MR2 SW20 3SGTE Stock Cooling

[Heylin]

Is the stock radiator on MR2 suitable for 240RWKW street use ?

My 2 options are

A) get my stock radiator cleaned (end tanks taken off and rods put down tubes then flushed) as BHG has gunked it up. Cost $100

B) Get a new alloy rad. Cost $480-$500

Sure alloy would be nice, but I dont track or race the car and if the stock one is upto the task id rather use the savings to pay for my engine rebuild.

My stock one prior to BHG was supporting 190RWKW

[Malcolm]

there seem to be plenty of people on the mr2oc.com forum that think it would handle that and quite a lot more. Have a search on there and I think you'll find there's a few 500rwhp street cars running stock cooling

[Kittah]

I've always understood the main benefit of aluminium radiators to be weight reduction, with the extra cooling ability only being gained due to the necessary extra thickness, because aluminium doesn't conduct heat as well as copper? Of course, I've no idea if the factory radiator even has a copper core, so...

Just some food for thought

[Heylin]

Scott from ATS Racing USA had this to say

When the stock radiator is healthy it’s probably the best you can get. The MR2 has a really big cooling system considering the engine size, and it has a lot of capacity in the pipes running back and forth. I have only put one alloy radiator in an MR2 in 10 years, and that was because the old one was leaky, and I didn’t have a stock one handy.

Im thinking the $100 core clean to be a good option now. All my fins in good condition as ive had mesh on my body kit so very little in the way of stones and bugs get through.

[Al]

My god Heylin your car has become the largest money pit ever.

[Heylin]

My god Heylin your car has become the largest money pit ever.

Still not as much as Boostin has spent...but im getting there.

Ill just be happy to get back on the road again. Being without it for 3 months is killing me almost as much as the shock of how much $$$ its absorbing.

Guess my dream car will have to be an MR2 now got no choice in the matter. Going to be mean machine whens its done.

[cat007]

Alli rad for $500? Are you on crack? I suggest you take a better look around lol

[iOnic]

My god Heylin your car has become the largest money pit ever.

Still not as much as Boostin has spent...

He has a much newer car.....and about twice the power

Yes a stock radiator will be just fine for what you want. Seeing as the car is all apart anyway and you're putting a freshly built engine in, you may as well get it all flushed and cleaned and get the pipes under the car done as well.

[MR2BOY23]

Yeah boostins car is definitely in a different league

[Heylin]

He has a much newer car.....and about twice the power

Yeah getting that way, after this lot the only untouched thing will be the gearbox, pretty much the rest of the car has been replaced or upgraded at some point in the last 3-4 years. Very little kms too.

Alli rad for $500? Are you on crack? I suggest you take a better look around lol

Yep I had a good look around

- Fennix in Auckland - dont sell
- A1 Radiators in Christchurch $650-$750 for custom built
- Mishimoto on ebay $510
- Hook up on MR2 forum $480
- Blackworks on ebay $380
- Trademe nothing at all
- All the NZ performance place (Redline, nzperformance, driven performance etc) nothing

Plenty of honda, silvia and skyline ones for $300, nothing for SW20 that below besides the Blackworks, which have fitment issues.

[cat007]

Alli rad for $500? Are you on crack? I suggest you take a better look around lol

Yep I had a good look around

- Fennix in Auckland - dont sell
- A1 Radiators in Christchurch $650-$750 for custom built
- Mishimoto on ebay $510
- Hook up on MR2 forum $480
- Blackworks on ebay $380
- Trademe nothing at all
- All the NZ performance place (Redline, nzperformance, driven performance etc) nothing

Plenty of honda, silvia and skyline ones for $300, nothing for SW20 that below besides the Blackworks, which have fitment issues.

Wouldn't it work out cheaper to get on of those cheaper 'fitment issues' ones and make it fit? Surely you could spend under $200 easy to make one of the -$300 fit?

[Heylin]

Wouldn't it work out cheaper to get on of those cheaper 'fitment issues' ones and make it fit? Surely you could spend under $200 easy to make one of the -$300 fit?

Then I would then rather spend an extra and get the MR2 Club Hookup one which is better quality. If they have fitment issues then I would question the quality of everything else (welds, materials etc).

Pretty sure my stock one will hold up.

[Akane]

hey heylin, what's this GT3076RS turbo, new kid on the block? Never heard of it before.

[Heylin]

hey heylin, what's this GT3076RS turbo, new kid on the block? Never heard of it before.


Cant devulge to much about it it used to be Vvegas secret weapon fitted to his 3sgte AW11.

About 4-5 years old, built by Chris at Alltech then modified by Vvega to work better with the 3SGTE.

Its bascially a GT3076RS centre with customised front and rear housings. "R" denotes dual roller bearings and "S" is the newer blade profiles for higher efficiency.