11 Apr 2015, 11:36
I'm starting a new topic on this in order to answer Rich's question because the topic was locked due to chatter about the other club.
This is not true. OEMs are still using copper/brass simply because it is cheaper, *all other things being equal*, cools better and is more tolerant to corrosion which might cause leaks (ie the copper fins often corrode but the pipes don't).
Aluminium has three major advantages
1: it's lighter, so for the same *weight* you can get better cooling with a larger rad
2: It looks prettier. If only you could see it past the AC condenser (if you have a Hervey one, you'll be able to see the left hand quarter of it :roll: )
3: When healthy (not corroded), it's more resilient to impacts and pressure spikes. Useful in racing, not so useful here.
If you're paying attention, you'll notice i said "all other things being equal". By this I mean the same external dimensions, the same pipe bores and the same surface area of fins. I know Ed's has the same external dims, I can't speak for the core construction but I know my rad has everything maximised otherwise, being a twin-row where original is single. I have done a couple of triple rows for people in Australia with powerful engines, but they get BIG and things need jimmying around to fit.
Don't fall into the trap of confusing the radiator's performance with the temperature at which the car runs. Once warmed up, engine temps are controlled by the thermostat at one end, and the fan switch at the other. Any of these rads will appear to perform more or less the same as long as they're sufficiently able to cool at low-duty ie stop-start slow moving traffic with the fans and AC on, and we can assume they aren't gunged up originals that might otherwise cause overheating when driving normally. The only real test is on a track with the engine running flat out near the red line more or less constantly - THAT's when you can truly say "x's radiator is better than y's".
I fitted one of Ed's rads when my rad guy happened to be off work for 3 months and I got caught out. I don't like that he's got rid of the studs at the bottom. Although it looks prettier once installed, it's much more of a pain to fit. I didn't perform any robust analysis, but the car seemed to take longer to move between fans coming on and going off.
HTH
Rissy Wrote:Why would people have issues about aluminium radiators? It's pretty much the universally used material for them these days....
This is not true. OEMs are still using copper/brass simply because it is cheaper, *all other things being equal*, cools better and is more tolerant to corrosion which might cause leaks (ie the copper fins often corrode but the pipes don't).
Aluminium has three major advantages
1: it's lighter, so for the same *weight* you can get better cooling with a larger rad
2: It looks prettier. If only you could see it past the AC condenser (if you have a Hervey one, you'll be able to see the left hand quarter of it :roll: )
3: When healthy (not corroded), it's more resilient to impacts and pressure spikes. Useful in racing, not so useful here.
If you're paying attention, you'll notice i said "all other things being equal". By this I mean the same external dimensions, the same pipe bores and the same surface area of fins. I know Ed's has the same external dims, I can't speak for the core construction but I know my rad has everything maximised otherwise, being a twin-row where original is single. I have done a couple of triple rows for people in Australia with powerful engines, but they get BIG and things need jimmying around to fit.
Don't fall into the trap of confusing the radiator's performance with the temperature at which the car runs. Once warmed up, engine temps are controlled by the thermostat at one end, and the fan switch at the other. Any of these rads will appear to perform more or less the same as long as they're sufficiently able to cool at low-duty ie stop-start slow moving traffic with the fans and AC on, and we can assume they aren't gunged up originals that might otherwise cause overheating when driving normally. The only real test is on a track with the engine running flat out near the red line more or less constantly - THAT's when you can truly say "x's radiator is better than y's".
I fitted one of Ed's rads when my rad guy happened to be off work for 3 months and I got caught out. I don't like that he's got rid of the studs at the bottom. Although it looks prettier once installed, it's much more of a pain to fit. I didn't perform any robust analysis, but the car seemed to take longer to move between fans coming on and going off.
HTH