So, installed my radiator yesterday. It wasn't "drop in" but it was pretty close. I did modify a couple of little things for future ease. The Nismo thermostat was a bit of a pain. Hard to get that gasket in place, and find the bolt holes. Anyway, its in, and not leaking.
Strapped up the laptop for the trip to work yesterday. Thermostat opens at about 75 degrees, from there temp dropped to 73. once I started warming it up a bit, normal cruising temps were from about 77-82 degrees. If I was at lights, that went up to 88 or so, but soon dropped back down. I got stuck in traffic, and temp went up to the normal 98 where the fans cut in, and I saw a noticeable increase in speed for the temp to drop back down to 93 and fans switch off. So, its a win. No leaks, this morning I topped up the system, and made sure the last of the air was out. I'll check again in a few days time that its fully bled.
Overall its a drop of about 10 to 12 degrees. Normal Cruising temps were just over 90 generally, and at lights you could expect it to go up to 95 to 98. I did have to pick up some barbs from pirtek for the AT cooler lines, and replace one hose that was too short to reach the new inlet. Barbs were cheap, and I sealed them with tape and locktite.
Pics!
Why is the Mishimoto better? Look at the core size! It also has much wider fins if you know what I mean, which should let more air into the engine bay to cool things.