Board logo

Polo radiator weight.
DANMAN - 26/11/12 at 06:25 AM

Hi guys.

Does anyone know what a Polo radiator weighs?

cliftyhanger - 26/11/12 at 07:23 AM

Next to nothing.
Not got one handy, but I reckon about 1kg. Empty. Maybe less. I think the box mine came in weighed more.

dickie b - 26/11/12 at 08:52 AM

I can help here - just been out and weighed an old Polo rad I have on the workbench

This is the slightly larger of the Polo rads.. (320 x 520 mm)

the bare unit ( no temp sensor) weighed in at 1863 grams

cliftyhanger - 26/11/12 at 08:54 AM

Crikey, I really thought they would be less than that. Or maybe my little finger is stronger than I thought

dickie b - 26/11/12 at 08:58 AM

yup - I was surprised too, so weighed it three times to check

(Salter digital kitchen scale - dont tell the missus...)

DANMAN - 26/11/12 at 11:25 AM

Just weighed my Escort one and it's 6kgs, although that's with the thermo fan attached so I'd say it's probably a good 4.5kgs. Seems a worthwhile upgrade to a Polo unit.

[Edited on 26/11/12 by DANMAN]

dhutch - 26/11/12 at 12:22 PM

Ive got the wieghts recorded somewhere for the 20mm thin core version, compaired to the copper ford one, both wet and dry, but certainly a diffrence given its right over the nose.

Totally of the top of my head now, but its something like
- 20mm Polo 0.8kg dry, 2kg wet
- Ford Copper 2.5kg dry, 6.5kg wet



Daniel

DANMAN - 26/11/12 at 09:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
Ive got the wieghts recorded somewhere for the 20mm thin core version, compaired to the copper ford one, both wet and dry, but certainly a diffrence given its right over the nose.

Totally of the top of my head now, but its something like
- 20mm Polo 0.8kg dry, 2kg wet
- Ford Copper 2.5kg dry, 6.5kg wet


Damn! Definately a worth while upgrade then to save 4.5kgs.

My only dilemma is piping. My current radiator has the top inlet and bottom outlet as per the norm but then has another smaller diameter pipe welded in the top like this:



The Polo radiator has plastic end tanks by the looks of it so I'm not sure I can add the extra inlet to it.

My coolant pipe work looks something like this:


The car uses two electric water pumps (instead of the factory mechanical one). There are two thermostats, TH1 is mounted seperately on a bracket and TH2 is the coolant outlet from the engine.
The "Eng Housing" is the coolant inlet to the engine. This is how the car came to me. Seems a little complicated to me but it seems to work.

bigfoot4616 - 27/11/12 at 09:06 AM

the polo rad already has that extra inlet you want.

DANMAN - 27/11/12 at 09:43 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bigfoot4616
the polo rad already has that extra inlet you want.


FN Sweet! Which model radiator should I be looking for?

loggyboy - 27/11/12 at 10:15 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bigfoot4616
the polo rad already has that extra inlet you want.


The polo ones ive seen only have 2 connections, 32mm at top and 32mm at bottom. (both on passenger side)

dhutch - 27/11/12 at 10:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
The polo ones ive seen only have 2 connections, 32mm at top and 32mm at bottom. (both on passenger side)
Same, and a tiny m4 ish bleed hole.


Daniel

DANMAN - 27/11/12 at 10:38 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by bigfoot4616
the polo rad already has that extra inlet you want.


The polo ones ive seen only have 2 connections, 32mm at top and 32mm at bottom. (both on passenger side)


Hmmm Not so FN sweet

loggyboy - 27/11/12 at 10:39 AM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
The polo ones ive seen only have 2 connections, 32mm at top and 32mm at bottom. (both on passenger side)
Same, and a tiny m4 ish bleed hole.


Daniel


Not seen the bleed/breather - but mines the slightly wider golf version.

[Edited on 27-11-12 by loggyboy]

adithorp - 27/11/12 at 02:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
The polo ones ive seen only have 2 connections, 32mm at top and 32mm at bottom. (both on passenger side)
Same, and a tiny m4 ish bleed hole.


Daniel


Not seen the bleed/breather - but mines the slightly wider golf version.

[Edited on 27-11-12 by loggyboy]


Should still have one. It has been known for people to block it off if space is tight in the nose; It comes out pointing to the side and there isn't always room to attach a pipe.

steve m - 27/11/12 at 02:21 PM

"Should still have one. It has been known for people to block it off if space is tight in the nose; It comes out pointing to the side and there isn't always room to attach a pipe. "

I was going to add that comment as well!

On my setup, the rad was a very snug fit, and i had to block off the small header pipe, otherwise the nosecone would not go on

Steve

bigfoot4616 - 27/11/12 at 03:37 PM

its blocked of on mine as well although i reckon there would just about be space to get a pipe on it in the striker.
sounds like its very car dependent as to if its useable.

loggyboy - 27/11/12 at 04:53 PM

Definately none on mine, but as I say, must be the fact mines the slightly wider (430mm) golf one.



dhutch - 27/11/12 at 05:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Definately none on mine, but as I say, must be the fact mines the slightly wider (430mm) golf one.
Yeah, thats not got the same core-ends as the radiator most people use. Be bleed point just has the bolt in it that it came with, and its only used for intial bleeding.


Daniel

BangedupTiger - 27/11/12 at 07:39 PM

Pretty sure mine only has inlet and outlet.

http://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/prices.php?id=VW302&model=POLO&make=VOLKSWAGEN

loggyboy - 27/11/12 at 08:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by BangedupTiger
Pretty sure mine only has inlet and outlet.

http://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/prices.php?id=VW302&model=POLO&make=VOLKSWAGEN


Seems to be an 8mm diameter pipe at the top left.
Cant see why its needed though, a little air would soon be forced around and reach the header tank.

DANMAN - 28/11/12 at 01:00 AM

What about using a Fireblade radiator? Are they any good?

DANMAN - 29/11/12 at 12:32 AM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
Ive got the wieghts recorded somewhere for the 20mm thin core version, compaired to the copper ford one, both wet and dry, but certainly a diffrence given its right over the nose.

Totally of the top of my head now, but its something like
- 20mm Polo 0.8kg dry, 2kg wet
- Ford Copper 2.5kg dry, 6.5kg wet

Daniel


Daniel.
Do you know which model or part number this one is?

I am thinking of using a 'T' piece in the top pipe for the extra inlet I need. This should work ok shouldn't it?

Dan.

[Edited on 29/11/12 by DANMAN]

Benzo - 4/12/12 at 09:14 PM

Just out of interest, im in the market for a new Rad, I have seen that Rally design are now doing an Alloy Polo Rad..

Link -

http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=1481_2200&products_id=16443

Would there be much of a cooling advantage to the Alloy Polo Rad over the standard one? and would the Alloy one weigh much more than the standard plastic polo one?

I hace run the polo pastic rad over the Past few years and found it isnt just up to the job for cooling my blade when racing and stuck up someones ass...

bigfoot4616 - 5/12/12 at 05:33 PM

i was in the same position as you, standard polo rad not up to keeping the R1 cool on track.

i've just ordered an alloy rad from andy bates. its quite a bit more than that RD one but as i got sick of cooling issues last year i wanted something that i know will do the job.

britishtrident - 5/12/12 at 06:13 PM

For good heat exchange all the air that comes in the nose has to go through the rad (ie no gaps at the sides, top and bottom) and have clear exit routes preferably into low pressure areas.

dhutch - 6/12/12 at 09:01 AM

Given that the polo radiator is aluminum cored anyway, just replacing the closing ends with aluminum will not make any diffrence to the performance. I presume therefore that the aftermarket aluminum radiators have thicker/deeper cores while being the same hight/widths as a polo rad.

As said, I presume that if you are running the car track and are having thermal issue that you have the nose fitted up close to the radiator with a decent seal between the two to makethe air go through the radiator, and a powerfull fan.



Daniel

Benzo - 10/12/12 at 09:02 PM

Ive ordered an aluminium polo one anyway, going to try it with the nose well ducted & an oil cooler this season.

DANMAN - 7/1/13 at 11:00 AM

Just incase anyone was interested, I picked up a new Honda Civic radiator for the car and weighed it up against the Escort one.
The results were:

Escort radiator:
Dry - 4.9kgs
Wet - 6.75kgs

Honda radiator:
Dry - 1.5kgs
Wet - 2.26kgs

Worth it for a 4.5kg weight saving!