First HPDE today and the car started running hot??? Ac was on

[5.0calypsonotch]

Hi Guys:

I have a 2020 Musta g GT. Not a PP car. Anyway, went to an HPDE evebt today at Sebring and had a blast. For some reason, the track guy told me told me to leave my ac on. It was on at like 62. The car has a CAI, Roush Tune to go with it and and X Pipe and is otherwise stock. The car has never overheated before.
So I’m five laps in or so and I look down. Only doing 80-100 and my temp gauge is moving toward H. I’m like huh? I immediately shiznit the ac off. Temperature came right down. Windows open obviously. As a drag racer, I never use ac on the track and I was surprised when he told me I could. Maybe he just meant the air. Anyway, I turned it on again and again thr temp came up and then went right down when I turned it off. Ram another 7 laps with no issues and had a blast. I was paddle shifting and staying in high rpm range. Never do that on the street. Was the ac the cause of the over heat? Or the arming I should say? No check engine lights no limp mode, not even a loss of power. Glad I looked at the gauge. Not sure if it would have kept climbing or not. I was in track mode. Any ideas? My theory is running ac on the track was stupid and put way too much load on the ego r at high RPm. It only cuts ac at WOT and I was never at WOT, being my first time out and pacing myself behind the instructor car and a car behind me. Car an perfectly with air on the whole two hour ride home. Is this just because I was revising the help of it chasing this guy down? Would love advice from some guys who actually know. I’m a pro at drag racing with thousands of passes, but this is new to me.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

No sure why he told you to leave the A/C on and with most performance cars the A/C kicks off under full power . Your simple answer is leave it off since it never ran hot then and if you want to use the air conditioning , flip it on on your cool down lap after the your session is over. I use my A/C on every hot track day, but only when my runs are over , I am going around the track to cool everything down and the A/C is to do the same for me!

 

[5.0calypsonotch]

No sure why he told you to leave the A/C on and with most performance cars the A/C kicks off under full power . Your simple answer is leave it off since it never ran hot then and if you want to use the air conditioning , flip it on on your cool down lap after the your session is over. I use my A/C on every hot track day, but only when my runs are over , I am going around the track to cool everything down and the A/C is to do the same for me!

Yeah I agree. Mine kicks off at WOT. But we weren’t going fast enough for that. I never whacked it all the way. This was my first time out and they kept us pretty slow. As soon as I killed the ax, came right back to normal. Was a hell of a good time though. Thanks for your advice!!! I really appreciate it.

 

[5.0calypsonotch]

No sure why he told you to leave the A/C on and with most performance cars the A/C kicks off under full power . Your simple answer is leave it off since it never ran hot then and if you want to use the air conditioning , flip it on on your cool down lap after the your session is over. I use my A/C on every hot track day, but only when my runs are over , I am going around the track to cool everything down and the A/C is to do the same for me!

I knew better. I should have left it off lol. Not sure what Inwas thinking, but I guess you gotta learn somehow. On thr street it’s fine. But we aren’t running like that on the street.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I always turn mine off, even though it kicks off at WOT, I can't imagine that poor compressor clutch kicking in at just under WOT.

 

[5.0calypsonotch]

I always turn mine off, even though it kicks off at WOT, I can't imagine that poor compressor clutch kicking in at just under WOT.

Yeah idk why he told me to run it. Maybe he just meant run the air without ac. Idk. Not doing that ever again.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Yeah idk why he told me to run it. Maybe he just meant run the air without ac. Idk. Not doing that ever again.

Maybe his friend was at the event in a Camaro??

 

[5.0calypsonotch]

I always turn mine off, even though it kicks off at WOT, I can't imagine that poor compressor clutch kicking in at just under WOT.

What kind of cylinder head temps do you see? I’ve never seen my temp gauge move that way before ever. I was paddle shifting and I guess leaving at too high and rpm for too long and combined with ac, probably just overloading it.