Oil Cooler or Intake?

wstar

I'd mostly agree with the above, but I'd perhaps back it off to "If you're occasionally hitting 260 for brief moments, but mostly averaging 240-250 or under on the hot days, that's ok". IMHO if the needle ever goes past 260, you're probably in a situation that needs some additional cooling, ideally. I believe 280 is when you hit the first, partial ECU rev limit ("limp mode"), with 300 being when it severely restricts you.

I suspect the 2011 model's additional oil:water cooler interface is probably the most ideal fix if the car is mostly street driven and only has mild oil temp issues in really bad weather (or on a rare short track/auto-x run), and can probably be retro-fitted fairly easily on the 2009-2010 models and provide less overall maintenance/risk/hassle than other options. It probably won't be enough for longer track sessions in hot weather though.

The best bang for the buck/effort on the intakes is without a doubt straight post-MAF replacement tubes and K&N panel filters, but the Gen3 will open things up a bit more and is the "ultimate" readily-available commercial intake mod on this car so far in absolute terms. It's also one of the most expensive options, is a pain to install, and involves cutting/drilling on your radiator core support, so it might not be worth it for everyone.

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