On my very first HPDE with the car (and first HPDE I've done in a good 5 or 6 years), I was hitting 260*F oil temps after a couple hot laps with a nearly stock car (hp+ pads, -2.0 camber up front, nothing else that would impact lap times), on a 50*F day and a track that was slightly damp. I intend to keep doing track days every 3-4 weeks, and I of course plan on getting faster over time. Based on my experience, I think the rest of the car performs just fine for someone of my skill level, but I seem to already be exceeding what the stock heat exchanger is capable of. I'd like to keep the engine alive, so picking up an oil cooler seems like it would be worthwhile.
Doing a little research, it seems like the JR and Color Fittings kits would probably fit the bill best, but I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out which kit would actually be better for me. I like that the CF kit is a few hundred bucks cheaper, and I like that it uses angled fittings that preserve a little more clearance with the airbox and other parts under the hood. I like that the JR kit has a shroud, and having the utility to run sensors to the adaptor plate seems like a plus. This car is daily driven, and I live in NJ which has winter (but not midwest/new england winter), but even so keeping vs losing the stock heat exchanger doesn't really seem like a big deal to me. It seems like it would be a tradeoff of warming the oil up to temp ~10 minutes faster on very cold days vs having slightly higher oil pressure, which doesn't look like a big deal either way from where I'm sitting. I guess if I wanted to return the car to stock for some reason, it would be a good bit faster to do so if the stock HE were still on and I didn't need to drain/refill coolant. They use an identical and high quality core, so there shouldn't be a large difference in cooling ability.
Does anyone have any opinions on this? I'm really torn.
Doing a little research, it seems like the JR and Color Fittings kits would probably fit the bill best, but I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out which kit would actually be better for me. I like that the CF kit is a few hundred bucks cheaper, and I like that it uses angled fittings that preserve a little more clearance with the airbox and other parts under the hood. I like that the JR kit has a shroud, and having the utility to run sensors to the adaptor plate seems like a plus. This car is daily driven, and I live in NJ which has winter (but not midwest/new england winter), but even so keeping vs losing the stock heat exchanger doesn't really seem like a big deal to me. It seems like it would be a tradeoff of warming the oil up to temp ~10 minutes faster on very cold days vs having slightly higher oil pressure, which doesn't look like a big deal either way from where I'm sitting. I guess if I wanted to return the car to stock for some reason, it would be a good bit faster to do so if the stock HE were still on and I didn't need to drain/refill coolant. They use an identical and high quality core, so there shouldn't be a large difference in cooling ability.
Does anyone have any opinions on this? I'm really torn.
