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RacingLine Golf MK7 Oil Cooler

bobivy1234

Go Kart Champion
Location
Greensboro, NC USA
Car(s)
2016 VW Golf GTI
Thanks for posting the photos. These are helpful. Did you have to remove the radiator air guide. The plastic trim pieces, to run the lines?

How was fitment with the front bumper skin? Is part of the cooler obscured?
I'll update with pics as I go for these. The passenger side air guide will not fit since the AN lines and oil cooler fill that whole space behind the crash bar, I may just cut it in half about half way up where it fits the crash bar to get some function out of it using 2 of the 3 clips. The driver side air guide still fits fine since nothing changed there. As far as the front bumper fitment, I'll get some pics but it seems maybe 2 rows are blocked by the bottom of the front grille as it sits pretty flush to the grille unless you bend back the mounting brackets a bit.

The cooler does not interfere with any of the bottom bumper fins, I need to put back on the bumper inner air ducts as well to see how that will fit since they were taken off for the previous FMIC install. 16 row oil cooler is for sure the largest you can put here using normal 90/120deg AN line fittings. Probably could fit 19 row if you used banjo fittings or an SLM-style cooler. 13 row cooler would have a bit less issue but I think 16 is worth the bump up from the 10-row that comes with the kit.

More to come as I get some final pics of this one.

Edit #1 6/2: Driver side bumper inner duct is fine, passenger side bumper inner duct is blocked about halfway. Since that passenger bumper duct is $11 and the side panel duct is $16 I'm just going to dremel both to push some air towards the cooler and rad assembly, didn't have either on anyway due to previous FMIC install so not a big deal. Parts are 5G0121284G for the long side panel and 5GM853950 for the bumper panel both on passenger side. Looks like the side panel is meant to protect the A/C condenser hardlines but the oil cooler is blocking that now anyway.

Edit #2 6/3: Got the bumper back on, cut the passenger side inner duct where the second vertical clip is and heavily modified the removable bumper duct to fit around the cooler (this isn't necessary but wanted to keep them). Overall didn't have to trim the bumper itself and have 2-3mm of clearance at the bottom so snug fit, 16 row for sure is the largest you can size without banjo fittings or flipping the oil cooler. All oil cooler rows are visible but I'd say 3-4 are blocked at the bumper spacing as seen in pics. Overall this should still work great for the track over a 10 row. Just for clarity, the oil cooler fittings are snug up against the bottom of the crash bar and the lower picture shows the last oil cooler row so nothing is hidden under the lower bumper flange.
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Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
I noticed that the outlet fittings on top of the cooler are real close to the front bumper.
Will go ahead and order some banjo fittings. They will provide the extra clearance for my 19-row cooler.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
For reference the 19-row Setrab is 24mm taller than a 16-row.

The M22 ORB 90-degree elbow is 65mm tall from the top of the cooler
The M22 Banjo is 50mm. So that buys you 15mm of wiggle room
The rubber mount isolators are 20mm tall. You can get 10mm tall isolators on Amazon for 10mm more clearance

I dug out my Setrab mounts and they came with 6.5mm mounting pads.

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bobivy1234

Go Kart Champion
Location
Greensboro, NC USA
Car(s)
2016 VW Golf GTI
For reference the 19-row Setrab is 24mm taller than a 16-row.

The M22 ORB 90-degree elbow is 65mm tall from the top of the cooler
The M22 Banjo is 50mm. So that buys you 15mm of wiggle room
The rubber mount isolators are 20mm tall. You can get 10mm tall isolators on Amazon for 10mm more clearance

I dug out my Setrab mounts and they came with 6.5mm mounting pads.
Thanks for the measurements. I am using the 10mm isolators off Amazon and mounted them above the bracket to get the most clearance if you look back at my pics. So you're still at 9mm more than the 16 row, shouldn't be an issue but may need to trim some behind the bumper because mine is pretty tight without needing to trim.

Mounting this all upsidedown would be the best for performance if you have long enough AN lines
 
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Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
Ok. I see what you did with the isolators to gain more clearance.

Mounting the 10mm isolators below the bracket combined with the banjo will be the 25mm clearance I need.
I could mount upside down like you suggest and clearance shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve got -10 hose and could make up new lines. Mounted my oil cooler on my Cooper S upside down because of clearance.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
I moved the isolators below the bracket like you did to create more clearance. Not sure if the 20mm isolators will have enough rooms below. They definitely make more room up top.

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bobivy1234

Go Kart Champion
Location
Greensboro, NC USA
Car(s)
2016 VW Golf GTI
I moved the isolators below the bracket like you did to create more clearance. Not sure if the 20mm isolators will have enough rooms below. They definitely make more room up top.

View attachment 215595
Yea interesting, the 20mm isolators make sense in that spot to get the mounting bracket holes above the AN fittings while keeping the clearance tight on the bottom. There is plenty of room on the crash bar to mount those and can even stick out above the crash bar without issue.
 

ShagginGSW

Go Kart Newbie
Location
MD
Hopefully I thoroughly read through this thread, don't say that out loud too fast. I noticed some talk of the iABED oil pan, possibly in this thread and wondered if any of you have looked at their oil cooler kit. It uses a plate on the stock "cooler" location keeping the filter placement stock and then has an inline Mocal thermostat and a 19 row Setrab, feel like for anyone looking to get into a cooler this may be an easier option to what is being done with the VWR and sandwich plates etc.
 

bobivy1234

Go Kart Champion
Location
Greensboro, NC USA
Car(s)
2016 VW Golf GTI
Hopefully I thoroughly read through this thread, don't say that out loud too fast. I noticed some talk of the iABED oil pan, possibly in this thread and wondered if any of you have looked at their oil cooler kit. It uses a plate on the stock "cooler" location keeping the filter placement stock and then has an inline Mocal thermostat and a 19 row Setrab, feel like for anyone looking to get into a cooler this may be an easier option to what is being done with the VWR and sandwich plates etc.
First off Issam at iAbed is awesome. So I literally have iAbed's oil cooler kit next to me that I had bought first and in my opinion it is 100x easier to buy the Racingline oil cooler and add your own thermostat with a larger radiator. Installing the iAbed kit is some serious work and Racingline with their oil filter housing adapter makes it very simple. I added the Mocal sandwich thermostat/spacer/16 row to get the best oil cooler setup I could buy for the track, plenty run the stock Racingline oil cooler kit without issues although most report the actual cooling is pretty weak hence the larger radiator and better thermostat (their stock place is a pressure valve so kinda funky).

I was planning to install the iAbed oil kit while also doing a valve carbon cleaning since you have to take off the intake manifold but it also requires you to drain the coolant and remove the water pump (could replace for preventative maintenance) to reach the oil heat exchanger. Also space is really tight where that oil heat exchanger is so you'd need to run AN-8 line down the engine bay to wherever the thermostat would be mounted and then AN-10 to the radiator and my plan was to put the oil cooler in the passenger wheelwell (would require fog light removal and custom mounting, not worth the pain). I chose iAbed at first since I had an FMIC without front grille space but stepped back and now running a stock mount intercooler with the front grille oil cooler and life is good.

I've got the iAbed baffled oil pan and it is great, his oil kit is the best out there in terms of replacing the stock oil heat exchanger but the Racingline kit is pure convenience and will get you the same performance. Racingline's best part is their adapter plate that fits into top engine bay oil filter housing, no one else has that and I'm sure they patented it. That lets you run a standard thermostat sandwich plate and spacer that is used in plenty of race applications and can be fully installed in a few hours. I'd assume the iAbed kit would take 6-8 hours to install depending on skills with a lot of moving pieces and Racingline was maybe 2 and I'm fairly novice to this stuff. Drilling the crash bar holes for the Racingline kit is simple if that is a setback for anyone.

If you or anyone wants the Mk7 iAbed oil plate, plenty of AN-8 and -10 line with fittings, inline Mocal thermostat and my unused Racingline 10 row cooler I'll cut you a deal.
 
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ShagginGSW

Go Kart Newbie
Location
MD
First off Issam at iAbed is awesome. So I literally have iAbed's oil cooler kit next to me that I had bought first and in my opinion it is 100x easier to buy the Racingline oil cooler and add your own thermostat with a larger radiator. Installing the iAbed kit is some serious work.

I was planning to install the iAbed oil plate and kit while also doing a valve carbon cleaning since you have to take off the intake manifold but it also requires you to drain the coolant and remove the water pump (could replace for preventative maintenance) to reach the oil heat exchanger. Also space is really tight where that oil heat exchanger is so you'd need to run AN-8 line down the engine bay to wherever the thermostat would be mounted and then AN-10 to the radiator and my plan was to put the oil cooler in the passenger wheelwell (would require fog light removal, not worth the pain). I chose iAbed at first since I had an FMIC but stepped back and now running a stock mount intercooler with the front grille oil cooler and life is good.

I've got the iAbed baffled oil pan and it is great, his oil kit is the best out there in terms of removing the stock oil heat exchanger but the Racingline kit is pure convenience and will get you the same performance. Racingline's best part is their adapter plate that fits into top engine bay oil filter housing, no one else has that and I'm sure they patented it. That lets you run a standard thermostat sandwich plate and spacer that is used in plenty of race applications and can be fully installed in a few hours.

If you or anyone wants the Mk7 iAbed oil plate, plenty of AN-8 and -10 line with fittings, inline Mocal thermostat and my unused Racingline 10 row cooler I'll cut you a deal.
Is there a downside to running the AN-8 line? In any event, I am years off needing any cooling solution but wanted to start getting ideas for my MK7 GSW 4mo, thanks for the info on the kit.
 

bobivy1234

Go Kart Champion
Location
Greensboro, NC USA
Car(s)
2016 VW Golf GTI
Is there a downside to running the AN-8 line? In any event, I am years off needing any cooling solution but wanted to start getting ideas for my MK7 GSW 4mo, thanks for the info on the kit.
No it is purely a space issue in that part of the engine bay so you have to run smaller AN-8 while most oil cooler kits run on AN-10 like Racingline. I talked with Issam about that specifically over the phone, its actually better to run AN-8 for the main line from the oil exchanger to the thermostat and then AN-10 for the oil cooler to keep fluid pressures in check (don't quote me on this but there was a reason he didn't do AN-8 everywhere) and probably don't need the physical size of AN-10 for oil cooling anyway.

In any case, I'm wrapping up the Racingline oil cooler install and it has been perfect so far so highly recommended and very straightforward. I will also recommend iAbed's baffled oil pan especially for track folks which is a simple DIY as well. Now I'm exploring what I can do around a DSG cooler with these remaining parts and Racingline has their own there now too. Some of this maybe could be solved with the CSF larger radiator but aftermarket stock mount intercoolers have fitment issues with that so nothing wrong with dedicated radiators like on the Golf R's.
 

Mini7

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2017 GTi Sport PP
I holding off installing my oil cooler setup. I will be interested in your feedback after your VIR event with Chin.

My preference is for a thermostat vs the pressure control RL uses.

Read your edit on the cooler being partially blocked by the bumper skin.
 

bobivy1234

Go Kart Champion
Location
Greensboro, NC USA
Car(s)
2016 VW Golf GTI
I holding off installing my oil cooler setup. I will be interested in your feedback after your VIR event with Chin.

My preference is for a thermostat vs the pressure control RL uses.

Read your edit on the cooler being partially blocked by the bumper skin.
Uploaded pics above of the oil cooler bumper fitment in an edit. Overall it is great and would be better with banjo fittings or upsidedown to get a few more rows with direct exposure but didn't have either. Don't think it will affect cooling that much. Fits great in the bumper area and should be solid for the track. Let me know if you want to see anything specific.
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
I like mounting upside down. That's smart to get the clearance and helps put it more in path of airflow. I had to cut my deflectors, and unfortunately I cut too far at first. It's tough to line up and mark though, so I would grind away and test step by step.

Thinking it through, with mounting upside down, you might consider longer lines and move it over a bit. The lines could then squeeze around/under the deflector.

If going for a thermostat sandwich plate, I would go for a 215 degree. 185 is too low.
 
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