engine coolant travels through the turbo to cool the bearings. Also, in a combustion engine about 1/3 of the energy in the gasoline is converted into heat. So an engine making 200hp makes twice as much heat as an engine making 100hp regardless of the method used to boost the power.

So what can you do? Here's a list - start at the top and work your way down. FM cooling section

make sure your coolant is fresh and you have no more antifreeze than necessary. A 30/70 mix of antifreeze to water works well. Higher levels of antifreeze will not cool as well, as the antifreeze is less effective at transfering heat. Remember to make sure you have enough to protect your car in the winter! An antifreeze tester can be purchased to easily test the lower limit of the freeze protection of your mix.

again, is your coolant fresh? Try a system flush.

put on a higher pressure radiator cap. Most Miata caps fail when tested. Stock is 0.9 bar (13 psi) - we recommend a 1.1 bar (16 psi) cap.

add ducting underneath and beside the radiator. This will funnel all the air through the radiator instead of letting some go around. Here's the ducting used on the Track Dog.

wire your fans to run in parallel if you have a 1.6. (instructions)

install a larger radiator such as our race rad or a dual core.

put in high-flow fans

try a reverse-flow cooling reroute.