How exactly is this heat exchanger an upgrade?

“70 cooling tubes vs 55”.. I presume increased contact area for heat exchange.

I don’t know that this is better or worse.

 

That is OEM, Ferrari changed the design a few years back. I've heard mixed reviews

 

Try it and repot back

 

Is the original one not "full copper construction"? AW might know more about what makes it an upgrade.

 

I am surprised that a more simple-to-make one isn't a thing. How about one with 5 larger tubes in it?...or three? Flow restrict, if needed, with some inserts?

 

Fewer tubes would mean less surface area and less heat transfer.

 

The tradeoff in minutes to achieve full temps would be?

 

If you go from 55 to 5 pipes with equal total cross section area, it will take approximately 3.3 times as long (using conservative assumptions).

 

There is incorrect information about the Genuine Ferrari version of it his item being posted above.

The Ferrari 180846 has 61 tubes, arranged in concentric circles: 24 tubes, 18 tubes, 12 tubes, 6 tubes, 1 tube.

 

In my old Porsche days a company used to make a replacement oil cooler that had internal twisted (spiral) ribs. The idea was that not only was that an increase in surface area but in addition it twisted the path of the fluid for further cooling.
I had installed a few and they seemed to work better at cooling than OEM. Food for thought maybe...

 

I designed a 3D printed version of the heat exchanger and priced it in aluminum alloy. The cost was about $1,000 a unit. It would last forever as it has no yellow metal content, but for such a cost?

The issue with the heat exchanger isn't that it's a bad part. It's that the transaxle oil can be corrosive if the oil isn't yellow metal safe. Just use the right oil and the problem will likely never rear its ugly head.

 

I don't know, it seems to me that the convenience of quicker warm up of the gearbox oil is outweighed by the complexity and failure prone nature of the oil to water Hx. I mean our engine oil takes what, 20 minutes to get to operating temp, so you're babying it in that time period anyway. I'd be inclined to ditch that Hx for a conventional air to oil unit. No more risk of coolant/oil mixing.

 

And no real way of knowing what the transmission temp is without adding a sensor, or if increased wear will happen while it is cold or in the wrong operating temp.

Doing proper maintenance with proper fluids and monitoring things seems like a better approach to me. However it is your car and you are welcome to do as you see fit.