Mishimoto radiator for C6 review (A&A kit)
10-26-2018, 10:11 PM
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Mishimoto radiator for C6 review (A&A kit)
Hey everyone, so I recently recieved a radiator from Mishimoto for a final trial run to check fitment and if it does fit with no modifications. This is a 2 part post so sorry if it is lengthy.
1. Radiator design, fitment, quality, and install skill level
Well this unit is 1000% better looking and performing then the stock radiator (you will understand shortly). They maximized radiator size and it still fits perfectly. I have a 2010 with a A&A V3SI kit, it slid right in and the fan fits perfect and the A/C condenser went on eaiser then on the stock radiator. I think this is a killer radiator and it is cheaper then a Dewittis unit. As long as this holds up how it is I will be forced to offer this for my C6 customers, just by being a superior option at a better price point. Quality is very nice and fin strength seems just about on par with OEM but possibly stiffer so they do not bend as easy. End tanks seem to be pretty thick aluminum and welds look good. The oil cooler and trans cooler connections came with new clips which is nice because everyone has lost one in their life and it's a pain, so that is a plus. Everything fitment wise is OEM and fits great! They also changed the drain so no more mess trying to drain though the nipple in the radiator foot. For install I did not use my lift for laughs i actuall installed at a friends house in about 2 hours total (minus fabrication time) I am very confident that almost any C6 owner could install with some basic hand tool kit some pliers and coolant!!
2. Now this is the fun part and has been about a week on and off the phone with mishimoto. This is a perfect drop in for any C6 that is all motor, positive displacement supercharger, or possibly rear mount turbo depending on intercooler.
For all of us centrifugal blower C6 owners this radiator is very tight with our charge pipe from the intercooler to the throttle body. Now with my kit and being Ls3 I have a 3.5-4" charge pipe, and it's all solid unlike the Ls2 cars. Ls2 cars may fit I cannot confirm yet. But for me I was challenged with the issue of what to do to make it work. I spoke with mishimoto several times about it and what I would suggest to them as making one possibly with a shorter core or a completely shorter radiator. The main issue I ran into was since the core is 2x as thick as a stock rad, the mishimoto radiator front edge was disrupting the path of the charge pipe and moving it up by about 1" and after looking at everything even lowering the rad cradle more I came up with trimming the core. Now before you say it already exists, yes I know I am fully aware. But if this unit can be better then there is hope for budget people looking to save a few hundred.
3. Modifications that I did to the radiator
I started by taking a few rows out untill I had full access to blower intake and had plenty of room for the charge pipe. Now the 3rd thing I wanted to make sure of is that the stock fan could still be used. So after lots of cutting and test fitting and welding I came up with a radiator that is a shorter core and is much much more effective at cooking then the factory rad. Before after my fan turned on it stayed on till I turned the car off, the past 2 days is the first time i have ever in 4 years heard my fan turn off EVER, sitting in traffic 59* outside and yes coolant temp was 198* fan clicked on came down to 190* about 20 sec later and turned off. I immediately grabbed my laptop and checked with hptuners and manually turned fan on to make sure it was not broken and it was fine. So continuing to drive in traffic 10 mins later same situation the radiator actually cooled off enough for the fan to turn off.
Now this radiator has been modified and shortened so a full size will have more benefit then one I modified or if you are brave enough to modify. I would just like to put this info out there for anyone interested, this is not paid for this is real world honest review. So if any questions just ask and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities.
1. Is it better then stock
YES
2. Is it direct drop in for stock applications
YES
3. If a mishimoto rep sees this and would like to contact me feel free to send me a message
1. Radiator design, fitment, quality, and install skill level
Well this unit is 1000% better looking and performing then the stock radiator (you will understand shortly). They maximized radiator size and it still fits perfectly. I have a 2010 with a A&A V3SI kit, it slid right in and the fan fits perfect and the A/C condenser went on eaiser then on the stock radiator. I think this is a killer radiator and it is cheaper then a Dewittis unit. As long as this holds up how it is I will be forced to offer this for my C6 customers, just by being a superior option at a better price point. Quality is very nice and fin strength seems just about on par with OEM but possibly stiffer so they do not bend as easy. End tanks seem to be pretty thick aluminum and welds look good. The oil cooler and trans cooler connections came with new clips which is nice because everyone has lost one in their life and it's a pain, so that is a plus. Everything fitment wise is OEM and fits great! They also changed the drain so no more mess trying to drain though the nipple in the radiator foot. For install I did not use my lift for laughs i actuall installed at a friends house in about 2 hours total (minus fabrication time) I am very confident that almost any C6 owner could install with some basic hand tool kit some pliers and coolant!!
2. Now this is the fun part and has been about a week on and off the phone with mishimoto. This is a perfect drop in for any C6 that is all motor, positive displacement supercharger, or possibly rear mount turbo depending on intercooler.
For all of us centrifugal blower C6 owners this radiator is very tight with our charge pipe from the intercooler to the throttle body. Now with my kit and being Ls3 I have a 3.5-4" charge pipe, and it's all solid unlike the Ls2 cars. Ls2 cars may fit I cannot confirm yet. But for me I was challenged with the issue of what to do to make it work. I spoke with mishimoto several times about it and what I would suggest to them as making one possibly with a shorter core or a completely shorter radiator. The main issue I ran into was since the core is 2x as thick as a stock rad, the mishimoto radiator front edge was disrupting the path of the charge pipe and moving it up by about 1" and after looking at everything even lowering the rad cradle more I came up with trimming the core. Now before you say it already exists, yes I know I am fully aware. But if this unit can be better then there is hope for budget people looking to save a few hundred.
3. Modifications that I did to the radiator
I started by taking a few rows out untill I had full access to blower intake and had plenty of room for the charge pipe. Now the 3rd thing I wanted to make sure of is that the stock fan could still be used. So after lots of cutting and test fitting and welding I came up with a radiator that is a shorter core and is much much more effective at cooking then the factory rad. Before after my fan turned on it stayed on till I turned the car off, the past 2 days is the first time i have ever in 4 years heard my fan turn off EVER, sitting in traffic 59* outside and yes coolant temp was 198* fan clicked on came down to 190* about 20 sec later and turned off. I immediately grabbed my laptop and checked with hptuners and manually turned fan on to make sure it was not broken and it was fine. So continuing to drive in traffic 10 mins later same situation the radiator actually cooled off enough for the fan to turn off.
Now this radiator has been modified and shortened so a full size will have more benefit then one I modified or if you are brave enough to modify. I would just like to put this info out there for anyone interested, this is not paid for this is real world honest review. So if any questions just ask and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities.
1. Is it better then stock
YES
2. Is it direct drop in for stock applications
YES
3. If a mishimoto rep sees this and would like to contact me feel free to send me a message
Last edited by rbsurfer; 10-26-2018 at 10:27 PM. Reason: update
10-29-2018, 03:10 PM
#5
Team Owner
No doubt it is a nice radiator, but why not just do a dewitts that has a long proven history on the vettes. Plus if you wanted a cut down one, they make one. Then again doing a cut down one is a bad bad bad idea.
10-29-2018, 11:01 PM
#6
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I would of gone dewittis but more interested in a cheaper option. I am not sure why a cut down one is a bad idea. I have a huge cooling improvement with a shorter rad and more room that is a benefit if you ask me.
10-30-2018, 10:39 AM
#7
Melting Slicks
How thick is the tank - looks about 3 inches wide.
10-30-2018, 06:06 PM
#9
Former Vendor
The following users liked this post:
someblackguy224 (09-03-2022)
10-30-2018, 06:17 PM
#11
Former Vendor
10-30-2018, 07:32 PM
#14
Team Owner
They had a low intro price, that still was more than what you can get a dewitts on sale for.
Cutdown just hurts performance too much compared to full size, and you can fit a 4" full intake over a full size, with no cooling impact, so why mess with cut down and just hurt the performance. I know plenty that went cutdown, overheated, went back to full size.
Cutdown just hurts performance too much compared to full size, and you can fit a 4" full intake over a full size, with no cooling impact, so why mess with cut down and just hurt the performance. I know plenty that went cutdown, overheated, went back to full size.
10-30-2018, 07:36 PM
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My cut down mishimoto has been a huge increase over stock, cannot say for full size mishimoto. Also I could not fit my charge pipe at full size so it had to be shortened.
10-30-2018, 07:51 PM
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Hey, just want to say this has nothing against your radiators. I have used them before in c6 blower cars. I was asked to test this rad and see how it was. In my case since I have a blower it had to be cut down like your short radiators.
10-30-2018, 09:25 PM
#17
Former Vendor
I have no issue with what you bought. You might want to fab up a new top C channel to beef up the core. Sometimes when you cut the top off and leave it open the tubes balloon due to the missing support channel.
10-30-2018, 09:27 PM
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Yes! I completely agree this was the first test to see how it holds up. I will be adding a full top bracket.
