![]() Usually, an oil cooler is mounted on the front of the radiator. An oil cooler is simply a smaller radiator with larger tubes designed to flow more viscous oil. A heat exchanger that is integrated into your radiator is compact and generally cheaper than using a dedicated oil cooler, but it also raises the coolant temperatureĪ second option for cooling either engine or transmission oil is a separate oil cooler. ![]() This way, the hot engine oil transfers some of its heat into the coolant before the coolant flows through the radiator core to be cooled. A heat exchanger routes the oil through the radiator header that holds the coolant before it flows through the radiator. First, you can use a heat exchanger in your radiator. There are two main ways to go about this. Or you may need to cool the oil in your transmission. Oil Coolers In some cases, you may choose to cool your engine oil as well to help maintain proper engine temps. If you are racing on tracks between 31/410 and 11/42 mile in length, you should look for a radiator with a fin count between 14 and 18 fins per inch. A three- or four-core radiator may work well in a Nextel Cup car racing at Atlanta, but considering the speed achieved on most half-mile or smaller Saturday night racetracks, a two-core radiator provides the most efficient cooling.Īs a general rule, a faster race car can use a higher fin count, while a car that is slower-either because of less power or because it is racing on a tighter racetrack-should have a lower fin count. The more rows of cooling tubes there are, stacked one behind another, the harder it is for the air to get through. You can also purchase three- and four-row cores, but they are generally not the best option for Saturday night racing. This second set of tubes is placed right behind the first, making the radiator a two-row core. But most performance radiators for Saturday night racing are "double pass." This means that the water flows across one set of tubes and then comes back on a second set. If the coolant just moves across the radiator one time, this is known as a "single-pass" radiator. Water or coolant flows into a header or large, open cavity on one side of the radiator, where it can then pass through one of dozens of these slim aluminum tubes before it collects into another header on the other side. Dozens of these slim tubes can be stacked on top of each other, with small air spaces between them. Manufacturers increase the surface area of the radiator tubing (versus its volume) by making it very wide from front to back but slim from top to bottom. The transfer of thermal energy from the coolant to the aluminum radiator only happens when water is in direct contact with the aluminum. ![]() First, almost all racing radiators are constructed of aluminum because it can so efficiently transfer heat from the water flowing through it to the air outside. Instead of going bigger, radiator manufacturers must use a little ingenuity to improve cooling. In racing, most radiators are no more than 19 inches tall by 31 inches wide. Matters of Flow For most racers, maximum radiator size is bounded by the height of the hood.
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