Today we will discuss radiators in the boot. It is something we tend to see a lot lately with drift cars. But actually it is a modification that can benefit a lot of cars.
Having a radiator in the back has several advantages. First of all you can have the weight distribution a bit more to the back. A lot of people rip out all the interior bits out of the back. Because of this the center of gravity moves more to the front. This can have some negative effects on the way the car handles. When you put the radiator in the back you will move the center of gravity more to the back. This will be of an advantage for several cars. Not only drifters, but also cars that have the center of gravity too far to the front will benefit from this. For example Civic's and Supra's.
Another advantage is that in case you know you will crash the car at the front you can lower the costs to fix it. Having the radiator in the back will be one part less you will have to replace. Also if you crash sideways (when drifting for example) you will usually not hit the radiator.
It is also relatively cheap to put the radiator in the back if you are a bit handy. The only thing you need is something to install the radiator, the piping and a way to cool the radiator. The radiator itself can stay original In contrary to intercoolerpiping, where it is not good to have a longer piping, radiators will benefit from the longer piping as the piping itself will help cooling the coolant. A lot of people say that the waterpump should be replaced, but we have noticed that this is not neccecary with, as most waterpumps of modern engines are strong enough.
Having the radiator in the back also has its disadvantages. First of all the tubes to the back, cooling mechanism and the increased amount of coolant will add up some weight to the car. Some people use the piping of the rollcage however to keep things low. If you have a relatively low powered car it is usually not worth the trouble to put the radiator in the back. Except for this it is also harder to fill up the car with coolant when having the radiator in the back. The easiest is to put a radiator cap at the highest point on the engine to make sure you can put coolant in at both sides. Bleeding the system is also more difficult in this way.
Finally it might be a problem to cool the car well enough. As the radiator does not get any air from driving there should be a system to make sure the radiator has enough air at all times.An electric fan that is on at all time is a good idea for a start. Also some directed tubing with nacaducts is a possible solution.
