2021 Mustang Mach 1 HPDE - What is a high cylinder head temp?

[herneo]

Hey everyone,

I did a my 2nd HPDE day with my Mach 1 yesterday - it was at Watkins Glen and it was mid 90s most of the day.

In my 3rd session, I was pushing pretty good and my cylinder head temp reading got up to 245F. I did a cool down lap and it dropped back down to about 220, so I picked the pace back up. It went back up to 245 in a little over 1/2 lap. Car was running fine, no warning lights or anything. But there was only a couple laps left so just to be safe I pitted and let the car cool down. The car was back down to 220 just from making a few slow laps around the paddock. Trans and diff temps were fine the whole time.

I was concerned because I used to race about 20 years ago and we would start to worry if *water* temps started creeping up above 235-240 (we'd like to run at about 220). But I honestly don't know how much the cyl temp reading corelates to the actual water temps?

So I'm just wondering - what's a decent range for the car specifically for the cyl head temp reading for a track day? When should I start being concerned and consider pulling off?

(on a side note, its a little annoying that the "gauges" display just shows a dial and not actual numbers, which would be more relevant for a "track capable" car)

Thanks!

 

[JAJ]

I used to look carefully at temperatures in my track cars but I eventually realized that "there's a computer for that" that takes care of the engine and drivetrain and if it gets too hot, it'll cut power to protect the equipment.

These days the only thing I monitor on my dash display is tire pressures. The computers do the rest.