its all about the swings and roundabouts
a rad works two ways . both inside and out
neather a copper core or a std valeo will work if eather the inside or the outside is clogged, changing the front bummper can also have an efect on how the rad works.and no runninig the fan fulltime makes no diferance,its all about the air flow
a clean aloy rad is as good as a copper core jobbie
Ive got an alloy rad in the five and I dont think that it works any better than an o.e one I had in my old car if anything its worse, the needle is always up near the third line.
On a diffrent note though I would have thought the copper core rad would work better because its a better conductor than aluminum, maybe its just the quality that lets them down.
i have one, its no better or worse than Oe but the guys down the pub aren't impressed by valeo, they want to hear about my alloy rad and intercooler set up..
some parts are bolted on for power, some for reliablity and others for pubtalk..
I also have a alloy rad .... and i like the way its working so far ... far better and stronger than the copper jobbies in my opinion .... The true test will come in summer !
well the copper core has been binned and now i have the valeo fitted
seems to be doing the job fine and my water temp is slightly lower than it was before not creeped even with the third bar at all
so all is well
cheers guys for the help