SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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HOWE TO KEEP YOUR COOL An efficient heat exchanger from Howe Performance offers performance advantages for off-road racers By SCORE Journal Staff Photos courtesy Howe Performance In Baja racing, the competition and the course may change, but heat is the constant factor that all race vehicles need to deal with. Most teams use large radiators and coolers to keep engine and drivetrain fluids cool, but according to Jeff Howe, at Howe Performance, not many crew chiefs think about ways to make cooling more efficient. “Most racers use a big cooler and mount it high on the back window of a race vehicle,” says Howe. “This works well, but they also create considerable drag and require wiring, electric fans, switches, breakers, and other components that can fail and cause a chain reaction.” Heat exchangers have been around for many decades, allowing coolant to flow around the vital engine or drivetrain fluids to cool them more efficiently. “The reason crew chiefs have not used heat exchangers, is because they can fail, and contaminate the fluids that run through them,” said Howe. “We looked at this more closely and developed a heat exchanger that doesn’t leak and has double O-rings so that it can’t fail. We also made it out of billet aluminum so it’s extremely strong, capable of withstanding rocks and other debris that can hit it.” The heat exchanger is also rebuildable, allowing it to be cleaned and reused many times. Considering a large cooler with an electric fan can weigh 17.5 lbs. dry, the Howe Performance heat exchanger weighs only 6 lbs. dry and can be easily mounted just about anywhere. “The heat exchanger has four internal tubes that are 5/8 internal diameter. That amounts to 2.5” of water over 12” that offers superior cooling without fans, electrical connections and robbing power from batteries and alternators,” says Howe. In several tests, Howe says teams have seen a 30-degree drop in fluid temperature using the Howe Performance heat exchanger. “These racers were adding the heat exchanger to the hot side of the engine’s cooling system, dropping oil temperature by 30-degrees,” said Howe. “Imagine if they had put it on the cool side of the system, or if racers could have a stand-alone system with its own small radiator to cool the engine and transmission oil!” With racers looking to gain any advantage they can, the Howe Performance heat exchanger could prove to be a reliable method of providing more efficient cooling, as well as eliminating weight and aerodynamic drag as a bonus. For more information visit Howe Performance at www.howeperformance.com SJ