Quote:
Originally Posted by bcfromfl
So now I'm thinking a bit more about an actual oil cooler, but still not sure if I need it. We get in the 90's here during the summer and early fall, which is about 15 degrees warmer than what I've driven so far. Temps are in the 200-205 range after warming up, which means I've still got a comfortable upside range. Hmmmm...
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I am in the minority here with this opinion, but the need for an oil/air cooler over the OEM oil/water is debatabe and dependant on your setup and your use of the car. I am getting along fine with the OEM oil/water cooler but my car is strictly a street toy and DD. I am in Central FL so conditions are similar to you, if not a little harsher.
One key difference in my setup is that I am running the GTM/Gamma high capacity oil pan, which has increased my capacity to nearly 2 gallons and the oil pan itself is a gigantic aluminum heatsink.
Popular opinion on this forum is that the OEM oil cooler is mostly ineffective, and I have found this to be untrue. Believing it, I deleted mine... temperatures seemed fine during the cooler months but when summer finally started to beat down on us my oil temps became uncomfortably high.
As a test sample - without my oil cooler:
Cruising at 95mph, 87 degrees outside - 260 degrees (steady state)
Not much later, I reinstalled it:
Cruising at 95mph, 83 degrees outside - 227ish degrees (steady state)
So in my situation, the OEM cooler made a substantial difference.
My advice would be this:
If your car EVER sees track time of any kind, install one.
If you are hiring out your install work, go ahead and have a cooler installed at the same time as the labor will be minimal while everything is torn apart.
If you do your own work and are a tinkerer and don't mind experimenting, then try foregoing it and seeing how it goes... you can always add one if the temps aren't to your liking. It's not like the world explodes if you do a couple of fun runs and you touch 260. Everyone told me to install one when I went TT and I took the wait-and-see approach and, for me, I didn't need one. Maybe I drive like an old lady. =)