CSF Cooling Products - Are they right for me?

Cooling modifications, such as CSF intercoolers, are extremely important for vehicles looking to make high horsepower or run consistently fast lap times at the racetrack, reliably. Upgrading your car’s cooling system will prevent the effects of heat soak which will slow your vehicle down, reduce peak horsepower output and increase the likelihood of something breaking. In this post, we’ll dive deeply into the design and construction of CSF cooling systems and discover if a CSF radiator is a worthwhile investment for you.

What are CSF Radiators?

CSF Radiators produce all-aluminium engine water radiators, engine oil coolers, power steering coolers, gearbox oil coolers, and intercooler cores. These products are designed to directly replace your car’s factory cooling parts for improved efficiency and reliability.

Why are CSF Radiators important?

CSF Radiators solve a common problem for modified and/or track vehicles: overheating. If your vehicle is consistently overheating, your time at the track or ability to make big power will become very limited; this is not a problem with CSF. Keeping your engine oil temperatures low will prevent the oil from prematurely deteriorating which may cause engine damage. Also, their power steering coolers will maintain pressure in the hydraulics - essential for performance and safety.

“Great product. All the brackets and pieces are aluminium vs OEM plastic. This radiator is beautiful, it’s like installing a piece of shiny art. Been running this radiator for a couple of months now with zero issues. CSF is worth every penny.”

A crucial benefit is long-term reliability. Many OEM manufacturers use plastics within their cooling systems to save on costs. Over time, these plastic components crack and split from constant heating and cooling. Replacing these cheap plastic items with an aluminium replacement from CSF will prevent such problems from happening in the future. CSF is very confident of this and provides a comprehensive 2-year warranty with their products.

Tips and reminders for upgrading to a CSF radiator

It is always advised that you allow a professional to install your CSF product(s). R44 Performance offers professional fitting at our workshop in Wembley, London. However, CSF provides a handy installation guide for you to easily fit your radiator at home!

Stay on top of servicing and maintenance. Even though CSF products are superior in reliability, it’s still important to perform frequent changes of all vehicle fluids such as coolant, engine oil, power steering fluid, and more.

Transforming our BMW G80 M3 with CSF cooling upgrades.

R44 Performance is building a high-horsepower BMW G80 M3 - currently the fastest in the UK on dragy's leaderboards! The car is currently Stage 2 tuned with some exhaust modifications and engine software. In order to push past the 720bhp mark we're currently at, it's absolutely crucial that we tackle the issue of cooling.

As is the case with most tuners, we instantly thought of CSF due to their reputation for exceptional quality and reliability. In order to push for more power and prevent heat soak, we worked with Regal Autosport to install a CSF front-mount heat exchanger, ZF8 transmission cooler, and (the big one) CSF's stunning 'Level Up' S58 charge air cooler manifold.

To learn more about this incredible intake manifold, CSF has a full in-depth guide here.

To summarise, the benefits of the CSF 'Level Up' S58 charge air cooler are:

1. The CSF by PWR bar/plate intercooler core is far superior to not only the OEM extruded tube/fin core but also, without a doubt, will outperform any competitor in the performance aftermarket by a long shot.
2. CSF has the largest plenum volume on the market.
3. CSF uses welds rather than gaskets to withstand high levels of boost, provide the highest plenum volume, and save both space and materials.
4. Use of a Kiylex thermal rejection competition spacer to prevent heat soak between pulls by withstanding temperatures up to 1100°F.
5. Every manifold includes an extruded fuel rail that has been machined to offer maximum flow for any applicable injector size. Whether you want to run standard pump gas, race gas, or E85, the fuel rail will work with your system.
6. Thoroughly quality control tested and leak tested.

This manifold will be absolutely essential for us as we look to turn up the boost and extract even more power from the S58 engine.

CSF's ZF8 transmission cooler is another crucial piece of the puzzle. Having a tuned gearbox, not to mention the number of launches this car will be doing, staying on top of gearbox temperatures is a high priority. Not only does it allow the G80's 8-speed automatic gearbox to remain cool and perform optimally, but it also dramatically reduces the chance of reliability issues.

Tuning our BMW F80 M3 fitted with CSF cooling upgrades.

Shortly after we picked up our F80 M3, the factory BMW charge cooler failed causing an array of fluids to enter the inlet manifold and complete engine failure. As BMWs age, these sorts of problems are quite common. Had we upgraded to a CSF charge cooler sooner, the need for a whole new engine could have been avoided.

The CSF upgraded charge cooler is far more resistant to heat cycles and high boost pressures, which greatly reduces the likelihood of failure - especially on tuned vehicles.

We can assure you, first hand, that CSF is a worthwhile upgrade.

Summary: Is it a worthwhile investment for me?

If you want to tune your vehicle to make high horsepower, upgrading your cooling system is essential. Likewise, if you’re taking your vehicle on track, you will see enormous benefits from swapping your OEM cooling parts for CSF alternatives. We also believe vehicles getting on in age would benefit hugely from a CSF upgrade. As a BMW and Audi specialist, we have seen many stock cooling systems fail. Instead of replacing parts with another fragile OEM item, why not use this opportunity to upgrade to an item of superior quality to prevent more expensive repairs in the future?

Contact our friendly customer service team here if you need more advice on any CSF products.

Also, don’t forget to browse our extensive CSF catalogue. Remember if you don’t see a part for your vehicle, we will happily source it for you at no extra cost!

R44 Performance ships CSF products worldwide! Alternatively, our fitting team is fully trained by CSF to install their full range of cooling products. We offer professional fitting at our London workshop.