I recently replaced the radiator in an Integra. Turns out that Honda uses a goofy design which has plastic upper- and lower- tanks mated to the aluminum radiator body. Commonly, after 80k miles, the plastic seperates from the metal, causing an unrepairable leak along the seam.

I noticed last week that my Z uses the same lousy radiator design. Since this is my first Nissan, do any of you know if Nissan has been using this design for a while, and if so, what to expect longevity-wise? I'm not too worried about it (the Teg radiator actually got 130k before commiting sappuku), just curious.

Aside from cost, is there an advantage to this design?

 

makes the car lighter?

yeah this plastic radiator deal seems pretty common.