Forester XT oil cooler questions
 

Has anyone who tracks the car regularly (2-3 times or more per month) used the Forrester oil cooler from this thread



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


and actually logged your oil temps? I'm curious to see how well this thing works during track driving?



Any suggestions for a different oil cooler set up? I am particularly attracted to this one because of it's low cost, so it'd be nice to see some data or at least hear about your experience.

While I haven't, I'm not sure anyone who has will tell you that's okay if you're tracking with that frequency.

I connected to the throttle body with my installation, but it's the same cooler. I posted some before and after data in this thread. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3166393

Direct Imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/e90ChVU

Basically you can expect maybe 10-15F cooler oil temps at best. For me that was better than nothing for a car being tracked every few months, and still under warranty. With your track day frequency, you probably just want to spring for a heavier duty cooler. I will probably go Jackson Racing Dual Radiator/Oil Cooler in the future.

A dedicated air to oil cooler will always be better for track driving, but you'll have to inspect your oil cooler lines every so often to make sure there are no leaks. That may or may not be a hassle for you. I'm also leaning towards the OEM water cooler due to the lower risk even if that means I have to shorten my session times.

Air to oil coolers can be problematic for street duties.

Getting your oil temp up can take along time, if at all.

Thermostats are definitely required.

I fabricated up a blanking plate for 1 car I had with a air to oil cooler, without it, during the winter, my oil never got over 80°C.

As for if the Forester heat exchanger is up to the task, you need to watch/log your oil temp.

I use one, mainly to initially bring up my oil temps from cold.

Mine is plumbed into the throttle body.

I do believe for spirited road driving or mild track use even for places with high summer ambient temps like where I live OEM oil cooler is more than enough and better choice than an air to oil cooler.
Cost simplicity safety!

My data is also in the thread Vesartis linked (my install thread):

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...2&postcount=17

For me, during hard lapping, the OEM cooler made little to no difference on the track. I do like it for the street and DD as it gets the oil temps up to operating temp during the cold seasons.

For tracking 2-3 times a month like you want, I would definitely go with an air to oil cooler. But, then you have other issues to deal with like 86MLR said, not a big deal though.

More data on Forester OEM cooler:

https://www.pointmeby.com/2016/09/18...z-frs-gt86-86/

As said above, if you are tracking regularly, you want an quality air/oil cooler.

No experience, just reading this thread- but I've been around motorsports for a while. Powertrain cooling is a bad place to save money- probably second only to brakes.

You need data.

Until then you have no idea if the Forester heat exhanger will work, or, if not, what size air to oil cooler is required.

Have a read

Disclaimer: this is only the first thing that came up googling.

Not alot of people actually get the sizing right.

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/do...ocID=TECH00133

For regular track use you will want a decent air to air oil cooler. The OEM cooler is more for getting oil temps up to temp quicker in colder climates. For street and and back road driving it can help. Most who have done testing show a 10-15F lower temps but your milage will vary. I plan to run my OEM oil cooler using the throttle body method at the track in next 30 to 60 days with 5w-30 oil. I plan to run 4-5 hpde per year and will skip summer months.

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I wonder what oil flow restriction induces the OEM oil cooler?
Cause there is some restriction even from it so has someone logged oil pressures before and after fitting it?

Good question. It might get bypassed if its on the oil filter housing. I know GM put spring loaded bypasses to avoid people exploding there oil filters on cold days.

I believe they are for blocked filters from lack of maintenance.

Tracked with the forester oil cooler and stock engine on Thunderhill, Sonoma, and Laguna Seca; oil temps still hit 270F according to the cluster. Not enough for track use.

There is a bypass valve inside our OEM oil filter when pressure exceeds a specific value.

Real world data point:

I have the OEM cooler hooked up to the throttle body

Just got back from Barber in AL where the days were 50ºF and overcast. Your typical header/91 tune car.
I could do the entire 20-25 min sessions and the oil temp stabilized right around 245ºF. Never exceeded 250ºF.

Over the summer, I got 5 laps of a 2 mile circuit when it was 80ºF before temps climbed above 250ºF and i did a cool down lap and then 2 more laps before hitting 250ºF again.

It works to some extent. Will not keep you going 20 min on a hot summer day.

reviving this thread since I don't feel like starting a new one of the same topic. I live roughly 30 miles from death valley and see ambient temps as high as 120F. I'm trying to figure out the right oil cooler to pick up. I'm NA and mostly drive it hard on the nearby mountain roads where I regularly see temps of 270F+ if I'm not careful. will I be fine running the forester cooler + 5w-30 or should I look into a air-based cooler?

I run the forester cooler on my daily. Occasional light track and autocross.
It doesn't do a ton once it heat soaks but I find it will bring temps down faster once you do a cool down compared to no cooler

A friend who tracks his the the cooler and 5w-30 at Calabogie mentioned peak temps dropped from 290 to 270 peak. No where near what a air to oil cooler will do.

For the temps you see, you definitely need a dedicated cooler.

Jackson Racing bare minimum, GReddy, ideally.

PM me to order.

Any Air to oil cooler will work thats a decent kit. You don't need anything fancy or $$$$. Look for a used unit to save some $$$. These cars stock seem to pull power in hot socal weather.

Just curious, is anyone using the Jackson combo oil cooler radiator, and if so how well does it work and under what conditions/mod level?

see sig for specs/setup. For NA it works great even in hot Socal Summer months. For boosted cars it might struggle a bit as its not as good as a stand alone.

I just installed my JR DROC (Dual Radiator Oil Cooler) today. I don't have a baseline for street driving temperatures to compare to but I saw a maximum of about 8F delta driving on the street. Sometimes for brief moments or under certain conditions, the oil temperature actually ended up being 3-4F cooler than the water temp. For what it's worth, IATs were around 95F and ambient temp was around 63F.

I'll post back after I get some track time. My oil temps hit 290F during a track day last year which prompted me to look into cooling options.


I can see this being the case as an air/air oil cooler will likely be much more efficient, plus, it'd be easier to size-up to a larger core if needed. However, I see the JR DROC as being probably the best option for dual-purpose cars. You get the benefit of cooler oil temps during track days and faster oil warm-up during winter.

Spend the money on the Greddy cooler… Drove my car in 100+ degree weather at Cota on Hoosiers in July in a Time Trial. Oil temp never went above 230, happy to provide Aim data.