Half vs full length rad


J

Jake123

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Mar 24, 2012
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Ignoring price,
I can get a full length koyo for £233.

Is this over kill for a stock b16b? Just light breathing mods.
I was seeing constant 95+ degrees round the ring,
And oil sitting at 130 after one lap!

And it certainly wasn't a warm day,

Should I go half rad? Will a full length be TOO cold?

Any input appreciated! :)
 
I've got half length rad on my b18 and at brands highest I see was about 105. I know matts b16 gets hot on track aswell. I think he's going larger half size soon aswell.
 
rs250nut said:
Fit a decent fan and use proper coolant
Click to expand...

On a new rad you mean?

Half or full, either will have a good fan and coolant. :D

I just can't see a downside to going full,
It won't be TOO cool will it?
And makes it future proof? :naughty:
 
Thermostat stat would stop it from running too cold I would have thought?
 
jesse888 said:
Thermostat stat would stop it from running too cold I would have thought?
Click to expand...

That was my though,
What is too cold anyway?
Under 70degrees I suppose?

Ahhh, I'll just order s full length. It will be fine :)
Gives me a reason to remove air con also :D
 
Lol any excuse is a good excuse.
You back from Germany yet?
 
I was having a read up in one of my many engine tuning books. And according to a . Graham bell " four stroke performamce tuning". They did alot of testing at diff water temps. And 80-90 degrees there was almost no performance change. And said after alot of testing they rarely saw performance increaae past 82 degrees or less than 68 degrees. Obv honda know best imo, but any where withing the 80 to mid 90 should make little difference.
 
You might as well go for a full rad, as said the thermostat will keep it in the right temp range.

I was told this recently which made perfect sense...

Its all about surface area, theres no point of folding or cutting a rad in half as it means less air will be able to hit it. Even if you was to get a triple core one etc, by the time the air hits the second or third core, it will be hot so will essentially to nothing.

Thats my experience in it anyways, the only reason why I would fit a half rad, if I was struggling with space, i.e. for me, RBC inlet manifold getting in the way..
 
Ye the air flow makes sense, surely the actual coolant capacity of the thicker rads should provide benefitsas well. I have a low temp fan switch and thermostat and it keeps the car at a solid 83 degrees water temp. My oil temp rose to around 100 degrees after i went for a blast through a very twisty road never dropping below 6k. Havent managed to track it yet.

But better water cooling will in turn help your oil cooling slightly ofc
 
Going to order a full length koyo.
Thanks all for advice!

Also if oil temps don't improve much ill be getting an oil cooler and thermostatic plate. :)

Expensive game these rattly old Hondas aren't they!
 
I would never see the need for a full length rad, all your doing is adding extra weight to the wrong parts of the car. What are your oil temps more importantly?
 
130 is pretty high isnt it. U tried heat tapeing the sump to see if it will keep temps down a bit
 
Water cools the oil! Full length rad on the road probably not much point but if you are tracking get a full length rad on there! You will not run too cold with an OEM thermostat and you will help control your oil temperatures.
 
ijwhiteman said:
Water cools the oil! Full length rad on the road probably not much point but if you are tracking get a full length rad on there! You will not run too cold with an OEM thermostat and you will help control your oil temperatures.
Click to expand...

those temps were seen at the nurburgring.
Was an 8.54 lap in a stock ek9 tho :nono:
 
rs250nut said:
I would never see the need for a full length rad, all your doing is adding extra weight to the wrong parts of the car. What are your oil temps more importantly?
Click to expand...

as said,
130 after a single lap of the ring.
in 8degrees ambient temp.

water up at high 90s by 5mins in also...
 
I would fit a bigger rad. The extra cooling is a great benefit.
 
The Honda specialist who built my and 200 + b20's never used anything but a half rad,and never had any issues. BUT most of his customers are daily drivers and drag - not sustained temps on track...
 
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