Paul Bowden Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 I have finaly ordered my SL from Caterham, one thing I have not ordered at present, but as there is a 3 months+ wait I still have time to tinker, is an Ali Radiator. Is this a worthwhile upgrade, as ever I am after the Pros and Cons. Thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Richard Price Posted March 14, 2002 Area Representative Share Posted March 14, 2002 I was suprised to find, when my 1.6 RoadSport kit arrived, that an ally. rad. appears to be standard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Walker Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 I may be wrong but I think that they only do ali radiators now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 Definately have ali radiator now which is nice. Taken the plunge then what have you gone for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 When I had to replace my old rad last year (dratted Brands gravel thrown up by the car in front), Caterham supplied an ali one, commenting that ali was the new standard. JV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bowden Posted March 14, 2002 Author Share Posted March 14, 2002 Thanks, Hopefully I will get the Ali Rad with my Kit. I have gone for a super "SuperLight". Carbon Wind deflector, Mag wheels,no heater etc, as I wanted it as light as possible. Went for a ride in the Blue SL with wind deflector that Caterham have for sale it was great, as my head seems to stick above the normal windscreen anyway I thought why bother with all that wiper/glass stuff. Now the long wait until July Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 Ali just refers to the material it's made of. The point of ordering the ali rad in the past was to get one with enough capacity to cool the engine under race conditions, hence its otherwise-know-name of "race" rad. if Caterham now supply only ali rads, I'd suggest they have a manufacturer able to supply a thinner (read: road) rad in ali. Not much gained, except maybe a little weight loss, over a conventional steel one. If your rad is 65mm from front to back, then you have a race rad. I have a JPG I drew up for someone with the dimensions of mine. Email me and I'll send it along with piccies I took of my rad on V7 if interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 > Not much gained, except maybe a little weight loss... After I'd fitted mine at Brands, someone came up and, observing the glistening new item, said "Cor! That must be worth at least a second per lap!" JV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccers Posted March 15, 2002 Share Posted March 15, 2002 I think they do only do Ali rads now, my 96 X-FLow went in with a bent rad, old type and came out with a new Ali one, looks better too.... RM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodW Posted March 15, 2002 Share Posted March 15, 2002 I too think that they only do allt rads now - my 1.8 Roadsport kit came with one recently. RGW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 Tis true Caterham only do ali rads currently. The Road one has a vertical core and tanks top and bottom and has much the same dimensions as the steel/copper cored road rad. The ali race rad has horizontal core and tanks at each side, this rad has a greater coolant capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 The ally road rad and previous copper / metal rad weigh the same +/- 200g both empty and full of water . The ally road rad has a far greater cooling capacity then the copper / metal . Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 Are you sure they weigh the same? A friend bought one for his race XF de dion and he said the ali one was considerably lighter. Edited by - stevefoster on 16 Mar 2002 19:04:25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted March 16, 2002 Share Posted March 16, 2002 > The ally road rad has a far greater cooling capacity then the copper / metal Are you sure about this? Basic physical chemistry suggests to me that copper would be a much better heat conductor than aluminium. Re weight, I found the ali road rad to be a lot lighter than the copper/steel one. JV Edited by - John Vine on 16 Mar 2002 21:05:25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted March 17, 2002 Share Posted March 17, 2002 I weighed my old steel / copper rad and the road ally one and both were around 3.6 kg - the steel one is the '97 40mm thick . The ally rad drops the temp to 70c at a 70mph cruise , with an 82c stat . The temp with the metal rad never moved from 80c . Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted March 18, 2002 Share Posted March 18, 2002 Caterham have done various ali rads over the years. My car has the original prototype one that Caterhams got Pace to make them to see if it would work, but Caterham didn't like the design, so got them to change it. I bought it from Pace as it had sat on their shelves for years and they were about to dump it. Its about 3/4 kilo lighter than the 4 row copper one when full of water. From what I recall I think there have been at least three 'standard' designs. They are all bound to weigh different. I think pace still make them for Caterhams, but won't sell direct. I suspect that when full of water the latest design may be the lightest with its tapered header and footer reservoirs, but I haven't checked. Does anyone know what it weighs, full and empty ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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