mx5cartalk.com

Hi folks can anyone recommend a replacement radiator for my car the old one is leaking and it needs to be replaced 42 mm 52 mm which is the best I've no idea aluminium ,copper core, plastic. can anyone help?

Hi Simie, For my NB8A, I got an alloy 52mm radiator couriered to me for around $120? Fitted well, but being thicker, protect it from two threads protruding from the A/C radiator just in front of it. Luckily, when mine gouged, it didn't spring a leak. I saw posts of others doing that gouge too.

Thicker isn't necessarily better. Air gets through a thinner radiator more effectively thus cooling all the contents. Twice as thick might mean the air only gets a third of the way in before being blocked by the rest of the radiator.

If your car is standard or mildly modified then OEM Mazda.
People install aftermarket aluminium ones because they are considerably cheaper and bigger cores cool more efficiently but this improvement is only discernible when circuit racing on hot days.

The thicker the core, the less it acts as a radiator and more like a heat-sink.

Slightly thicker OEM SE replacement radiator from Automotive/MX5 Plus in Brisbane.

Thanks for the responses fellows. I think i might go a standard thickness aluminium one. CHeers for that. Simie

The question was "best replacement" The answer is OEM not some questionable quality cheap aluminium radiator. OEM will last a decade without a problem.