RacingLine Golf MK7 Oil Cooler

burgerkong said:

BURIED lol, it's going to be a PITA to get it out. Check this out:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-TT-8S...KxIS2Gc0qHAPNLVzBPXbzCvf1oh2FcQoDaFg2Ty_a_DHs

This is the breakdown you should be looking at:

https://volkswagen.7zap.com/en/rdw/golf+variant+4motion/golf/2016-746/1/115-115015/

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OMG, I finally found it! Thanks for the help!

It's between the block and the assembly!! At first, I thought, "What a really dumb place to put an oil cooler, since the block would radiate heat right at it, and there's no direct airflow." After I thought about it for a moment, I realized it makes sense...

So I only see two ways of really trying to get to it...remove the intake plenum and all associated bits and try to reach it or remove the oil pump and assembly from the engine bay.

I might try to disassemble from the top and see how far I can get before I get stuck. You're definitely right about it being buried.

This may help. Not sure how easy/hard taking the front clip off is. But I’ve learnt that taking the time to disassemble to get good access is better the than struggling with limited access and breaking something or not doing the job right the first time.

Another concern is removing a plastic intake with breaking it.

victorofhavoc said:

Do you mind sharing part numbers for the setrab and mocal plates? Have you tested the fitment? does the oil filter spec change?

Yeah, the VWR kit needs to be closer to 250$ for what you're getting. Plain sandwich plate, some easy to make brackets, and a simple 10 row...Just the parts for this can be bought for 125$ on the "consumer" level. Where they're justifying that $600+ and insanely expensive filters, I just don't know. For 15F drop, I wouldn't even get into the safe zone on a hot day :/.

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the setrab one is 19-SPT76-20-180-22 and the mocal one is SP1FT. The setrab one is much higher quality. But as mentioned above, you do need the VWR adapter so that you can use any of these sandwich plates. The rest of the pieces in the kit aren't really worth it. I've been thinking of taking the plate to a shop and seeing if they can clone it. That would be the best alternative for many people. The iabed plate is cool as well, but a pain in the ass to install and remove. I can remove my oil sandwich plate completely, and run a regular filter without using the cooler. I can also completely remove the plate and adapter and go back to stock if i ever wanted to. Taking off the front clip isn't that difficult. It is just a pain in the ass. And if you break a electronic clip or something, it won't be fun.

Mini7 said:

This may help. Not sure how easy/hard taking the front clip off is. But I’ve learnt that taking the time to disassemble to get good access is better the than struggling with limited access and breaking something or not doing the job right the first time.

Another concern is removing a plastic intake with breaking it.

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navindralr said:

the setrab one is 19-SPT76-20-180-22 and the mocal one is SP1FT. The setrab one is much higher quality. But as mentioned above, you do need the VWR adapter so that you can use any of these sandwich plates. The rest of the pieces in the kit aren't really worth it. I've been thinking of taking the plate to a shop and seeing if they can clone it. That would be the best alternative for many people. The iabed plate is cool as well, but a pain in the ass to install and remove. I can remove my oil sandwich plate completely, and run a regular filter without using the cooler. I can also completely remove the plate and adapter and go back to stock if i ever wanted to. Taking off the front clip isn't that difficult. It is just a pain in the ass. And if you break a electronic clip or something, it won't be fun.

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Well shit. There is literally no space to run a sandwich plate and still keep the stock heat exchanger unless I can find a super low profile one which wouldn't be all that effective anyways. VWR adapter clone here I come...coupled with the ebay and paypal coupon, I have an OEM oil filter bracket coming my way to measure and model.

So I have a racingline kit sitting here with me and I was considering to upgrade from a 10 to a 13 row cooler. This mocal one seems like it would fit in exactly with the same width and core thickness - it's just a little taller. Do you think the increased rows would mess with the pressure control valve in the racingline kit?


https://www.maperformance.com/produ...LABm9gxcT43ymjp-KvBAMVdIe6sG6yLxoCYuAQAvD_BwE

I would recommend the Setrab oil cooler. The fitting boss on the cooler is a much lower profile on the Setrab allowing you to go to a larger cooler. Especially if you go to there Banjo style oil fitting off the oil cooler. Much lower profile. I would look at fitting a 16-row or 19-row cooler. I currently run a 19-row cooler on my Cooper S on a smaller pulley.

To answer your question, the pressure drop for an extra 3-rows will be minimal.

As the oil heats up and thins out the oil pressure will drop allowing the “pressure” switch to open passing the oil through the cooler. So the pressure drop across the cooler shouldn’t be a factor. At least the way I’m understanding how the VWR cooler system works.

Sorry guys, I completely forgot about this thread.

I have the RacingLine oil cooler installed on my car. I don't have any track days on it, but it looks like I'm running anywhere from 10 - 15 degrees cooler than usual.
There is added noise to the car at idle too. It sounds like a lawn mower is running off in the distance. Once you start to move though, you can't hear it at all. I've gotten used to it and don't really even hear it anymore when stopped.

2015WhiteGTI said:

Sorry guys, I completely forgot about this thread.

I have the RacingLine oil cooler installed on my car. I don't have any track days on it, but it looks like I'm running anywhere from 10 - 15 degrees cooler than usual.

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Your car is running cooler in normal use? Isn't this a problem? Car was designed to run within a predefined range. A preferable solution would be that the oil cooler wouldn't come into play until temp is above the predefined range. It would be completely inactive until that temp is reached.

I did my intercooler install myself when it was "cold" in the garage, and I broke multiple plastic clips along the way...some even by choice to save time/frustration.

Seeing the location of that iABED piece, I would estimate the total time to get there and back (in the manner above) at a solid 9 professional hours.

My unitronic intercooler did not fit anywhere near correctly, and I ended up having to cut a corner off the plastic surround, as well as fill mounting points with fireproof foam (to stop noise and movement)...I'm really not interested in ever removing it, unless I'm really being forced to. I'd rather dismount 70% of that area, and lift the engine/transmission out.


It seems like the best option is to run the crap VWR kit with a setrab 19 row. 10-15* drop is nothing when I'm already hitting 295 during summer. Linearly speaking a 19 row would net closer to 20-30* drop, but setrab probably has better flow and efficiency, so I bet it would be closer to that 30* mark. That would put me at 265 during summer, which is plenty safe enough with a 60 weight oil (60w viscosity @ 250* = 40w viscosity @ 212*). I'd most likely also add a manual bypass valve, so I can "turn off" the oil cooler when I'm not running it hard.

Anyone with the VWR kit, have you been able to find a filter that's not 56$? Any paper ones that fit? Any way that it can be converted to a spin on type?

jmason said:

Your car is running cooler in normal use? Isn't this a problem? Car was designed to run within a predefined range. A preferable solution would be that the oil cooler wouldn't come into play until temp is above the predefined range. It would be completely inactive until that temp is reached.

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The oil temp is running cooler than it was before under normal circumstances. It's the gauge that I always have on when I'm just driving around.
I did a well over 3 hours each way on a recent trip and it was consistently lower by 10 - 15 degrees.

I'm assuming that the temp is within the "normal" operating temperature for the engine oil.

jmason said:

Your car is running cooler in normal use? Isn't this a problem? Car was designed to run within a predefined range. A preferable solution would be that the oil cooler wouldn't come into play until temp is above the predefined range. It would be completely inactive until that temp is reached.

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Thing is the thermostat kicks in at 90C or so, so it would now idle at 90C instead of 100C.

Looking at the Setrab website, the STD Series 6 19 row model (Part # 50-619-7612) is paired with an engine in the 220-310 hp range, providing 27-37kbtu/hr cooling capacity. The pressure drop is 2.5-3.3 psi. I presume this is the 19 row model Mini7 is suggesting.

The Proline SLM series looks like it would be a good fit. The Part # 53-10748-01 model is paired with an engine in the 250-350 hp range, providing 29-40kbtu/hr cooling capacity. The pressure drop is 3.1-4.4 psi.

A manual bypass valve sounds like a good idea. Plenty to be found from a Google search.

That just leaves the question of a sandwich plate. I don't understand what is so difficult about designing a plate that uses a spinoff filter. Or the OEM filter for that matter. Is there some subtlety that I'm missing? Is the market too small to justify designing/manufacturing such a part??

jmason said:

Is the market too small to justify designing/manufacturing such a part??

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In short, yes.

Most people I drive with scoff at VWs because of the reliability issues in recent memory, and so a lot of people are unwilling to modify or race their VWs...or even buy them.

For a street car, you'll never need an oil cooler unless you're driving around like an 18 year old in a subaru wrx... These cars actually hold their own in stock guise with respect to oil cooling. When mine was stock, on track I rarely saw above 255. I'd sometimes hit 265, but with a heavier, quality oil, there's no reason to worry about oil pressure or breakdown at these temps.

The reason VWR charges so much for their kit, is because they know they can. There's nothing else on the market that's as easy or simple to install, and for 99% of people running stage 2 or is38, that kit will suffice. That's because most of those people run their cars at WOT for 5-6 seconds at a time, or maybe 13 seconds at a drag strip. When on the track, the engine runs much higher rpm for much longer periods of time.

Setrab gives you some better options to package a larger oil cooler than some other brands.

Yes a banjo 9-degree is more restrictive than a regular 90-degree fitting. However you have to pick your poison. Better cooling of a 19-row vs. a slight pressure drop. This setup will still provide more than adequate lubrication and oil pressure. This is my setup on my Cooper S. A Mk 7 will require -10AN lines.
The pics are for illustration only.