Best oil cooler for the Northeast??
 

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before or not but I live on Long Island and daily my FRS everyday. It also sees about 6 track days a year. Been stuck between the mishimoto and Perrin oil cooler and which one to go with. The mishimoto is cheaper and I've had great experience with their rads, only issue is I noticed, kit does not come with a thermostat. Would that be a big issue for driving the car in the winter or should I just spend the extra money and get the Perrin which already has it? Please help with my decision. Thanks.

I would consider an oil thermostat very important for your location. Even the Mocal thermostat lets some oil flow and can result in over-cooling in the winter. As a minimum, I'd run a thermostat and block off the cooler with a piece of card board.

The water-oil coolers are nice for this, because in the winter they will help warm the oil rather than cool it (Robispec radiator, etc).

It's probably all of 10 minutes to remove the sandwich plate for the cooler in the winter. Either put the whole sandwich plate in a baggie (lines and all), or just get a male-male AN fitting and connect the lines together.

That's actually not a bad idea. Ill prob end up going with the Perrin since it has the thermostat. Then when winter comes around just disconnect it.

See the thread on oil coolers here in this section. (There's a brief DIY on it too... 'oil/water laminova.') I went with an oil/water system and it works perfectly for DD and autox. I would bet that it would also be fine for HPDE and some lighter track work.

hahahahahha because race cah!

I am in the same boat with winter, Ive got my eye on the Cusco oil/water unit.

The cusco oil/water unit looks pretty interesting. Now I kinda wanna wait to see what reviews it gets. Only issue I see is, you'd prob want to get a bigger rad for this set up.

I would just run the Mocal/Perrin. Keep an eye on temps in Winter. Either disconnect it when the cold gets to be too much or block it off.

Only problem with disconnecting it is there will be oil sitting in the cooler and lines. So when you plug it back in you will have old oil flowing back into the motor.

With my oil/water system the radiator has never gotten above 204-degrees....and that was while sitting still for a few minutes after a hard auto-x run. If you were doing some series tracking a new radiator would be smart, but for anything else I don't know that you'd need it.

Additionally, you would NEVER need to disconnect an oil/water system once it's installed regardless of the cold. An oil/water system not only keeps your oil from getting too hot, it helps warm it up faster on a cold day.

Planning on running either a custom setup with T-stat or the Mishimoto version.

-Mike Paisan

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/153798190.jpg
Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

Sorry to bring this back from the dead (didn't want to add clutter with a separate thread), but I'm in the same boat DDing my car for at least one more winter, with the car seeing at least six track days a year. I'd like to get a water to oil cooler as added insurance for the track, but am I correct that only Cusco makes such a unit? Has anyone run it for a while? Any issues?

Can anyone who uses one chime in with experiences? I really like the idea of just bolting up the cooler and setting off, not having to worry about blocking it off, potential leaks ect. Any input is much appreciated!

The Cusco is nothing more than a really expensive version of the Forester oil cooler. There is a DIY thread for the system on the forum. For a bigger set-up that is probably better for track check out the Laminova set-ups.

Edit:

Laminova set-up
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42511

Forester
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50427

Sorry for not updating this sooner...

We tested the 2015 WRX Oil-Coolant cooler and the Perrin/Setrab Air-Oil Cooler on our Project BRZ.

WRX Cooler- great for a DD and occasional track car. On track we saw temps come down from 289 to 265 on our car during hard tracking in the summer in NJ/CT. This setup is more cost effective and will also help warm up your oil in the winter.

Perrin/Setrab- T-stat controlled and this is now taking the 289 temps down to 225-227 on track under the same conditions. On the street she is running 189-215 depending on how much throttle we give it. Don't use the suggested mounting location which is the undertray. We mounted ours to the bumper beam so if we rip off the undertray we don't lose the cooler.

Shoot me an e-mail to paisan@azpinstalls.com for details.

-mike

You can also check out the Maximal Performance oil cooler which will save you some bucks.

Like Mike said, if I was installing it on my track car, I would likely reinforce the mounting.
http://www.maximalperformance.com/fr...oil-cooler-kit

I'd like to see it mounted. :w00t:

Came across a radiator with integrated oil cooler for a liquid-liquid system. Hopefully this doesn't leak coolant like others that have been designed for this car.

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/skun...oler-1965.html

Damn...that sure is tempting as I was thinking of upgrading the radiator anyway. Thanks for the replies everyone, lots of useful info!

I hate when aftermarket companies release products like that. Could it be anymore vague?

"Hey here is our radiator, brazed cores with our logo on it... and btw it has a tank at the end for oil cooling."

I mean come on, really? Hard to take a product seriously when they can't even take the time to release any detailed description or quantifiable data/information as to why anyone should buy it.
(fittings, capacity, temp data)
http://cms.skunk2.com/id/1085/Ultra-...ZFRS-Radiator/
@KraftWerks

I was looking at supercharger projects for the S2000 and the first 3 threads about the installs were all about missing parts in package and vague instructions. Attention to detail in a flooded market is important.

The interesting thing about that is if you are "marginal" you look like a rock star. We have this in customer service. At our shop we try our hardest but are by no means rock stars, most of the other places fail so badly we look great! :)

With that said, I was extremely saddened when we were at PRI speaking to a well known cooler/rad/etc manufacturer and we posed the question to them "How is your oil cooler for the BRZ/FRS? What kind of temp drops have you seen on track with it?" Their answer was "Oh we haven't actually done any testing on track. All our products are tested on [insert generic interstate] at 65mph. We wish we could do some better testing but that's how we test them right now." My team and I were embarrassed for them and can't recommend their products with a response at a trade show like that...


-mike

We use the Koyo radiator combined with the Perrin/Setrab T-stat controlled Oil cooler and the P3 Cars Vent gauge. Very very nice setup. If anyone is interested in a nice package deal on them we can arrange for that.

sales@azpinstalls.com

-mike

Setrab by far is the best oil cooler on the market. I myself am using Setrab part and doing my own Goodridge PTFE lined hoses too.

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...ad&oe=554E090D

That's the only reason we went with the Perrin kit was because it had the Setrab core.

Mike

If you've already purchased a radiator this probably isn't the best choice, but we will be stocking and selling Japan's DRL (Daiwa Racing Labs) radiator/oil cooler unit soon.

One of our cars uses the Laminova cooler set-up and has been very reliable. Great solution for summer days in traffic jams.

Any questions feel free to PM

That's not a Laminova core. That's a liquid to air oil cooler mounted at the bottom of the radiator. Not a bad idea, but not a good application for what's being discussed in this thread.

Sorry, should have been more clear.

correct that picture is an "air cooled" oil cooler mounted below the radiator.

We also have a car that uses the liquid-cooled laminova (not pictured).

Both have there pros and cons depending on the application

I can't wait for the rest of this story then.

Please excuse my ignorance, but is the 2015 WRX oil coolant cooler the same as the one found on the Forester?

Thanks.

I think it's slightly different but essentially the same cooling properties.

-mike

With winter coming real soon, should I remove my thermostat oil cooler, or would I be ok with it on during the winter

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

If you can disconnect it easily and/or want to go through the hassle, then yes it's a good idea for winter. If not I would suggest a block-off plate for the cooler.

Which cooler do you have?

-Mike Paisan

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/153798190.jpg
Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

The avo oil cooler with thermostatic plate. I'm also going to run some 0w20 in it for the winter instead of the 5w30 I've been running

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Based on a log I did with my thermostatic plate... I agree with Mike. Highly recommend running a block-off plate to kill airflow through the cooler. I'm going to try to figure something out, maybe just wrap it in a canvas wrap of some sort like you'd see on a school bus' grille, haha

http://datazap.me/u/docwalt/10-19-15...data=1-6-11-12 (note the ambient temp data I listed at the bottom)