Oil Cooler... useful?

There are some generic oil cooler kits available here which are very reasonable (USD300 installed). They claim to lower oil temperature by 10-15 degrees Celcius. They look very similar to the unit attached which is from a Japanese website and retails for approx. USD1000! Seeing that the GTA engine produces so much heat, would it be a worthwhile investment?

The GTA already has an oil cooler fitted...

Hobbes are you getting Max coolant (or oil) temperature warnings on your display?
These pop up under extreme use after your car would have been at "full bars" on the oil temp display for some time.

If you don't get the warning then I'm not sure if you would need any extra cooling?

I can get these sometimes after about 15 minutes intense track use on one particular fairly low speed windy track where there aren't enough long straights to cool the engine decently.

My car would be running hotter than yours though.
I doubt if it would be possble for me to get this warning on the road even driving like a lunatic (which I don't).

Cheers,
TB

The GTA already has an oil cooler....

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...t/DSCF0010.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...t/DSCF0009.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...t/DSCF0008.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...t/IMG_1181.jpg

And half a million people have beaten me to it.

How the hell do you get this forum to show pics from photobucket?!!!!

It's supposed to be bigger, more efficient, uses titanium coils etc etc.

Chris you can attach compressed (max 100k) pics to the post directly via manage attachments.
Photobucket has handy options to compress your photo down to the needed size.

To show embedded high quality ones the post needs to be in the image lounge.

Cheers,
TB

Seems very expensive, I don't think it'll make that much difference. Are you having trouble with it overheating?

Oil temp guage? Do GTA's have one?

Cheers TB, sounds a bit of a PITA.......

Do you have any more links on this Hobbes?
Its something I would consider at some point, although getting front and rear ARB's is top of my list at the moment.

Cheers,
TB

As people have said, the GTA has an oil cooler as standard - quite a large, well-ducted one as well (the ducting is vital for rad and other coolers).

If overheating is a concern, also consider just using absolutely top-qualkity lubricants, rather than just a cooler. Also if in a hot climate consider running a water and water wetter mix rather than glycol.

I have a slight suspicion that the diff failures - which seemed common in Oz - might be due to heat, in that case again I'd simply recommend a top-quality racing derived lube, not a mechanical solution.

TB,
There's a fairly steep uphill dual lane road which winds in a triple S shape that I enjoy taking in 2nd gear... it lasts about 40 seconds for this section, with revs close to redline. With windows down the exhaust note is glorious. When I come to a stop at the lights on the top, I can see the engine temp surge significantly... wondering if the oil cooler would help.

Chris: GTA's and later 156's (I believe) have the trip computer console, that can show the oil temp display as a series of bars.

Its very handy for track days, is a nice big display that you just need the briefest glance at .
When I see it go to all bars lit up, I know to use 3rd gear instead of 2nd for some corners where either is feasible.

@Jwyatt: what lubricants were you thinking of?

@Hobbes: 4 bars on the oil display is normal for enthusiatic driving, it takes a fair bit of effort to get it up to 5 bars for a standard car.
It cools very quickly once the engine load is reduced though.
Of course you have a hotter climate than Ireland in the summer

Originally Posted by Hobbes

When I come to a stop at the lights on the top, I can see the engine temp surge significantly... wondering if the oil cooler would help.

It will be rising because you have been going flatout and then suddenly stopped.
You have lost all the airflow through the cooler, the only thing that would help in that situation is a fan on the existing cooler, but then that would spoil the airflow when you are moving.

Have you considered bolting a small fan to the oil cooler?

TB, link to expensive japanese one as follows:
http://www.orque.co.jp/tuneup/alfa-eng.html
It says something about the standard one having 13 "layers" and theirs have 23 "layers" in addition to being 30% more volumous. Great for racing, standard one is inadequate... etc. etc.

You have to scroll down to the bottom.

You dont want to mess with bigger oil cooler unless you know how the pressure reacts. By expanding the closed oil system, you might decrease the pressure/flow in vital areas

But not all the oil passes through the oil cooler, does it? If it's anything like the oil cooler on the 155 it's parrallel mounted, and a thermostat would open or close as needed.

It all depends if the cooled oil goes back to the sump, or continues it's way to the heads... If you have a VERY big cooler and the oil is redirected to the sump after it, you might just loose flow or pressure.
If it goes to the heads (as I would expect it to) your flow would not get affected.

Anyway, overheated oil is as bad as low flow... Engine parts will still overheat, and oil might burn in some areas.

Regards,
Cuore_Sportivo_155

It is indeed controlled via a thermostat.

Originally Posted by Cuore_Sportivo_155

But not all the oil passes through the oil cooler, does it? If it's anything like the oil cooler on the 155 it's parrallel mounted, and a thermostat would open or close as needed.

It all depends if the cooled oil goes back to the sump, or continues it's way to the heads... If you have a VERY big cooler and the oil is redirected to the sump after it, you might just loose flow or pressure.
If it goes to the heads (as I would expect it to) your flow would not get affected.

Anyway, overheated oil is as bad as low flow... Engine parts will still overheat, and oil might burn in some areas.

Regards,
Cuore_Sportivo_155

I dunno CS, i hear there is not too much pressure as it is. Personally i would check it, and knowing TB is pulling +1g through corners......

Defintely right to be cautious.
A top racing driver pulled just over 1.3g in it on worn out PS cups the last day,
(I can only manage 1.2g).
With just the natural baffling as opposed to race baffling I guess you need to be pretty careful.

TBH I would only get it fitted and tested by somebody who already understood my engine completely.

Yep, plus many oil systems can only flow one way, so retro fitting a different then stock system could actually damage the engine. pipe bends, undersized lines or poorly designed adapters can restrict the system severely.

Interesting point about the Baffle control TB. I would expect a car like the GTA to have a more sports oriented oil pan then stock 2.5's ?