1.8 bar modification for 5kcsq

[Taylor]

At 03:34 PM 08/06/2001, Joshua Van Tol wrote:

>>the stock radiator in the 5K is aluminum with plastic end caps that are 
>>crimped on, very poor design and was just a way of cutting cost just like 
>>the plastic end caps on the intercooler. the aftermarket "upgrade" is an 
>>all brass or copper (I forget which, I think it is copper) mine is made 
>>by Modine and actually cost less that the OEM one. the nice thing about 
>>this is that the plastic will not fall apart on you causing you to loose 
>>all of your coolant, usually at the worst possible time! I was lucky and 
>>mine failed while loosening a hose clamp, just crumbled in my hands. they 
>>have repair kits for them but it will just fail again in a different 
>>place. as far as running hot I never had a problem with either one. I 
>>have an Intended acceleration chip in my car and even on the track I have 
>>never had it overheat or really even run any hotter than it does in 
>>traffic. The oil temp will go up, under the most extreme conditions I 
>>have seen 260*F so a better oil cooler is not a bad idea
>
>Actually, think about this for a bit from an engineering perspective. 
>Aluminum radiators with plastic end tanks save a bunch of weight, and the 
>aluminum heat exchanger is much more efficient. There's a reason why high 
>performance rads usually have aluminum cores, although they also usually 
>have aluminum tanks too. Also, conventional brass radiators don't explode 
>like the plastic end tank ones, but they do corrode much more readily, and 
>need to be taken apart and "rodded out" about every 5 years. For total 
>cost of ownership, the plastic rad is probably superior,  given that they 
>seem to last ten years before leaking, and don't require and rebuilding in 
>that time. Changing a 5k radiator is kind of a pain in the butt, in case 
>you hadn't noticed. Plus an aluminum core of the same size, fin density, 
>etc, is more efficient than a brass or copper one.

When the radiator finally went out on my 200 I wanted a aluminum 
radiator... my mechanic had a hard time finding one and I eventually 
settled for a plastic.  The radiator came with a lifetime labor/part 
replacement warranty and my mechanic has been around for years and will 
continue to be around for years to come.  Even if the radiator company 
should go out of business I have no doubt my mechanic would honor the 
warranty.  Time will tell I guess....


--
Taylor
'89 Audi 200
'01 Audi A6 2.7T