I am hoping that the following observations, all be it with an air
colled engine, may shed some perspective on this issue. When i first started
club racing my 911, it had a stock 2.7 liter engine. These have significant
cooling problems even when used in noncompetition purposes. Oil temperatures
would routinely exceed 260 degrees.
The installation of a higher performance fan did little to help the
overheating problem (as measured by oil temperatures). The installation of an
oil cooler dramatically lowered the oil temperature by over 100 degrees. When
the 2.7 liter engine was replaced with a higher performance one, the oil
cooler still was able to control the temperatures to reasonable operating
temperatures (180 or less degrees even on hot muggy days).
While there are significant differences between Triumph engines and
those in 911s, but I have to wonder if the head cooling issue should not be
addressed by a combination of better oil and water coooling.
I am not sure how much horsepower is competitively gained by removing
the air fan from Triumphs, which seems to be a common practice. We do not
remove them from 911s for competitive purposes because we need their cooling.
I wonder at times whether an enhanced fan in a Triumph would lower engine
compartment temperatures would be beneficial for not only engine cooling, but
also to provide more mixing in the engine compartment and thereby cooler
intake air to the engine.
Cary
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