Decisions, Decisions

Chris, you’re a lucky man to have such an awesome job!

ATE Brake Fluid

Brake fluid isn’t a sexy topic, but it’s vital for your cars performance and safety. Whether you’re driving to and from work, doing auto-x, track days, etc., brake fluid is an integral part of your car. Most people overlook it and ignore it – the whole out of site, out of mind thing. But did you know that running around on that old, tired brake fluid your car came with can cost significant limitations in brake system performance? Brake fluid is ‘hygroscopic’, a fancy word for something that aborbs moisture. Moisture is all around us, everyday. While your brake system is referred to as a closed system, it still absorbs moisture from the atmosphere it exists in. Good, fresh brake oof the shelf fluid boils at around 400F when it’s brand new. However, as moiture is aborbed, that threashold plummets – often by 50% or more. Because water has a much lower boiling temperature (100F). When your brake fluid is fresh, the pedal feels nice and firm, and you can repeat those high speed stops over and over without the pedal getting mushy. You can nail those braking zones at the track without wondering if your foot is going to go all Flintsone on you and go through the floor.

So what makes the ATE stuff so special? A couple key things

First, it’s blue. Smurf-tastic. This means it’s a cinch to know when the system has all the old crud out, and is filled with new, fresh fluid.

Second, it’s got great performance figures:
Boiling point minimum: 536 degrees F
Wet boiling point minimum: 388 degrees F
Viscosity at -104 degrees F: max 1,400 mm 2/5

Third, it’s a great value. It comes in 1 liter bottles – most performance fluids (like Motul RBF600, which has nearly identical specs and is a very popular seller) only come in .5 liter bottles. So ATE is more for your money. It’s also very affordable. Motul is ~$19 per half liter, ATE is around $15 for a full liter. Sort of a no brainer.

Now, what do you do when you run Super Blue, and need to bleed it? How will you know the old fluid is out and you’re system is filled with new, fresh fluid? Simple – contact us for the ATE Type 200. Same formulation as Super Blue, but it’s amber in color.

We sell ATE Super Blue by the bottle, by the case (10 bottles), by the truck load – whatever you need! Contact us at z1sales@z1auto.com to order yours

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Gotta Keep Them Separated

….oil and air that is, if performance is anywhere remotely on your radar screen with your car. From the factory excess crankcase vapors, residual oil and moisture are vented back into the intake manifold and intercooler which compromises performance and durability. Removing the excess crankcase vapors, residual oil and moisture are accomplished by having two tanks; one tank collects from the intake manifold tract and the second tank collects from each cylinder head. If both were plumbed into the same tank then the crankcase ventilation system could not operate the way it was designed to, the Moroso kit is the only Subaru air separator that accomplishes this. Removing this oil mist before it reenters the engine; reduces detonation, deposits on the intake track including the valves themselves and from lowering the efficiency of the intercooler itself.

We have these kits from Moroso available for a variety of cars, including the Subaru WRX/STi, Mitsubishi Evo, Mazda Miata, and more. Contact us at z1sales@z1auto.com for details