removing heater for track

[nicksonmsport]

currently building a track only car, and want to remove the heater box, my concern is misting up on wet track days, does any1 have a solution for this, as i would love to get rid of te heater/ac box to tidy things up and save some weight.

many thanks
nick

 

[chrisg]

Nick

You're concerns regarding misting up are well founded ! When we ran a 924 race car in 98 & 99 it had no heater matrix nor system.

It did get a little steamy on the odd wet race we had - usually sorted with copious application of internal rainex type wipe on solution.

As it was a race car with a poly rear hatch and windows there was lots of ventilation so it was never too bad.

Chris

 

[944 man]

I wouldnt ever remove the heater unless youre having to fire seal the bulkhead. The blower is virtually irreplaceable and the heater also offers a useful increase in coolant capacity and an auxiliary radiator, which can be invaluable.

People always seem too keen to remove everything without, it seems, knowing why. How many racers have air conditioning, does everyone think? The answer is that any relatively modern car will, because its benefit is greater than the penalty associated with retaining it.

Simon

 

[Neil Haughey]

As Simon says. He is bang on the money as usual. I have the full stock heater box and fan in my race car. It can be invaluable for both extremes of temperature, same with the electric windows. Last year at Silverstone the heat was unreal, being able to whack the fan on with the centre vent aimed at my face was a big help when lining up. Likewise at the end of the 3rd race they took us down the pit lane and round between pits and scrut bay, this time the electric windows came into their own as once off the "race" area I could whack both windows down and get some air through the car. It was torture but with big crowds and a back up of race cars we where stuck there for a bit before we could creep back round to our slot in the paddock. When it rains the heater is of course invaluable.

Having said all that some live without such niceties and if our cars had the engine in the back we could fit an electrically heated screen, unfortunately I haven't seen such a screen on sale in the UK for the front engined cars.

 

[944 man]

Ive been looking too. Ive found one for my MX-5 NB though! Same with geared down starter motors, although I did find a firm whod convert a Nissan part to fit any manufacturers car, but I seem to have misplaced it...

 

[chrisg]

Interesting point regarding fitment/retaining of A/C versus cooling ambient air.

One of the Alfa DTM's actually had a very small and efficient AC unit fitted - they did the calculations and worked out that it was more efficient to have a small power loss with the tiny AC unit rather than venting external air into the car to cool the driver down....

 

[Hilux]

I can see why you`d remove the a/c as this is a weight saver however the weight saving removing the heater might be 3kg and then add back fire stopping the bulkead as 944 man says but you will need to put something in there when it mists up in my view.

I believe Range Rovers used to have an electric screen pre - heater (element in the air path) which I would imagine is light but to benefit you`ll still need a fan.

Try here but the effort involved aint worth it in my view

Also 944 man is right in that the heater matrix offers additional cooling - at the first trackday I did in the 944T the thermostat stuck partially shut, I was able to do limited laps at a time with the heater on full blast and get it home (it was in the summer and we sweated like you couldnt believe) but it tempered the temperature enough.

I would put the money and effort into serious trackday tuition over a potential 3kg weight saving and misted up windsreen any day

 

[944 man]

My fan failed on the hottest day in 2009 and I managed to keep the car cool using the heater. I nearly died though as the car didnt have a sunroof and the polycarbonate windows were fixed. In the end I was driving with the drivers door held open with my right elbow.

 

[Cater_Racer]

ORIGINAL: Neil Haughey

As Simon says. He is bang on the money as usual. I have the full stock heater box and fan in my race car. It can be invaluable for both extremes of temperature, same with the electric windows. Last year at Silverstone the heat was unreal, being able to whack the fan on with the centre vent aimed at my face was a big help when lining up. Likewise at the end of the 3rd race they took us down the pit lane and round between pits and scrut bay, this time the electric windows came into their own as once off the "race" area I could whack both windows down and get some air through the car. It was torture but with big crowds and a back up of race cars we where stuck there for a bit before we could creep back round to our slot in the paddock. When it rains the heater is of course invaluable.

Having said all that some live without such niceties and if our cars had the engine in the back we could fit an electrically heated screen, unfortunately I haven't seen such a screen on sale in the UK for the front engined cars.

Agreed, likewise.