Forester XT oil cooler questions

[mkodama]

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.

[JIM THEO]

Originally Posted by dpaqu

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.

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

[snoxracer183]

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.

[SeizeTheKarp]

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?

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by SeizeTheKarp

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.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by SeizeTheKarp

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?

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

Jackson Racing bare minimum, GReddy, ideally.

PM me to order.

[jflogerzi]

Originally Posted by SeizeTheKarp

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?

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.

[Autoxer62]

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?

[jflogerzi]

Originally Posted by Autoxer62

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.

[SCFD]

Originally Posted by Autoxer62

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?

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.

Originally Posted by jflogerzi

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 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.

[Kelse92]

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.