Coolant additive tests
 

Mike, you might want to consider some water wetter for your cooling issue... Appears to work best with antifreeze mix.

http://www.turbomagazine.com/feature...t_results.html

i recently recommended alex to try it out. with the accuracy of a stock guage, he says: "water wetter cools about an 1/8th inch better"(than 50/50 mix).

No, it actually doesn't. It does do some cool things and it's a good idea to use it if you do more than put around town, but it does not actually lower bulk water temperatures. That would defy physics.

linky:
http://e30m3performance.com/myths/mo...ter_wetter.htm

OMG, it does too. http://www.redlineoil.com/products_c...coolantFlash=1

And if you want to get overly technical, read this PDF... http://www.redlineoil.com/whitePaper/17.pdf

By decreasing the surface tension of the fluid, it increases thermal efficiency and heat transfer which has the overall effect of lowering coolant system temperatures. There are no laws of Thermal Dynamics being violated.

I'm curious how improving the heat transfer from metal hotspots and localized boiling leads to reduced bulk temperatures.

RTFL

I'm assuming Water Wetter makes the cooling system more efficient at removing heat. The fluid can then conduct heat from the motor out through the radiator more efficiently than before. Subsequently the entire system runs cooler (including the fluid).

However I don't think the stock temp gauge would show much of anything unless there were preexisting overheating issues. At least my stock gauge lacks much in the way of accuracy. Mine's never budged after warm up.












Why do I feel like I'm walking into a Kevin trap?

because you are.

i agree with you though cody it seems to boost the efficiency therefore lowering water temps.

So, wouldn't a drop or two of dish soap achieve the same thing? (Not that I read the links, but soap works by reducing water surface tension, thus making water "wetter" and therefore better at cleaning)

The foaming would be an issue I think.

The test car in that article had an inadequate cooling system and was prone to overheating. That's why they chose it. In a properly designed cooling sytem the thermostat regulates the water temperature and therefore the guage will read about the same with or without a water wetter. The magazine test does demonstrate that these "wetters" do work at least to some extent, and they are handy for overtaxed cooling systems.

Either way... I was convinced of their value about 15 or 20 years ago and have been using them since.

I believe in them too. They do good things with no downside other than ~$8 per coolant cycle.

So wait, I didn't walk into a Kevin trap?

Good idea Scott, go ahead and try it! :)

RTFL

I think Cody is right on foaming. (Somebody please note on the calendar both that he may be right as well as contributed to a technical discussion) :)

They also have to deal with corrosion and a few other goodies at least in a water only mix.

My sarcasm was apparently too concealed by soap tech.

I was too lazy to spring it properly.

Yeah, that's it.

:banana:

http://www.wrxfanatics.com/style_emo...sad_banana.gif

:lol:

^ post of the day right there. Sad bananas ftw. :lol:

Post of the day right there actually. For nominating a post from yesterday as post of the day. :lol:

Ok, it's the post of two days. :P

:banana:

me=http://www.wrxfanatics.com/style_emo...sad_banana.gif

Out of curiosity, what is the stock subaru coolant solution?

50/50 unless they've started selling premix.