With the MQB platform able to generate huge amounts of power, with an output increase of almost 30% achievable with intakes, exhausts, intercooler and software an often overlooked area for improvement is the factory engine water cooling system.
With such a substantial increase in output easily achievable it's easy to understand why the factory water radiator can struggle to exchange the heat from the engine and now exhaust gas heat from the integrated engine head exhaust manifold. It's not uncommon for these engines, whilst showing 90c on the coolant dial to actually be running in excess of 100c up to 110c during spirited driving when properly logged.
Whatsmore is that during spirited driving, whilst the engine water coolant temp becomes high so does the engine oil. It's not uncommon for engine oil temperatures to spike to over 130c-145c during spirited driving and struggles to reduce without substantial time spent cooling the car down. This is due to there being no factory engine oil cooler, so the factory water radiator has a lot of work to do.
Let's take a look at the stock cooler...
The Stock Cooler:
-1-row 26mm core
-single-pass
-7mm fin height
The stock cooler uses a single row, 26 mm core and is of a single pass design. This is a very thin core for this that does not make use of the available space efficiently which contributes to the cooling issues. After months of development, we have developed a solution which maximises the efficiency and of the space available whilst maintaining all of the factory mounting locations, hose locations etc for a direct replacement part, our specification is below...
CSF's All-Aluminium Triple Pass Water Radiator
-2-row 42mm B-tube core
-Triple-pass design
-6.5mm fin height
The CSF All-Aluminum Triple Pass Water Radiator utilises a 2-row 42mm core. Utilising all of the space between the condenser and radiator the core depth has been maximised and compatibility confirmed with large aftermarket intercoolers such as IE. The B-tube design maximises the tube efficiency in all areas, this tube design is stronger than 0-tubes less material can be used for a lighter more efficient heat transfer whilst surface area inside the tube is increased by 15% over 0-tubes.
The Triple Pass design means coolant passes across the core three times before it exits maximising the time the radiator has to exchange heat for the coolest outlet temperature. Finally, the 6.5mm fin height has been wind tunnel optimised in CSF's in-house wind tunnel, leaving no stone unturned in the pursuit of the ultimate MQB Water Radiator solution.
The cooling ineffectiveness of the DSG Cooler can be explained after examining the stock cooling system design.
The factory coolant routes out of the engine block, into a Y-piece where it splits into the engine water radiator and then into the DSG cooler. This DSG Cooler is surprisingly small and does not have the size or efficiency to exchange heat before it exits the cooler and routes to the DSG oil/water heat exchanger.
If the engine coolant is hot and the DSG oil is hot, which is the case when driving cars with a higher output than stock, spirited or track use, this hot coolant now has little to no cooling effect on the DSG oil and DSG temperatures begin to rise…
With a high oil temperature, the DSG is at risk of becoming damaged. To help prevent damage the DSG will begin to lower the torque, increase shift times and in extreme circumstances gears can be lost. In the worst cases, costly damage to the gearbox can be caused.
After extensive analysis and development, CSF has created a Quadruple Pass DSG Cooler gives an increased cooling performance over the stock item in a number of areas.
Stock Cooler:
-26mm 1-row core
CSF Quadruple Pass DSG Cooler
-2-row 42mm Core with CSF B-Tube Technology
-Quadruple Pass Design
-Removable Rock Guard
-Flow Area Increase = 42%
-Heat Rejection Increase = 36%
-Fits both Right Side (DSG) and Left Side (Auxilary Engine Water)
-The CSF Quadruple Pass DSG Cooler uses a 2-row 42mm core, this utilises all of the available space. The B-tube design maximises the tube efficiency in all areas, this tube design is stronger than 0-tubes less material can be used for a lighter more efficient heat transfer whilst surface area inside the tube is increased by 15% over 0-tubes.
The Quadruple Pass design means coolant passes across the core four times before it exits maximising the time the radiator has to exchange heat for the coolest outlet temperature.
This unique design results in a flow area increase of 42% and a heat rejection increase of 36%. Helping to keep DSG temperatures consistently cooler for longer. The radiator also comes complete with a removable rock guard for improved longevity against rock hits/debris.
Fits: 8V A3 1.8TSi, 8V S3, 8S TT (2.0TSi), MK7 Golf GTi, MK7 Golf R, 5F Leon Cupra, 5E Octavia vRS,
