Apocolipse

So here is a question, without vendor ads and plugs lol

Stock C5/C6 radiator, 25x17x1" core or whatever it is...not the thicker 1 5/8" one.

How good is it actually for being on a track? I am not running a/c, not running any intakes in front of it, it is properly ducted and sealed for front air pressure, then escapes out the top of the hood for negative pressure to give a great pressure decrease across the core.

Will this work or am I wasting my time and energy... I am sure a bunch of you have tried this out...

LateBreak

They're not awesome of course, but so long as yours is clean you'll be fine at stock power levels. You're more likely to have overheating issues with power steering and the transmission IMO...

Apocolipse

What about 243 heads, mild cam, longtubes, and an extra 0.5L of manly displacement?

Power steering I will be (more than likely) a turn-one pump or stock...but have a Z51 power steering cooler on it while running Redline Synthetics. Same goes for the transmission, redline plus I bought a pump + cooler setup I may use for that.

I do not go to the track often, so I do not want to "overbuild" the car for the street as that can lead to issues as well...but I do not want to have a problem if I want to take it out for a nice lapping session with some friends.

froggy47

They tend to plug up pretty easy & fast, I would put a screen on for street driving. See my video below. Search the Corvette playlist.



Keep in mind how much tracking are you going to do? A lot of the guys on this thread go 1 or 2 times a month. If you go 1 or 2 times a year, maybe all you need to do is a short shift or cool down lap. Just sayin'

A good race radiator & throw in an EOC installed can run 2K. It's easy to recommend that if it's someone elses money.

Apocolipse

They seem to have a very dense fin count per inch which does help with cooling surface area but will clog up faster as can be seen by your video.

On the same note, I just replaced an engine in a VW GTI MKV for a customer and had to take the radiator out. I put it on the floor and a few taps on the radiator hose fitting to come loose created a huge pile of dust and dirt under the rad. It did not look that dirty when I took it out but boy did a lot come out! It has a similar fin count as most OEM higher performance rads do, just like the vette so I am sure it is the same story.

I would just rather be able to optimize the size of the rad and the ducting vs going bigger and adding more weight with less "optimizations".

froggy47

I think if you got the stock one SUPER clean (which probably means remove from car) then ran a good screen (for street) it would likely be sufficient for all but the hottest track days. Take screen off for track.

IMO

troyguitar

I only upgraded mine because I wanted to add engine oil and trans oil coolers and it was easier to just get a radiator with both of those integrated.

LateBreak

There will be a lot of crap between the condenser and radiator, taking the radiator out will allow you to get it much cleaner than trying to do it in the car. Also, some water wetter should help keep temps down. We've had the best luck with Justice Bros Radiator Cooler versus other options, it can be hard to find but seems to be worth it in my experience.

klodkrawler05

which one did you go with? a radiator with built in oil and trans coolers all as one nicely packaged unit sounds awesome!

ErnieN85

forum sponsor Dewitts they usually have a sale about now (group buy)

brkntrxn

I raced my stock radiator for years until the addition of aero forced me to go to a bigger DeWitts.

troyguitar

Ron Davis via phoenix performance

Bill Dearborn

They will not cool the car on a track. My stock 97 M6 with 2700 miles on it overheated when I went to the Glen. Coolant temps would run about 230 and oil temps would run close to 300. On my stock 03Z coolant temps would still run about 230 but oil temps hit 319 on a 90 degree day in August. I went to a Ron Davis Racing Radiator (from DRM) with a built engine oil cooler that I first installed in the 97 and after I got the 03 and did a couple of track days I installed it in the 03. With the RD radiator installed coolant temps held at 200 with a stock thermostat and oil temps dropped to 230 in both cars.

Maybe if I had added an engine oil cooler I might have been able to get away with keeping the stock radiator but I did everything that was recommended to get air flow through the radiator. I taped the center air dam so it wouldn't pivot backwards at speeds over 100, I sealed the edges of the AC condenser where they meet the radiator shroud since the stock foam seals had blown into the engine compartment and I constantly cleaned the AC condenser and radiator to keep dirt out of them.

I always recommend a HD radiator as one of the first car mods on a C5. Right after safety mods.

Bill

Apocolipse

230 coolant temps are fantastic...nothing to worry about there on a LS engine. I wonder how many degrees you would drop with the complete removal of the a/c condenser. I am not running a/c so I hope that helps.

As for engine oil temps, adding the cooler to the radiator would 100% warrant a larger heat capacity unit. Now if you went external and put it elsewhere other than in front of the rad, you probably could have gotten away with it...Those are some crazy oil temperatures sir. I assume you love the sound of redlined v8's

Bill Dearborn

Yes, the RD is a high capacity radiator and on the road it actually cooled the oil too much. The stock radiator has a thin core while the RD is an exact replacement that drops right into place but has a much thicker core. In 40 degree ambient temps it was hard to get the oil temp above 150 degrees even after driving for a half hour or more. If I hadn't had the stock thermostat the coolant temps would definitely dropped further than they did. On a cool day I could drive for an extended period of time, stop the car and put my hand on the passenger side tank of the radiator and it would be cold. That was where the oil cooler was located. I also had a remote oil filter in the system which had a quart capacity. It took 8 quarts of oil to bring the oil level up to the full mark on the dip stick. With the extra quart of GM recommends for autocrossing and track events that brought total oil capacity to 9 quarts.


I think the difference between it and the DeWitts is the DeWitts has the oil cooler located in the driver's side tank which is where GM places the truck engine oil coolers.




Bill

TKOGTO

At 1x or 2x a year for "a nice lapping session with some friends", my 2c is clean, the stock rad will be fine. Worst case is a couple of cool down laps on a particularly hot day. If you start to go regularly, cooling the oil, tranny, diff, coolant and brakes will become necessary.