Oil cooler setup!

Since my first visits to racetracks it became obvious that having an oil cooler, especially when the engine is boosted and the power is way more that the factory 240bhp, is mandatory.

I therefore had to make sure I had a proper cooling setup, both for the radiator and the oil cooler that was going to be fitted.

During the past few years, I tried various oil cooler arrangements which performed differently (from ok to far from ok) until I found the best solution imho. Previous setups had the oil cooler sitting last in line, after the intercooler and the radiator of the car or in between the two. I even tried fabricating a double thickness intercooler sitting on one size of the bumer hole and the oil cooler sitting next to it (both in front of the radiator).

However, the best setup is the one were you maximize the flow for all involved heat exchangers (radiator, oil cooler and intercooler). And this can only be achieved if you either have a V-mount setup (like the one seen below) or by moving the oil cooler to a place where it does not interfere with the other 2 heat exchangers.

V-mount setup seen here (shown with a TTS rotrex kit)

From the front (on a Science of Speed turbo kit setup)

And the same one seen from above (where the radiator is also clearly seen)

So the question is: Where do you fit the oil cooler?

And the answer is, under the headlight!

I have been looking for a proper mounting kit for some years and it was only until 2018 that I found a complete side mount kit from S12 Specialists (a company that no longer exists from what I understand).

These are the official pics I got from S12 Specialists. There were two kits available, one for a small and one for a large cooler.

I chose to install the large one in order to maximize the cooling of the engine oil. The installation is straight forward as the kit was design to be a bolt on solution. However, as I do with all the upgrades that I install on the car, I just had to make it better, a lot better!

After installing the oil cooler mounting bracket and hoses to the oil filter sandwich plate we started designing. After a lot of searching for the proper ducts and discussion with my mechanic, we managed to perfectly duct the oil cooler and have air coming from the front bumper hole directly to the cooler.

The sides were also sealer off so no air could escape reducing the air flow to the oil cooler.

And then, we just have to modify the bumper outlet so that it could point at the exact location when the bumper was fitted to the car. With this solution, no clamp is needed on the bumper side. The bumper hole extension perfectly slides in the rubber hose which is securely fitted to the oil cooler ducting.

Last but not least, we had to create an outlet for the hot air. We cut the wheel arch lining and voila!

A mesh was also fitted just to be sure that no stone chips will damage the oil cooler.

I have now improved the mesh and have removed the bottom 1/4 part, since no stones can enter from that low and the flow is surely increased by this mod.

Cooling temp figures:

With previous setups of 450 bhp I would easily see 130 deg C of oil temps even after 5 min of time attack on track. During my last track day (with the new setup producing 400 or less bhp) and this oil cooler setup I could drive around the track for more than 10min with the oil temp only reaching 110 deg C.

Feel free to ask any questions!

See you soon!

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