Check it and See

By most accounts, the FK8 is in fact hot blooded. It’s strange to see a car that was engineered both on and for the track unable to take the heat of a few laps. Even just the swelter of a summer day on a spirited drive is enough to cause the engine oil temps in the K20C1 to rise.

Oil is more or less the lifeblood of any engine. It makes sure that the multitude of moving parts stay properly lubricated so that your Sporty Civic can keep laying down blistering lap times. Anyone who knows anything about cars knows that there’s a specific temperature where this viscous stuff works best, which is generally in the 180-200°F range. This is when the oil reaches its best viscosity for proper lubrication with minimal thermal breakdown, also the reason we need regular oil changes.

Once the temperature begins to rise over that threshold, not only does the heat put an extra toll on the already strained cooling system but the oil begins to breakdown and less effectively  lubricate the engine’s internals, which can lead to some unwanted shrapnel getting mixed into the oil. We saw these excessive oil temperatures firsthand during our trip to Raceway Park last fall with our lubricants reaching almost 300°F in just 10 laps.

Breaking the Fever

Just like most other modern cars, Honda fitted the Civic Type R with a stacked plate, liquid-to-liquid oil cooler, which uses coolant to extract heat from the oil. The problem here is that adds stress to the already overworked cooling system. It’s obviously not able to keep up. However, the addition of an external cooler will help keep the under-hood temperatures of the K20C1 in check.

The first step in devising our oil cooler setup was finding the ideal mounting location. Air-to-air coolers operate best when they’re located in the direct path of fresh airflow. Luckily for us, the high level of aerodynamic design that went into the FK8 means there are plenty of openings and grilles in the front of the car. However, given that one of those main openings is now occupied by a monstrous intercooler, and the other main air channel needs to remain unobstructed for the radiator, we needed to get a little creative.

Our next best choice is the driver’s side brake duct. If you take a closer look at this section of the front bumper, you’ll notice we’re utilizing two different vents. The first and primary option is the ducting designed to channel air to those hefty Brembos. The secondary source of airflow is the slots added to the design that will guide air over the fenders. In addition to the ample airflow directed through that space, there is quite the cavity to fit 19 rows of Mishimoto oil cooling prowess.

Just like any movie montage, the protagonist comes out vastly improved over their former self in a matter of one cheesy 80s pop song. In our case, this montage might take place over a full album, but we intend on keeping with the same result. With the full kit in place, it’s now just a matter of testing it, for which we’ll bring the track to Mishimoto HQ.

It is prime plague season, especially in the Mid-Atlantic. The transition into winter wreaks havoc on our frail and feeble immune systems. There’s a nip in the air, sinuses are congested, and fevers are running high. The Civic Type R might have a bit of a runny nose, and prone to fevers, but much like checking into the local urgent care to quell those telltale cold symptoms, Dr. Mishi is in to reduce the high temps on your FK8.

Now, big pharma companies don’t just have something that looks good on paper and then start dispersing pills to the public. There’s a seriously rigorous testing and trials period that they need to go through to bring medications to market. We have a similar state of mind. Not so much that we have something like the FDA to contend with, but we make sure to be thorough with our testing to confirm that our solution not only works but doesn’t leave you with a huge list of side effects.

Not much is better for testing than track days. Nothing puts our products through a more grueling trial much like slinging the car around the bends and chicanes of the circuit. However, getting to the track isn’t always practical, so we developed a way to bring the track to us. Using a racing simulator, we created a load map that replicates a hot lap of Hatch Brands Indy Circuit. We first rolled out this race program during the testing of our C6 performance radiator, and it was time to put the CTR on our digital treadmill of the course.

You might remember the above photo from our last segment, and that’s because this is a visual representation of the torture we put #1254 through in the name of oil cooling. The first step was to reproduce the fever that has become synonymous with the FK8, easily bringing the oil temps up to the 300°F range. After equipping our oil cooler kit, we saw a 15-18°F drop across the core, aiding in reducing the fever in the engine bay. Every little bit counts, especially considering the heavy stress the cooling system is already under.

After some serious clinical trials on the dyno, we found the right dosage to help drop the temperatures from those chronic fevers. The best part is that with our kit the fine print is barely existent, the only side effect being that the extra brake duct now has a new home on the shelf in your garage. A small price to pay for keeping your oil temperatures where they’re supposed to be.