reduce engine temp

[charro]

Will removing the plastic engine cover make any difference to reducing engine temp? Oil temp I am interested in. I know a bigger intercooler will be the big fix, just looking for any other things I can do as every degree cooler can only be beneficial.
Thanks

[zei20t]

probably not much, but perhaps a tiny bit.

Better oil and possibly an oil cooler will help. but it depends on what temps you are seeing. is it street driven or track driven?

dont go overkill, modern engines are designed to run hot for a cleaner burn.

[Martin]

Removing the plastic engine cover is unlikely to make a noticeable difference
A bigger intercooler wont make any difference to oil temperature

[Lito]

Your statement "any degree cooler can only be beneficial" is incorrect when referring to engine temp. Engines are designed to run at a specific operating temperature. That's why you need to get a car up to temp (coolant AND oil temp) before you thrash it. That being said I doubt removing the engine cover would do anything noticeable. Reducing air inlet temp via a fmic is a good idea but this has nothing to do with engine temperature

[charro]

Thanks for the feedback guys. So what you are saying is a bigger intercooler has no effect on engine temp. I should clarify the car is a mk7 golf r with apr tune. I have fitted a cold air intake which did help a lot with heat soak on a track day. I was just concerned with the oil temp getting up to 120 degree pushing hard on the track, should I not be concerned? What I don't understand is why the engine temp never goes over 90 yet the oil temp can vary from high 90' to the low 100 ' s? Appreciate the tech support

[Bug_racer]

probably not much, but perhaps a tiny bit.

Better oil and possibly an oil cooler will help. but it depends on what temps you are seeing. is it street driven or track driven?

dont go overkill, modern engines are designed to run hot for a cleaner burn.

Yes but VWs were never designed for Australia and run too hot when there is no airflow over the engine

[Martin]

So what you are saying is a bigger intercooler has no effect on engine temp.

The intercooler cools the air going into the engine for combustion - absolutely nothing to do with oil or engine temperature

I should clarify the car is a mk7 golf r with apr tune.

Nice!

I have fitted a cold air intake which did help a lot with heat soak on a track day.

Heat soak occurs after turning the engine off - the cold air intake serves no purpose when the engine is off
Perhaps you meant something else - not heat soak?

I was just concerned with the oil temp getting up to 120 degree pushing hard on the track, should I not be concerned?

Yes, observe the oil temp and look after the engine
You don't want to see the oil temp much over 120 for any length of time - limit your laps and power usage

What I don't understand is why the engine temp never goes over 90 yet the oil temp can vary from high 90' to the low 100 ' s?

The engine block and head are cooled by water - that's the engine temperature
The oil lubricates moving parts that are much hotter than the engine block/heat, hence the oil gets hotter than the engine

You will find some people adding an oil cooler to their car to address high oil temperatures

[Notso Swift]

Quality full synthetic oil is stable well past 120dC, in fact Mobil 1 runs to 165dC for 24 hour events with peaks allowed higher than that.
Ideally you would probably want to see closer to 105dC in a road car but remember the old mantra to make power = cold water hot oil(!) But manufacturers these days want both hot water and oil for emissions control
Water to air cooler is probably best for a road car with limited tracking as your oil will not be over cooled, with the caveat that more heat will be entering the water cooling system when the car is stressed.
IF you do go air to air make sure you get a system with a thermostat installed to minimise over cooling the oil, most open to early but there are some that trigger around 95dC (I think that is 200dF)

Also remember if something is called synthetic it may still be made from a base oil that is organic, most manufacturers tend to keep it hidden but the majority of oils are not made from a synthetic base, check out bobistheoilguy from the most reliable information although it is an American centered site and some of the products may have regional variation

Just to clear up some misnomers not related, air inlet temperature has a direct relationship to the combustion temp and exhaust temp, that additional heat does need to go somewhere (most of it out of the exhaust) so will have an effect on oil temp, but it is relatively minor. The cold air induction is not the inlet temp, the inlet manifold is the measure point, so the colder air which is then compressed more (more boost) will still have a higher temp than standard.

[zei20t]

Going back to the OP. what are you actually worried about?

Martin and I have both done track work with our cars. My oil hit 135-138 on the factory oil. Not good. using a heavier 5w40 kept the same car (with even more power) below 130 degrees with no cool down laps mid-session - like I did with the factory oil, mostly for the brakes.

IMO you'll have more problems with continued traction than you will with a mildly modified engine overheating.

Just run a better quality oil, if youre really worried, get a 5w50 oil. But always stick to VW approved oils.

[Martin]

120 degrees is just a common safeguard/guideline
As the oil gets hotter it thins out and looses shear strength - this leaves you open to wear (or worse)
You don't want to spend a lot of time at high temperature with standard oils
There are numerous quality oils that can handle high temperatures,

I'm running Penrite 10/10ths in my Pulsar race car - it's a PAE Ester based oil and is fantastic - I've done two 45 minute races and the engine sounded like a large Japanese motorbike engine for the entire race - very happy
We don't use standard clutches because after 10 minutes the flywheel/pressure plate/gearbox temperature is so hot that standard street clutches slip - ruins your race day

Penrite's +10 oils are fine to use but don't whack a 50 grade oil into modern engines without technical advice - modern engines with variable valve timing have some tiny yet important oil ways that don't work well with heavy grade oils