Big Four, External oil cooler required? Options

[saigon71]

To the collective world knowledge database...

What is the largest size type IV that can built and used safely as a street car without adding an external oil cooler?

Thanks!

[Mark Henry]

Yes and no, because I've built both with no over heat issues.
Do not use over 96mm P&C's without Nickies. Any bigger is automatically a misconfigured engine in my book.
That's a pretty basic rule, why Porsche when to an all aluminum cylinder as their engines got bigger.

Adding an oil cooler not really going to help a misconfigured engine, maybe a bit but it's a bandaid solution.
Also maybe you need one in socal, etc., but I'm taking into account the OP's location.

[ClayPerrine]

Yes and no, because I've built both with no over heat issues.
Do not use over 96mm P&C's without Nickies. Any bigger is automatically a misconfigured engine in my book.
That's a pretty basic rule, why Porsche when to an all aluminum cylinder as their engines got bigger.

Adding an oil cooler not really going to help a misconfigured engine, maybe a bit but it's a bandaid solution.
Also maybe you need one in socal, etc., but I'm taking into account the OP's location.

Mark, you may never need one considering the average summer temp for Port Hope, Ontario is 25 degrees C (77 degrees F) . Kinda like Germany for climate.

Betty's stock 1.8L needs an external oil cooler for two reasons. 1. Because the average summer temp is 102 degrees F (38.8 degrees C). and 2. The AC load on the car increases the engine temp. I run the oil cooler without a thermostat, because it doesn't get cold enough in the winter to need one. (It is 53 degrees F today, December 8th.)

Before you start yelling about a mis-configured engine, I have everything set according to factory specs, including the CO.

The 914 owners in the desert southwest need an external oil cooer more than the Texas owners do. So it all depends on where you live. The 914 was designed with temps in Germany for the cooling load, so adding a cooler should be based on the regular oil temps you run on a regular basis. If it is too high, add the cooler.