Tidgy

looking at having an uprated oil cooler fitted, had mocal recomended to me, but when looking they seem to vary in size from 7 cores up to 44 cores.

i'm running a remapped uk turbo (258bhp/280ftlb) but have plans to go down the 2.5 route later on when money allows, so will want to trasnfer it as and when.

how large do people recomend?

charlesk

Why do you want to fit an oil cooler given that the Impreza already has a oil/water heat exchanger?
Track driving/prolonged high speed driving?
You'd be amazed how efficient the stock exchanger is in UK weather/temps.
Have you got an oil temp gauge? If not, fit one to see if you really need an oil cooler or not.
I track my V6 typeR regularly and oil temps are in control without an extra oil cooler, even with a FMIC in front of the rad.
Be very carefull if you do fit one, and make sure it comes with an oil stat. Cold oil is very bad for your engine...

Tidgy

nah mate heat is an issue on mine, goes from 90 to 110 in about 30 seconds over the summer when pushing it. cars running sweet as, just cos of extra boost etc

charlesk

110 is not that high on oil temp, depending on where you take your readings from (block/filter/sump).
I run 1.5bar in the mid range and still no issues with oil temps. Oil is generally 10-20C hotter than water so 110 is to be expected. Over 120 is when you need to be carefull. (the std alarm level on Defi's is 125 by the way...).
Speak to API/GrahamGoode etc to get their views on this.

DubaiNeil

I run a 16 row 115mm Mocal oil cooler on my car (MY02 WRX currently 340bhp) with the thermostatic sandwich plate - all ordered from Think Automotive Homepage. The hardest part is identifying where to mount the oil cooler and getting the pipes made up to delivery and return the oil - which are a very large part of the cost if the appropriate hoses are used.

I personally worried about fitting the oil cooler in front of the rad, as with the FMIC, rad, oil cooler and air con I wasn't sure there would be much benefit. As I had already needed to remove the fog lamps due to an APS FMIC (an early one) being fitted, a convenient space was found in the inner wheel arch.

As I currently feel I need improved cooling capabilities (particularly for track days) I am looking at either a larger cooler (there is plenty of space to go larger) or fabricating some ducting to guide the air flow more efficiently.

Oil temps under duress have reduced from 121C to approximately 110C - I want 'more' as water temps are still an issue for me (107C if enjoying 7000rpm!)

I will not join the debate on 'when you need an oil cooler' as my conditions are so far removed from the UK that my experience would not be valid.

For reference I kept the Modine oil/water heat exchanger which is fitted as standard.

Using the standard Modine, filter and adding the thermostatic take off plate, you may need to be careful with how low the filter hangs - I have not yet (touch wood) had any issues so far.

Neil

Tidgy

thanks for the input guys, form what you say might just be easy to go down the route of getting specialist to fit (which was what i was thinking along the lines of anyway) around the £500 ish mark has been mentioned

DubaiNeil

Tidgy,

It depends how 'handy' you are and how long the car can be inactive. My workshop fitted mine (they do build & support rally and desert raid cars though!) and fabbed up support brackets for the cooler, the oil hoses etc and had the hose maker come round in his little van to make up the hoses on the spot to ensure appropriate lengths, routing etc
For me to do the same would have taken a week of messing about with no car, although I'm sure David Wallis et al could acheive the same in 10 minutes with a rusty spoon and a bent coat hanger

There are some 'kits' on the market (the setup from the 'Spec C' IIRC) which are supposed to have all of the required components, as long as you want to fit it where they suggest, and haven't incoveniently put anything else in the way (FMIC etc). These are 'marked up' on price appropriately though (IMHO)

As always, if you have a workshop you trust, then acquire the Mocal parts from Think (sandwich plate, cooler matrix etc) and supply them to your workshop for fitting and hose manufacture.

In my experience, I make recommendations as to what I would 'like' and then the mechanics ignore me and do whats best They seem to have an unhealthy suspicion of Internet based experts - cant imagine why

One tip (as an Internet based expert ) ensure that the oil cooler, if fitted to a chassis member, is fitted using vibration isolating mounts - as you really don't want to crack the cooler and spray 100C oil at 6 bar onto the plastic inner wheel arch and front tyre (or anywhere else for that matter!)