Speciale water temperature - how hot is too hot?

That is fine. Cars run hotter these days for emission reasons. My old 2004 Porsche GT3 would hang at 180 degrees F...My recent 2015 GT3 ran up to 215-220 F.

 

My 13 spider on a 110F day through the canyons aggressive driving reached ted under 210, even on stop n go situations never pegged 210, fans come in around 195 bring it down to 185.
I honestly can't comment on the Speciale, it's possibly a hotter running car, but I think 215 is a little high. When the fans came on did it drop?

 

Honestly I don't know how Speciales run, maybe someone else will chime in, but as a rule of thumb, if you pull over and the fans are able to bring the coolant temp down to 185, it's doing it's job.

 

prob 3-4min at idle, temps drop n the fans stop. Also see where your oil temp is when you're running at 210-215.

 

A recent track day with ambient temperature of 39C (102F), the water temps reached a peak of 102C (215F) and Oil temps are higher at 106C (223F) consistently whilst pushing its limits lap after lap but both subsequently cooled down to 90C (194F) during the cool down lap for brakes and engine before entering pits.

Numbers were taken from an AIM SOLO DL meter receiving all data from the ECU via the OBDII port.

 

Most gas vehicles nowadays will top out around 235-45 before they go into limp mode or similar. If you see that, start to worry.

 

There's a red line on the gauge which I think begins at 250 deg - isn't that a clue ?

And that's without looking out for the overheat idiot light

 

When you look at the engine data, you will see the advance start backing off (advance) at around 105C, and gradually continue to back off until around 115C and plummets from there. The ECU map uses water temp, oil temp and ambient air temp among other variables. You'll get all sorts of warnings by then.

Running hard on a "hot" day (85-90F ambient) my engine tends to sit at 95C and oil around 99

So, to some degree (pun intended), engines run weaker in hot conditions to start with, the Ferraris back themselves down noticeably when they are out of the optimum window.

One "maintenance item" people can consider if tracking is to make sure the radiator and various oil coolers are blown out and cleaned. Changing radiators is an annual maintenance item on the Challenge cars - won't kill you if you don't, but it helps with cooling efficiency.

 

I'm pointing out that there are two obvious systems to tell you your car is not too hot

 

I was just about to posit the same question and found this thread... My water temps after stop and go traffic in 100 degree weather today were btw 210-215. When I started driving, as expected cooled down. I kind of remember this from driving last summer. Can anyone comment if they have experienced the same?

 

Dealer says not to worry until the needle gets into the red.

 

Speciales seem to be running higher coolant temps than the 458, I noticed mine gets up to 210 in stop n go traffic as well.

 

210 is as high as mine gets and thats in Dallas 105 degree temperatures.

 

Mine goes on tiny click over 210 for a little... Not quite to the next bar. It was close to 105 on the black asphalt today.

 

Imho the temps Rick is reporting are normal: if the ext. temp is warm
and that you are running through twisty canyons roads, as opposed to straighter
roads like freeways or tracks, it means that not so much air is flowing through
the car and that engine is more often than not in the high rev range if one is
driving spiritedly, which make H2O temps high.

Fwiw when H2O temps get too high I back off running the engine hard and they get
back to normal, btw I always run 100% 100-101aki fuel so mine gets hot too

Don't worry all is normal: enjoy the car!
xoxoxo

 

Rick,

Fwiw I just checked: I let my Italia with 100-101aki run
215F H2O temp at its hottest, usually if I see her going over 215F
I take it easy and let her cool off to about 190-195F; on the fwy
with no traffic and steady stream of high speed air she gets down to
175F but usually hovers around 180F.

All in all I would say that her average operating temp is 190F - 200F
so I would not worry about seeing the slightly higher temps under the
conditions you mentioned.

Fyi my car's fans kick in at about 200F; the others scream ecstatically as
they hear me drive by

best

 

Cool! Did you get the 4WD option?