I went to a car show last weekend and I saw alot of imports that were either boosted or N/A all sporting shiny aftermarket radiators. Is there a true benefit to having one, like increasing the cooling or do most of these people all have these rads for show purpose only? I can understand if you have 500+ hp boosted monster that needs extra cooling, but for the regular street car, you would think the stock rad is more then enough. Am I wrong in thinking this? help.gif

 

i really don't think it is, and if there is a gain that it's worth it.

i have noticed my temp dial has dropped just a little since installing the 2 column, but otherwise who cares about a few degrees. it's not like it's really going to shorten the life of anything.

 

It's only worthwhile if your car needs it.

If you're relying on your factory temp gauge you really have no idea. It's an idiot light with a needle, not a gauge.

To determine if your cooling system is not performing adequately all you have to do is run a real gauge and see if the hottest it gets is the value of your thermostat. If it hovers much above the temp at which the thermostat opens, or even worse, varies up and down then your cooling system isn't working properly and you would benefit from upgrading the radiator.