So i've seen a car that i'm really liking the look of, its a 2008 SR3 with a 1300. It does not however have a a dry sump kit, it does have the high down force body work and lots of other goodies. This concerns me as i had a car on slicks with no dry sump and managed to ruin the engine on 1 lap... i know the engine wasn't a bike engine but i'm concerned it will do the same. If it was a problem, why would radical make them like this?
Whats your views?
If it has a Life ECU, you can download the data and look for oil pressure dips vs RPM.
Has the car been running this configuration for the seller?
I just converted my SR1 to a dry sump, because I didn't want to have to worry about it ever. my data never showed any dips, but I am told that it will add a little HP because of less oil drag on the crank and clutch. my wet sump held almost 8 qts, i am expecting the dry sump to hold about 7, with 4 to be in the tank and 2 in the lines/cooler.
Hi Sam, I would say that it depends what you are using the car for. If you are not doing a lot of high g cornering it likely wouldn't be an issue. But, with that said most of the fun of these cars is doing high g corners so having a dry sump would be preferred. It is unusual to find a 2008 that doesn't have a dry sump. Is this a Supersport or a Tracksport? What chassis number is it? And do you have some pictures of the car and engine?
Charley
Agree with both the above, although I guess this car is not on Life Management?
One thing to consider is with the cost of a refresh and dry sump conversion could you pick up a newer model?
As Charley said a car not being pushed to hard or on treaded tyres should be ok but with the downforce of an SR3 on slicks I think you may start to have problems.
@graemed how can i tell what ecu it is? i havent seen the car yet as its 600 miles away but hoping to go see it next weekend.
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com so the car is a 2008, chassis 374.
I spoke with radical and its around 2500 for the dry sump fitted which isnt that bad.
Hi Sam, what is you plan with the car and experience level? The fact that the car is a 2008 and has been surviving for 12+ years with a wet sump is a testament to the fact that radical believes a wet sump can be reliable. I would consider a wet sump if the plan was only to do track days and not racing and also if I wasn’t a very experienced driver (I’m not :-). As a fun track day toy if the price is right I wouldn’t be held back by not having a dry sump but do keep in mind that when looking to re-sell it people do prefer dry sumps so it may be harder to flip when the time comes. I’ll let others chime in as well. Your first post was about a 2005, did that car not pan out?
@m22ble, Nice looking car. The owner of 376 told me that he was told by Radical that his car was one of the first 5 cars that had a Life ECU installed, but many cars that came after his did not. Cars with Life ECU's typically have a round plug on the right hand sidewall for downloading the data. Most of the cars with the MBD ECU's have the ECU mounted on the firewall directly in front of the engine with a heat shield protecting it from the exhaust heat. The Life ECU's are mounted inside of the right hand side pod. This car most likely has an MBD ECU, but it could possibly have an early Life ECU.
If you decide to add a dry sump system you might want to contact RLM to see what they would charge, they have a very good reputation. Also, if you can't find the parts locally, I know where there are some used parts in the US.
Charley
P.S. Please post more pictures, it looks like a great car.
@crit so we did go and see the 2005 one today, but I wasn’t a great example. It’s been very much unloved it whole life by the looks of it and needed a lot of love to get it back presentable.
the next one I’m looking at is this 2008 one which is in incredible condition, it’s like new. It’s only done 12hrs from new and had two owners. The current one hasn’t even used it since owning (3 years), work has taken over as he’s in and out the country. It’s just the only downside is no air jacks and no dry sump, plus side it’s an incredible price and like new!
I’ll be using the car for track days, we’re quite experienced drivers and have come from years of track racing caterhams on slicks, so now we want the G force....
@m22ble sounds like you're an experienced driver, I would definitely opt for the dry-sump and see about pricing to have it installed. Don't worry about air jacks, I see them pop up from time to time here on the forum and Spring Mountain ,a radical dealer back here in the states showed me how to use a 4 ft long 2"x 6" and a floor jack to quickly raise/level the car to the same height as air jacks as my car doesn't have air jacks and this works very well. They told me that many cars don't have air jacks and they use this technique at the track. I was able to change all fluids this way.
@crit, you should do a “how to” post showing how to do it 🙂
I’ll try and shoot some pics this week and do a quick write up. It’s how I store my car to keep from getting flat spots on the tires.
