AFK-S2K

All good points. This is kind of what I was expecting, unfortunately. Half and half on to go with it, or to leave it out. The pro's of throwing it in are obvious, but when looking at my plan of 'keeping the car as simple as possible' it makes me think twice. Coming from a turbo car, i want to keep this car as simple as possible.

King Tut

Well let me tell you what does kill an S2000 motor. Running out of oil. When you introduce multiple fittings and multiple lines into the oiling system you are multiplying the risk of an oil leak and a catastrophic motor failure. Adding that cheap oil cooler might mean peace of mind to some, but it is added complexity that is otherwise unnecessary to me. I have seen plenty of oil cooler leaks on multiple cars.

AFK-S2K

This right here.

It comes back to does the cooler help temps? Yes. Is it needed? I dont know. Is it worth the extra fittings, lines, heat exchanger, It would be stupid to not consider that an extra risk in reliability. Sure, people run coolers all the time with no problems. The possibility of a leak, or a crack in the exchanger, is still there.

I can see this discussion going on. I think it may come down to testing.

s2000Junky

That's a great point, and these are the main reasons holding me back from taking the plunge. I am going to hook up a oil temp gauge and monitor my next track event this year and really see where I am at to know if its warranted for the set of conditions my car encounters out there. I've been flying blind and trusting to this point.

Mike RT4

The other thing to consider is that when fitting an oil cooler that although your temperature worries may disappear, many forum members seem to change that worry to oil pressure woes instead LOL . You only need to see the numerous posts of people with oil coolers now noticing and complaining about a drop in oil pressure when the thermostat opens. Seeing as the F20C engine requires very good oil pressures to operate properly, I would rather have good oil pressure and mediocre oil temps than good oil temps and mediocre oil pressure....

Given that oil changes are relatively inexpensive (and after watching the Endurance video I posted up earlier, where a standard car only reached a peak of 134•C (273•F) in 36•C (97•F) ambients) after 20 laps of extreme driving, I think I would rather worry about temp than pressure issues, as 1. I wouldn't be stupid enough to do 20 laps back to back and 2. We're lucky to get 26•C (79•F), let alone 36•C (97•F). I am sure after watching how the S2k performed in these extreme conditions, that doing 7-10 back to back laps in the temps we get in the UK is unlikely to see more than 125•C (257•C).

For me that is acceptable and I just perform an oil change every other track day to ensure the protective quality of the oil is maintained.

Obviously you need to just assess which is more important to you based on the way you drive the car and the typical temps you are likely to experience .

Mrsideways

Going to do a bunch of laps? If not don't worry about it. But back in SCCA T3 we couldn't add an oil cooler or a better radiator way back when. And we ran 45 min races. But we also usually lost a motor a season. I'm not sure I'd do more then a handful of laps if it didn't have the factory liquid cooler setup though.

Singh_snisen

I would say get a temp gauge if u think u r running too hot. And if u really are then a oil cooler makes sense.

spdracerut

If you design the oil cooler setup properly, there is not a significant oil pressure drop. Mine setup only had an oil pressure drop on the order of 0.1-0.2 bar. I used a massive core (34-row) and biggest lines possible (-12AN lines).

A bit more information about the mocal thermostat sandwich plate. It does not close 100% completely; it always circulates a little bit of oil. It's my understanding is so that you don't have a sudden rush of very cold oil flowing into the engine which could cause some issues. So when I drove to the track and the air temp was in the 30F-40F range, I taped shut part of my front bumper opening.

Mike RT4

I did see your arrangement, and it looked very well thought out .

SlowTeg

Ultimately yes an oil cooler is another failure point (something I've thought about as well), but I think it provides a benefit to me. Tracking a stock car, definitely not necessary, but if you start modding it, going faster, adding rubber, aero, etc. It's probably good to have.

Regarding pressures, very hot oil results in a pressure drop also. I compared my oil pressure before and after oil cooler and I'm getting very similar pressure (before and after oil cooler), but with cooler oil. Putzing around the street, I don't see a significant pressure drop as the thermostat doesn't appear to open enough to affect the pressure substantially.