Is Rotary Extremes Oil Coolers Overkill? (mainly the 34 row)
 

Little by little Im working my way to the track, next is getting rid of the single oil cooler and get an aftermarket one. The craftmanship of the rotary extreme one looks great. I was thinking of getting the 25row dual set up, yet is this even to much? Or would a 34 row single be enough? How about the 34 row dual? Can oil ever be to cold ;)

You can put in an oil thremastat, it works the same as a coolant thremastat I beleive. I am not sure if the rotory extreme kit comes with one, but it should be considerd a must for any of those dual setups.

As far as which kit is the best for your application, I would think get the dual 34 row system. This being that you are going to track your car and you can never have to much cooling for the track. If this was a street car, I would say just run one.

I would also look into the CWC kit, I think it is a little less money and is just as good, if not better.

Well my temps at least around town and even with some dips into boost are never that hot. I mean lately I have no been hitting the 16lb requirement to open the cap to the overflow tank. I do have an aftermarket radiator and I know i think its 20% of cooling is done through oil in the FD. I just thought of something random too, how about the one in the RX8 ? Are'nt those bigger than stock? Maybe at a junkyard or something ( I have already seen 4 recked Rx8s).

My advice would be to purchase an oil temp gauge first. Put the car on the track and check your temps. Find out if you really need to upgrade your oil cooler then you can decide on what's best.

Yes, oil can be too cold (as well as too hot). There is a desired operating temperature for it's lubrication properties to work at their best. It's not as fluid when it's cold (as you can see if you drain the oil in your car when it's warm verse when it's cold).

Well thats similiar on how I estimate my cars temperature is. If the pressure reads higher than 0 on the stock sensor then its cool and doing well. 0 means its hot and needs to cool, because we all know the cooler oil = thicker etc etc. Yet Oil temp guage it is then!

Getting the oil temp gauge before modifying your oil cooling system is similar to getting a boost gauge before increasing your boost: you need to know where you stand initially so you'll know if you are actually helping your car or making it worse.

Most likely, if you are only doing 2-3 events a year (like you mention in your other thread), then running a thicker oil on your tracks days will probably be enough for a while until you get more serious about it.

Baby steps, baby steps! ;)

Hell I dont mind one bit, makes the track that much sooner to get on =P Yes yes, oil temp gauge it is then. Thank you almighty Mahjik, moderator of the 3rd gen boards. :bowdown:

I'm going to make a single 34row kit to replace my drivers side cooler.

I'll let you know how that goes, should have it done in a month or two.

The CWC kit sucks I had it and had to completely redo the lines and fittings due to one of the fittings cracking constantly causing a lot of oil leaks which almost resulted in a blown motor. CWC engineered the oil cooler thermostat to be a 90 fitting from the engine block, and supported by it with only the fitting. Plus with a CWC kit you can't use a FMIC or VMIC only SMIC can be used because of the location of the thermostat.

If it was between the RE and CWC kit, go for the RE.

I remember my oil temps were pretty high just cruising around town with the dual R1 setup and an aftermarket bumper(larger openings). Even with it ducted off properly, I was seeing oil temps in the 105 C range on my old Greddy gauge. When I went to a single setrab 25 row, my temps dropped to around 90 C range and when I did a dual setrab 25 row, it's down to 78 C~ now. I've also noticed that my oil pressure goes up higher at lower rpms. I've also noticed that my oil temps will go up slightly when racing, but will drop quickly when I idle/cruise to a stop. I think the highest I"ve hit is 85 C with the dual 25 row's.

thanks for sharing your temps jspec.

bottom line is you have taken 20C out of your oil temps versus the dual r1 setup..
that speaks well for the single and dual 25s.

howard coleman

I have the rotary extreme 25 row and eventhough I don't have an oil temp gauge yet. My water temps have dropped maybe 10C.