What row count for oil cooler?
 

Having a tough time figuring this out.

Wanting to piece together my own oil cooler, but am not sure the row count of the cooler I should get.

I live in the PNW, so coldish winters (I think I will disconnect it in winter anyways) but the summers can be pretty decently hot. I daily drive the car, but will also do some auto cross and maybe 1 track day this summer.

What size cooler would you folks recommend?

I run a 19row
http://www.mishimoto.com/19-row-oil-cooler.html

It will depend on your oil temp goals, but as a point of reference, with a 13 row Perrin oil cooler (185 F thermostat and using recommended mount location) and 0w20 oil on my car, I was seeing

- track oil temps peak ~245 F in 90 F ambient
- highway oil temps hover ~175 F in 65-70 F ambient (using my front license plate as a partial block-off)

I'm switching to 0w30 oil this year so my oil temps will probably elevate some. Ideally I'd want highway temps just a little higher and track temps a little lower, but the 13 row seems to be a good compromise in my experience (for NA). If you have FI, you'll almost certainly want a bigger cooler.

Yeah, I am NA. I want to switch over to 5w30 for the summer so not sure what/if any effect that will have on the cars overall pressure/temp. I think ill go with a 13 row as I just need that little bit of cooling.

Oil temp goals will dictate what kit you should run. Size of core is not as important as airflow over it + ambient temps.

Case in point: you could run a small core that is better for street. Wire up your own electric fan setup so that it pulls air behind it. Run ducting so it is cooled sufficiently at the track.

-alex

Honestly, from your use case I don't think you need an oil cooler. Catch can would be my recommendation.

But to answer your question, I have the Mishimoto one as well. Do about 3-4 track events a year.

If you must run an oil cooler, consider the OEM Forester or Cusco type design for cooler climates.

-alex

I've considered it, although I've heard they don't really do much in the way of cooling? More like warming the oil up quicker and keeping it like somewhatish stable.

I had a Cusco cooler before I swapped out to an external core cooler.

It is good enough for what you want to do. I estimate my oil temps hover around 125-130C max with the cooler (in desert, heat-soaked conditions).

About 10-15C reduction from stock. It's not going to be as effective as an external setup but frankly for what your stated goals are, you won't really need one.

Autocross won't put that much heat in the oil... keep in mind the key factor in oil temps is not ambient heat, it's RPM. Ambient temps are only relevant if you have an external source of cooling the oil or if you are overworking the cooling system.

-alex

Forrester XT oil "cooler" is not useful for track/high performance driving environments. Like stated, it mostly just brings oil to temp.

Are you speaking from experience or just what others have said?

I ran the Cusco setup on my car for the last 2 years and while it is not as effective as a standalone oil cooler, it was enough to keep temps in check and never over 130C, even at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway in 115F ambient temps.

-alex

I think I will give the OEM style one a shot and see how that goes. I know NED sells them for like $225. Will see how that treats me.

Research I did when looking for solutions for HPDE events, so yes, not firsthand experience. It's pretty well documented on the forum.

I like the recommendation of the liquid-to-liquid OEM-style cooler for you being in the PNW. It'll warm up the oil faster in the cold, and will be sufficient cooling for autocross and the occasional track day. I think that's the way to go.