Forged Racing radiator Vs Koyo aluminum radiator (and rad shrouds)

[NismoS-tune]

A small shootout for those who care to know. All parts are genuine and bought as new from respectable suppliers. This is not to flame anything but to inform others about the 2 product. I'm still certain about which I'll use. The koyo was bought over a year ago and took 7 months to ship so I can't send it back to a non existant company. They're both close in pric0e which is at the lower end of the performance market compared to ARC and the big boys however I'm ready to try it out in my mildly tuned car ;


Sizing.
Both the koyo aluminum and Forged Racing Radiators have a 2" core.
End tanks are nearly identical in shape/welds.
Height and length are identical.
The Koyo rad however is 2/3 of the Forged racing weight (most likely since the forged has more bars).

Fin and bars.
The Koyo radiator has the SAME size and style of bars as the Forged racing however the Forged Radiator has 33% more bars (1 bar every 7.5mm where the Koyo has a bar every 10mm)

The Radiators both mount the same and have the same style of fittings all around.
The Forged Radiator comes with a Rad cap unlike the koyo.


FAN SHROUDS!

Mishimoto and forged have similar designs for materials but their only 2 differences are that the Mishi fans are 10" blade type, where the Forged are 11" with a few more blades which are all attached at the ends like a frizbee I guess. No idea which flows better.

In the end, all 4 of these products appear to be the same quality with different pros and cons.

pictures Coming soon!

[Harvey]

Good review!! I was thinking about getting Mushi fan and shroud for my Koyo. So I know the issue now and it doesnt look like a hard fix. Also, Do you have any chance to fit the rad to see if there is any clearance issues?? thanks!

[NismoS-tune]

Good review!! I was thinking about getting Mushi fan and shroud for my Koyo. So I know the issue now and it doesnt look like a hard fix. Also, Do you have any chance to fit the rad to see if there is any clearance issues?? thanks!

Clearance issues between the koyo and mishi? No, looked pretty good actually, didn't have any pictures and they're boxed up now. My mishi fans and koyo will be for sale. Let me know if you wanted the mishi shroud, they were simply fitted together.

[Skym]

I would use stock Subaru radiator fans, as the blades are bigger -

[Harvey]

Clearance issues between the koyo and mishi? No, looked pretty good actually, didn't have any pictures and they're boxed up now. My mishi fans and koyo will be for sale. Let me know if you wanted the mishi shroud, they were simply fitted together.

Yeah I will be interested for sure.. Let me know a price shipped to M2N 6Y7. Btw, the clearance issue I meant is between the fan and the motor. It looked like it was very tight lol.. Btw, how am I gonna wire up the fan? Any instructions come with the kit? Or I need some kinda fan controller? Let me know thanks.

[Harvey]

Is the bracket on the mushi fan too long or short for the koyo rad? It looks like it is too short in the pic. Let me know.

[NismoS-tune]

Is the bracket on the mushi fan too long or short for the koyo rad? It looks like it is too short in the pic. Let me know.

the bracket is too short. As for clearance to the engine, it's quite fine. For wiring, you can use a controller or ECU output or AC fan wiring if that's deleted.

[archaeic_bloke]

you said the bars were every "750mm and 1000mm"... thats gotta be a typo? lol.. one bar every meter? I'd be surprised if the rads even measure one full meter long... did you mean micro meters?

symbol for micro is: "u" the greek letter "Mu"

good write up man, thanks for sharing that!

[NismoS-tune]

Aye typo, it was late at night lol. 7.5mm and 10mm

you said the bars were every "750mm and 1000mm"... thats gotta be a typo? lol.. one bar every meter? I'd be surprised if the rads even measure one full meter long... did you mean micro meters?

symbol for micro is: "u" the greek letter "Mu"

good write up man, thanks for sharing that!

[DreadedFist]

May be a stupid question, but can you use the oem shroud and clutch fan with aftermarket radiators? Reason I ask is it seems like the clutch fan could move a lot more air.

[NismoS-tune]

May be a stupid question, but can you use the oem shroud and clutch fan with aftermarket radiators? Reason I ask is it seems like the clutch fan could move a lot more air.

I know for a fact the Koyo aluminum and copper radiators work with OEM fan shroud and the Forged have the same mounts. As for the OEM moving more air then electrics, that's been the word around the streets for some time however I never found actual CFM values. I just found that the electrics worked well and looked much nicer in an engine bay.

I think Mishimoto 10" (twin?) is 1050CFM.

[Harvey]

May be a stupid question, but can you use the oem shroud and clutch fan with aftermarket radiators? Reason I ask is it seems like the clutch fan could move a lot more air.

The OEM clutch fan will work for sure. The OEM Shroud needs to be trimmed to fit. The OEM fan can move more air is questionable. But electric fan will surely free up some load from the motor. Also the OEM fan just sounds like a frigging vacuum cleaner once when it is spinning at full speed.

[archaeic_bloke]

May be a stupid question, but can you use the oem shroud and clutch fan with aftermarket radiators? Reason I ask is it seems like the clutch fan could move a lot more air.

I currently run a Koyo Alloy rad (Thicker than oem) with oem clutch fan, and oem fan shroud...

the fan fits fine and doesn't rub, and pulls A LOT of air... electric fans are better because its just one less thing the engine has to rotate, along with power steering, AC, etc etc... thats why electrics are good (IMO)...

as for the oem shroud... its a little trick, we had to cut the bottom 1/4 of the oem shroud off because otherwise you can't get the rad in the car with the shroud attached.. it still works great, and doesn't rub... so as long as you trim the oem shroud, it fits fine.

[DreadedFist]

Ahh okay, thanks guys, appreciate the responses.

[LIGHTSPD]

Missed 2 really important things.

The tube size on the Koyo is .8mm and on the ForgerRacing is 1.0mm so there is way more tubes and they have more frontal surface area wich doesn't sound like much but on 50 cm rad by 30 cm on the forged racing every .9cm has a tube and on the Koyo is 1.08cm. Is 55 tubes on the Forged Racing and 46 tubes on the Koyo. Using these measurements each tube on the ForgedRacing has 3 square cm of frontal area and the Koyo has 2.4 square cm. add that to the tube count. ForgedRacing 165 square cm of frontal cooling. Koyo 110.5 square cm of frontal cooling. Plus it also has that same extra size on the back as well. So massive extra surface area.

No epoxy has been used in the assembly of ForgedRacing both Brand K and Brand M use it. Epoxy is used to ensure no leaks but is an insulator Forged racing solves this problem by testing every radiator that is produced.

Not all things are equal LOL