Work oil regulator/cooler kit worth it?
 

So I found this https://www.ftspeed.com/part/139-213...tor-cooler-kit while poking around random sites and I'm wondering whether anyone knows if this kit's worth it? An oil cooler seems to be a recommended mod for anyone who's going to do any kind of aggressive driving and this seems like a much easier route than adding an additional radiator.

Technically it's cheaper to source the parts yourself. There is a list somewhere. Then again I bought the Cusco kit so lol on me

The NED cooler is cheaper, same parts.

https://www.nedautoparts.com/product...oem-subaru-brz

@holeeray The OEM-style oil coolers aren't sufficient for road course HPDE driving heat loads

The works kit looks like it has the adapter step down with smaller hoses to fit the throttle body.
From research the Ned kit mounts up but you end up relying on supplied hose clamps to tighten the hose to the smaller diameter male fitting on the TB.
Hardly worth the extra $100+ over neds unless you could care less to source extra bits your self.


Works advertises it as a oil regulator which I agree with. Much less effective at oil cooling for track but a good DD option.

I haven't felt the need to get an oil cooler, and I track my car fairly regularly. If I were to get one, it would be this type rather than an air/oil cooler. BRZ is my daily all year and I'd rather have a "cooler" that actually warms the oil initially and brings it up to temp more quickly, vs. one which would prevent the oil from ever getting up to temp in the winter.

Reports suggest it reduces max oil temps at the track from ~270-275F down to 260ish.

IMO it's not worth it for any serious track driving. For DD and other driving in colder climate it might be worth it to bring oil temps up quicker

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

I agree that on paper the oil cooler is overkill for a DD car but in practice i see otherwise. In ambient 28-30 deg Celsius i see 115deg when cruising on a slightly steep stretch but on a flat road it goes down to 100 deg or so.

Now if i do a few pulls ( on a private road ) :) then i am already 120+deg but not more than 130deg because i already chicken out and lift off the lead foot ( read right foot ) Lol!

Currently using 5w30 Motul oil, fully synthetic.

I am not comfortable with such oil temps so an oil cooler is on the cards in future.

The looks of the Works kit doesn't inspire me. But, for what it's worth, I was VERY glad that I decided to add oil cooling to my DD/track car. (becoming less DD!)
I don't think it is needed for a DD. I highlighted my install in this thread: https://www.ft86club.com/forums/imag...subscribed.gif My Racer X / Setrab oil cooler install

The Works kit uses a heat exchanger identical (or close) to the OEM Forester/WRX (late) unit. I have the OEM setup on my '15 because I do (or did) a fair amount of long duration 80+mph cruising in 100+f ambient conditions. I used the plumbing from the Forester installation and it seems to drop oil temps 15 to 20 F.

As to warming the oil up, down here that's a moot point. It seldom drops below 50 degrees so that part of the equation never comes into play. I like it because the plumbing is tidy and I'm not running on the track.

It's my belief that the effectiveness depends to some extent on how it's plumbed.

I have an oil cooler and works oil regulator. During the winter, i put the regulator on since it actually does speed up the warming up time and keeps my oil temps to good operating temps. (180F+) When i had the oil cooler on my setup when its cold, my oil never everrrr goes over 180F when moving. warming up the car took forever i would sometimes sit there for like 15 minutes and barely the car would get up to 160F.

long story short.
If its cold where you live, regulator. If its hot where you live, oil cooler OR if you track it regardless if its cold or hot, oil cooler.

But to answer your question, i dont think its worth $350 or whatever it is. I agree with the people that says to get it yourself, if not just get the the Forester OEM one and get some hoses and clamps if you choose to get a regulator.

I ran both at the same time, NEDS OEM and an oil cooler w/ 197f thermostat and with dedicated intake/exhaust fans manually switched. Could get oil to 170f in no time even in cool weather. Beat the balls out of her in hot weather and barely crack 210F. By the time I slowed back down to speed my oil was as cool as it started the pull and few moments later be in 190s and keep dropping until i turn fans off. Cruising at 80mph in 85f for a very long stretch with fans off oil would struggle to hit 190s with fans on i could drop down to at least 160 from any temp. Could baby it in cool weather to hit 170s but needed to drive aggressively in hot weather to even hit 195+

Did you have 2 sandwich plates stacked on top of each other? Any pics?

I have the NEDS kit and it works as advertised. Warms the oil up faster and keeps it a little cooler when you're pressing on. The Works kit looks like a much more of a plug and play kit. I had to get some extra hose and some adapters with the Ned kit as RToy86 mentioned.