I have been trying to decide on which style and material to purchase
for my radiator cooling plate for my Z.

I like the look of the Cusco cooling plate but it is made of aluminum
and wonder about it absorbing heat and holding it in, it is also a 3/4
length type that stops before the air duct opening for air filter housing,
i have seen one from autotecknic that is full length and made of carbon
fiber, any input would be great.

 

Holding heat won't much matter where it is at. The idea is to increase the air going through the radiator. Neither are going to me a huge difference, so I'd suggest just going with the one you like the looks of best.

 

I've had the Autoteknic CF cooler for 3+ years now with no problems - had it painted by the late ZPRESENCE (Rob). It was the 2nd one I had - the first was a flat SS one (painted) that ended up being marred by the hood latch. As soon as I saw the Autoteknic one with the recessed portion around the latch I knew it was for me - ha! I've removed & installed it probably over 20 times since I've had it & the material has held up great!

Either one you mentioned will do the job for you......

 

ok, good info so far, just curious of the benefits-if any, that the full
length style may offer compared to the 3/4 style-that will probably
influence my final decision

 

These are for looks only. You'll notice the hood seals perfectly, forcing air through the radiator and the intake. These radiator cooling plates only serve to restrict air to the intake, ftl.

 

+1... I've been saying that forever, yet peole still think its benefit

 

agree, it is purely for looks. On the plus side, the Cusco one fits absolutely perfectly, and unlike some others out there, still makes it very easy to access the hood release

I now have the Autotecnik one on my car (got it last year)...fitment was not anywhere near as good as the ARC and Cusco ones I ran previously. But, I decided I wanted a carbon one, so I gave it a shot. It took me about 40 minutes worth of work with a dremel to make it fit properly.



Cusco one installed in silver. If you search for Kwame@z1, he has pics of the blue one he installed on his car

 

I disagree.

Wait until you get a reasonably cool night (60-65 degrees) and go drive your car around for a little while. Then, stop and pop open your hood, and feel how cold your hood prop, and top of the radiator core support is.

The latch and core support will be near ambient temps. If you look at where your hood prop is, you will see that the only way for it to become near ambient temps, is if there is a significant amount of air flowing through the large opening (where a cooling plate would cover).

I thought that the cooling plates were for looks also, until I started doing testing for my heat shield project.

-Tim

 

I forgot, you guys/girl don’t have the intake snorkel above the radiator core support like first gen Gs do... On a G it absolutely negatively affects air intake.

I know, I know this is a Z forum

 

Hmmm....my cf Autotecknic fit perfectly from day 1. As mentioned above, I got it probably 3 1/2 years ago or so on a group buy from Phatmitsu (if I remember the name correctly)...maybe a different mold used these days.

 

I was thinking of buying one of those as well, I saved myself $175 buy looking under the hood to see that the hood does the job itself. The hood has a bump that seals it off.

 

that helps knowing fitment was an issue, nobody has really gave any
feedback on the width question though, curious from an engineering
standpoint why autoteknic goes full width? is there some other
benefit they were going for? or just a looks thing.

i am glad to see the Cusco one installed, that does seem to fit
nice, i was debating on buying a Cusco strut bar also-figured they
would look good together and thought it may be a few pounds lighter
than the stock bar and looks stronger too

 

yeah i have been reading your thread on the heat shield-sounds like
you may be working toward an interesting project, a lot of members
may be hounding you to sell some, i have been waiting to hear more
about the Motordyne intake that is supposedly coming out-if that
ends up a fail i may buy your heatshield for my popcharger

 

Mine is a V2 Carbon Fiber Cooling Plate from AutoTecknic.

 

its a dress up part...there is no engineering behind it. They made it extend to copy the Varis part.

 

Agreed.

+1
My ARC plate's fittment is perfect...

 

maybe i will go back to my original idea of the autotecknic plate and
gt spec carbon strut bar-looks like a nice combo, hopefully will not
be too much carbon under the hood- i already have carbon intake tube.
been considering braille battery or a deka one for additional weight savings.

 

I ran one for a reason no one has mentioned yet, so I will share...

When I first installed a CF hood a few years ago (no hood pins), I noticed at highway speeds the hood would lift slightly at the front, from the force of the air. Once I installed a greddy cooling panel, the hood lift stopped.

 

I'd hate to have a hood fly up on me while I'm driving that would be really dangerous on the freeway