That old OEM oil cooler issue..Part 2

 So yeah what seems like an eon ago i had had the stock oil interwarmer removed and was quite happy about it and then someone hooked up an oil temperature gauge to their GT and measured the results of their oil cooler delete. Yeah, eye opening but there was some concern over the quality of their gauge so we needed a second set of results. I got a fairly basic analogue Stack Oil Temperature gauge and got it hooked up, I should have posted this stuff Dec 2022 then July 2023 but i never so here we go.

Dec 2022 - about 3degC outside air temperature and it's fresh but dry, Exec summary - 90-92degC oil temperature (basically just far enough past the 90degC marker to see the marker, gauge back face then needle) in all steady state driving. Actual driving speed did not seem to make a difference to the oil temperature with the only difference being how fast the oil gets to said temperature and it can take a surprising distance to get up to that temperature. So, 50mph, 70mph for 30 miles give or take the occasional lift and coast for traffic it is the same temperature for the oil at 90-92degC so it's very steady Was also in stop start traffic for 25 minutes and oil temperature stayed the same 90-92degC. CHT on the dash would vary from 95-100degC throughout all the above

Come March ish 2023 the ambient temperature was a bit nicer at 12degC and oil temperature under same conditions as above was 100degC, outside air hotter makes the engine oil work a bit more which is fair enough.

June/July 2023 and boy was it hot here, 23-30degC some days. Brilliant stuff. Well sadly never got the chance to hoof it last summer but 23-30degC ambient temperatures outside and in fairly enthusiastic driving without pushing the revs to the red, the oil temperature never got above 103ishdegC temperature, could see the dial face between the 100 and the needle position. The only time it rose above this was climbing the Applecross (Bealach na Ba) road. Climbing to 2050odd feet above sea level, 25degC weather, air con on (obv!), 20percent gradients, high loads on the engine pulling out of alpine style hairpins (three of them) and constant stop / start / on the power between passing places and blind corners on a single track road. Oil temperature hit 110degC which actually matched the CHT readout as well. TBH most of the time they are pretty close to each other with steady state driving, when hoofing it the oil temperature can be higher than CHT but usually not by much. 

So in conclusion, i think for the road in this climate, I'm fine without the cooler. Hoo raa

It is a funny old world for sure

 ..so the day after my last post it was my last day of a winter weeks holiday and I decided since the sun was out I would go for a run in the car to get lunch and fuel the car up. Beautiful blue sky sunny day, not exactly warm but a crystal clear day. Of course it was too good to be true. As I was sitting at a stop light BOOM i got re-ended. Sigh. Bit of damage but nothing hefty or into the frame rails. So, two months later here i am waiting on my car being returned. Time taken for sign off for repairs was a bit, then Christmas shutdown then ordering / delivery of parts and finally fitting. Then the realisation of the wrong parts being delivered so another wait for parts. Sigh.

On the upside I did get a courtesy car 5.0 GT Autobox (A10) Mustang. Yeah, always wanted to try the A10 automatic as it sounds amazing in the youtube videos. Crisp instant gearchanges and with 10 gears it's a close ration box. Yeah, glad i had the opportunity to have an extended test drive of such a beast as I cannot ever see me buying one. Holy moses what a collection of muddled gears and economy programming of the box. More to follow but for sure I'll be happy handing this back. 

Stay safe out there folks

The new car - Gen6 GT V8 Mustang

finally I post an update to the blog. I bought a V8 5litre Ford Mustang GT and holy moses it's a big beast but first let us travel back a bit to understand the journey of how we got here.

Years ago I watched the movie Bullitt and ever since then I've wanted a Muscle Car but never thought I'd ever own one. Couple of reasons for this, firstly they are usually very expensive and perhaps more importantly the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car! Turns out with the gen6 Mustang neither are true, well they aint cheap but they are RHD so that's a major issue resolved. No point having a powerful car if you cant see anything when trying to overtake the camper van in front of you.

The MR2 had rusted through and was BER, the 350Z replacement didn't work out so I started looking to replace that after a mere 7 months of pain. Flitted between getting a boring commuter car and then maybe once things had settled, getting a second car that would be the sporty one. Then discovered the wonder of PCP and that lead me to Finance in general. Looked at an pre registered M2 and it was nice, fancy paddle action gear shift and the twin turbo (dual turbo?) straight six. Then I saw the Mustang.. Drove an auto box one, meh wasn't so good but turns out you can flick it to Sport Mode and it behaves like the fancy M2 box but a 6 speed manual was my choice. Drove one and then that was it, had to have it. The fact it is the same body and wheel colour as the MR2 was is a mere coincidence but it did seal the deal. One owner from new, 15k miles on and i was sold on it. Fast forward seven months of ownership and then Covid hit..

Not a lot been done to it. Badly washed but it has had some miles under it. Hopefully maybe later this year we'll be allowed out again otherwise it's gonna be another long hard year of nothingness. Anyhow, a picture of the barge