I plan on keeping the car until it falls apart and want to add an oil cooler. Would that place me out of B-stock. I am a newbie now but if I ever get good enough to be competitive I wondered if it mattered.

 

Yes, that would bump you, probably to BSP. The sad thing is that an oil cooler won't help you in autocross anyway.

 

It would bump you out, maybe even beyond BSP (SM2? I don't really know) but it depends also on your intent.

If you are just going to race regionally, they may let you run BS anyway. If you want to do divisional/national level events, you'd probably get protested if you won or placed and someone found out, even though like the guy above said, it's no performance advantage really.

I don't really see the advantage of an oil cooler at all unless you plan on tracking the car regularly, in which case maybe autocross isn't as important to you anyway.

If you are just doing autocross mostly though, I'd spend the money on tires, shocks and exhaust in roughly that order before getting an oil cooler.

But whatever you do, drive it and have fun.

 

+1 regarding tires. Tires are your best friend for autoX. IMO these are the only mod in stock class that has a chance of making a significant difference for a noob.

If you are a beginner, you are probably going to take ur lumps regardless of what shocks and exhaust you have. I've never felt like some1 beat me because my shocks and exhaust are stock. I've definitely been beat by better drivers tho.

 

Actually, if OP want to get the most bang for his buck - then I'd recommend that he attend an Evolution Performance Driving school (http://www.evoschool.com/).

 

Modding the driver is absolutely the best bang for the buck, but sometimes people need to mod their cars before they realize they would benefit more from modding themselves.

But yes, even with hotel + food + entry, it'd be hard to find a better way to spend $500 on autocross.

 

From my analysis of the SCCA rules, you CAN have an oil cooler as long as it was an OEM option:

"An item of standard or optional equipment that could have been ordered with the car, installed on the factory production line, and delivered through a dealer in the United States"

IIRC, NISMO has one and you could have ordered it installed on your vehicle at time of delivery by the dealer.

 

Dealer installed doesn't count - it has to be factory. IIRC, port installed options are now allowed too. I doubt you could have ordered partial-Nismo upgrades to a regular 350 anyway.

 

Thanks for the answers guys. The only reason I want the oil cooler is to promote the longevity of the engine not to improve performance. I guess since I am planning on keeping the car for a long time I want any extra insurance I can get. That sucks that it bumps you I guess I just will have mod amnesia when I go autox.

 

Is there any proof that an oil cooler extends the life of the VQ? I don't recall seeing much posted over the last few years that suggests heat and oil related problems on our engines. The one theme that does get repeated over and over is that if you change your oil regularly, that's your biggest defense against engine problems.

 

Thanks for the info man. With being in school I only check to see what's new on this site and haven't researched much. This is the first car I ever owned so so I just want to take care of it. I'll just stick with regular oil changes and keep my $400 or whatever it costs.