[jtdanks]

hey guys, curious on if anyone here has used an aftermarket rad, such as the fluidyne one (the only all aluminum one i've found) I'd like an all aluminum one but 550 or something from steeda seems steep! especially when my friend got a mishimoto rad for his R32 skyline for 250. also for the reservoir has anyone swapped that out for something smaller to save space? maybe another aluminum product

[ZTWsquared]

(01-14-2013, 04:41 PM)jtdanks Wrote: hey guys, curious on if anyone here has used an aftermarket rad, such as the fluidyne one (the only all aluminum one i've found) I'd like an all aluminum one but 550 or something from steeda seems steep! especially when my friend got a mishimoto rad for his R32 skyline for 250. also for the reservoir has anyone swapped that out for something smaller to save space? maybe another aluminum product

The stock rad is more than adequate for even a fairly high level of performance - IIRC even Jamie uses a stock rad on his 296 hp duratec; and if you need a new one they are quite a bit less than $100.

I've never used anything but the stock rad and even on 45 minute track sections with a supercharged engine I never had an engine cooling problem. IMO a better place to spend that money is for an oil cooler.

On the track I noticed my oil temps were a good 45 to 50 degrees F higher than coolant temps - but after installing an oil cooler they never went beyond 5 degrees higher even on the harshest track session.

Another change to consider before spending bucks on aftermarket rads, is to upgrade the wimpy t-stat housing to one from the Contour.