[LSA]

I'm working on gathering as much info as I can related to the C&R external oil cooler and intercooler.

If you're not familiar with the setup, the oil cooler replaces the secondary intercooler for the supercharger circuit. The one in front of the RF tire.

This should drop oil temps dramatically, but the questions is what happens to IAT? Particularly if running higher than stock boost.

Again, I'm working on gathering data at this point. I have some info provided by C&R that I can post later.

If you have any knowledge of or experience with this setup, please post. I'm hoping I can put a parts list together for bypassing the stock oil cooler etc.

[Tim M]

In OEM configuration - the right front cooler remains a engine coolant heat exhanger. The left front cooler is the supercharger exchanger (along with the larger center mounted exchanger).

Obviously your IAT's will rise with less cooling capacity. Good Luck!

[Sakudog]

Originally Posted by Tim M

In OEM configuration - the right front cooler remains a engine coolant heat exhanger. The left front cooler is the supercharger exchanger (along with the larger center mounted exchanger).

Obviously your IAT's will rise with less cooling capacity. Good Luck!

Correct, you would upgrade the center cooler the same time... we'll see how this works out for those trying it out early.

[LSA]

Originally Posted by Tim M

In OEM configuration - the right front cooler remains a engine coolant heat exhanger. The left front cooler is the supercharger exchanger (along with the larger center mounted exchanger).

Obviously your IAT's will rise with less cooling capacity. Good Luck!

Correct. Thanks for catching that mistake.

Comparison of the OE intercooler and C&R unit:

OE HE Specs:
30 Cooling Tubes
16mm thick
242 sq in core face
Single Pass

C&R Specs:
47 Cooling Tubes = 56% increase
27mm thick = 68% increase
260 sq in core face = 7.4% increase
Single Pass

The concept overall makes sense. It remains to be proven that a single heat exchanger (intercooler) can replace 2- especially with greater than stock boost.

The thicker intercooler will also reduce flow to the primary radiator. I think not having the oil dump a bunch of heat into the engine coolant will more than make up for this, but.....

[travislambert]

No, it's proven. I did the track testing for this C&R oil cooler / heat exchanger setup (In fact, the oil cooler was my idea I brought to C&R for them to build.)

No worries on the IATs if you upgrade the center cooler at the same time. I have lots of before and after data and there was no difference because the cooling in that circuit is more limited by the bricks in the supercharger than the front heat exchanger. If you want to test this theory, block the left cooler with cardboard and run on the track. (I did) You'll only see a few degrees difference in IAT2s. Once you upgrade the center cooler, you don't need the left aux cooler and it's still as good or better with respect to IAT2s.

The oil cooler is just amazing! I couldn't be happier with it. The temp drop is a minimum of 50 degrees. My thermostat in the Improved Racing sandwich plate is 212F, and for most of a track session my oil temps are bouncing off the thermostat. The highest oil temps I've ever seen since the install were in the 230s. Prior to the install I'd often see oil temps 290F+.

Here are some pics of my oil cooler install (and some other misc pics).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...vW?usp=sharing

FYI, I left the stock oil cooler (heater) in place. I originally planned to remove it, but after testing I realized the removal was unnecessary.

(I'm not affiliated with C&R Racing in any way. I'm just a very happy customer. Those guys are seriously talented engineers with some of the very best coolers available.)

[FrostZ]

The install and cooler look awesome on the car, great work! I'm glad to hear the cooler seems to solve the problems of temps on the car as I've also been looking into this cooler for track use and couldn't find any real world data or users yet. Your data seems extremely promising and I will more than likely undertake the project this winter. Now I just have to decide between a sandwich plate or the oil to water cooler delete.

[travislambert]

Originally Posted by FrostZ

The install and cooler look awesome on the car, great work! I'm glad to hear the cooler seems to solve the problems of temps on the car as I've also been looking into this cooler for track use and couldn't find any real world data or users yet. Your data seems extremely promising and I will more than likely undertake the project this winter. Now I just have to decide between a sandwich plate or the oil to water cooler delete.

Probably can't go wrong either way.

Seriously, I couldn't be happier with this setup. I'm a very picky and data-driven person. If it didn't work well, I'd be the first to admit it. (C&R wouldn't have offered it for sale either.) I'm honestly blown away with how well it works. It's a bit pricey but after owning it, I'd call it a bargain even at double their price.

Here are some things I used for my install:

• Improved Racing (M22x1.5) sandwich plate (212F Thermostat)
• 10ft of -10 AN oil cooler line. 8ft would have probably been more than sufficient.
• 3x Heavy-duty zip ties
• 1x Straight -10 AN hose end
• 1x 60-degree hose end (JEGS 110039)
• 2x 45-degree hose ends (JEGS 110013)
• 3/4 Heater hose with molded 90
• 1x Gates 3/4 heater hose 90-degree fitting
• 2x Gates Power Grip Hose Clamps (32929)
• 2x Spring clamps for 3/4 heater hose

I'm not 100% sure if the two 45 degree fittings will be right for everyone. I don't have primary cats and that's what worked the best for the line routing. With the cats in place, the routing of the oil lines will need to be a little different.

[FrostZ]

I know the feeling I'm the exact same way, gotta have every option and all the data in front of me before any decisions are made. I'm glad everything is nice and cool now so you can enjoy the car to it's fullest. Thank you so much for the parts list and insight on the project!

[TheRealJA105]

Originally Posted by travislambert

Probably can't go wrong either way.

Seriously, I couldn't be happier with this setup. I'm a very picky and data-driven person. If it didn't work well, I'd be the first to admit it. (C&R wouldn't have offered it for sale either.) I'm honestly blown away with how well it works. It's a bit pricey but after owning it, I'd call it a bargain even at double their price.

Here are some things I used for my install:

• Improved Racing (M22x1.5) sandwich plate (212F Thermostat)
• 10ft of -10 AN oil cooler line. 8ft would have probably been more than sufficient.
• 3x Heavy-duty zip ties
• 1x Straight -10 AN hose end
• 1x 60-degree hose end (JEGS 110039)
• 2x 45-degree hose ends (JEGS 110013)
• 3/4 Heater hose with molded 90
• 1x Gates 3/4 heater hose 90-degree fitting
• 2x Gates Power Grip Hose Clamps (32929)
• 2x Spring clamps for 3/4 heater hose

I'm not 100% sure if the two 45 degree fittings will be right for everyone. I don't have primary cats and that's what worked the best for the line routing. With the cats in place, the routing of the oil lines will need to be a little different.

Travis, thank you for linking your pictures. I am considering this oil cooler per your recommendations, but damn it's pricey like you said. I wonder what taking away the auxiliary cooler will affect with my car being an SS because that cooler is an auxiliary radiator not intercooler.

[travislambert]

Originally Posted by TheRealJA105

Travis, thank you for linking your pictures. I am considering this oil cooler per your recommendations, but damn it's pricey like you said. I wonder what taking away the auxiliary cooler will affect with my car being an SS because that cooler is an auxiliary radiator not intercooler.

I wouldn't think you'd end up any worse off than a stock ZL1 with only one aux engine coolant cooler. My assumption is the second aux engine coolant cooler on the SS is unnecessary.

[radz28]

Originally Posted by travislambert

I wouldn't think you'd end up any worse off than a stock ZL1 with only one aux engine coolant cooler. My assumption is the second aux engine coolant cooler on the SS is unnecessary.

Is this the set-up you were looking for to fix your high-temp issues? To make sure I'm understanding the solution:

• upgraded blower primary H/E

• substituted OEM-blower secondary H/E with C&R oil cooler

• OEM primary and secondary radiators retained

Do I understand correctly?

Thanks, as always, for sharing.

[h018871]

Thx for extensive group of pictures Travis, super detailed!

What are your water temperatures running after the C&R installation? What were the ambient temps during the sessions? This definitely seems to be the way to go.

Thx again


EDIT: It looks like you mounted the SC heat exchanger 'backwards' or front to back. Do I have that correctly? If so, what were your reasons for the change?

[LSA]

Originally Posted by travislambert

No, it's proven. I did the track testing for this C&R oil cooler / heat exchanger setup (In fact, the oil cooler was my idea I brought to C&R for them to build.)

No worries on the IATs if you upgrade the center cooler at the same time. I have lots of before and after data and there was no difference because the cooling in that circuit is more limited by the bricks in the supercharger than the front heat exchanger. If you want to test this theory, block the left cooler with cardboard and run on the track. (I did) You'll only see a few degrees difference in IAT2s. Once you upgrade the center cooler, you don't need the left aux cooler and it's still as good or better with respect to IAT2s.

The oil cooler is just amazing! I couldn't be happier with it. The temp drop is a minimum of 50 degrees. My thermostat in the Improved Racing sandwich plate is 212F, and for most of a track session my oil temps are bouncing off the thermostat. The highest oil temps I've ever seen since the install were in the 230s. Prior to the install I'd often see oil temps 290F+.

Here are some pics of my oil cooler install (and some other misc pics).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...vW?usp=sharing

FYI, I left the stock oil cooler (heater) in place. I originally planned to remove it, but after testing I realized the removal was unnecessary.

(I'm not affiliated with C&R Racing in any way. I'm just a very happy customer. Those guys are seriously talented engineers with some of the very best coolers available.)

Thank for the info and especially all the pics.

[travislambert]

It's hard to get perfect apples-to-apples data, but we got pretty close. This data is from PittRace 8/2/2020 (prior to oil cooler) and 9/5/2020 (after oil cooler). The ambient temps were ~81-83F during both tests. Data window for both is the last 10 minutes of approximate 15 minute session.

You can see roughly a 50F improvement in engine oil temps:



Coolant temps didn't change much other than the car stayed a little cooler for longer, but plateaued at a similar point below 220F.



Post compression air temps were about 5 degrees higher than intake air temps. (BEFORE)



After removing the left aux cooler and installing the C&R upgraded center cooler, there was no meaningful difference in IAT2s (AFTER).