Of course as I'm writing this it is raining and the temperature is hovering just above 50, but it won't be long until the weather starts to get really hot.

I was wondering what everyone does as far as keeping things cool between runs.

Spraying the 710's with water is a given. Normally I just let the car run with the hood closed. Should I open the hood? Spray the intercooler? If so with what?

 

Open the hood and let some of that hot air out. Spritz the intercooler with water, ice water if you have it. The water will evaporate quickly, and take much of the heat with it. The greater the temperature differential, the greater the heat transfer. I wouldn't put a bag of ice on the intercooler, for fear that it might melt and gum up the fins. After a run in hot weather, the intercooler can be too hot to leave your hand on it. We aren't allowed to spray water on course, but in grid is fine.

After the finish lights, you can turn the air conditioner on as you drive back to your grid spot. Turning on the AC also turns the radiator fan on, thus drawing out some more heat from the engine. After you start the engine to head to the staging line, you can again run the AC. Just make sure you turn it off before you start your run.

Instead of using the AC, you can also do the old "overheating car" trick of turning on the heat full blast as that will also cool the engine off. In hot weather, that is just one step to many for me, since driver comfort counts for something too.

Scott
90SM