Water Wetter: Is It Actually Worth It?

[golf_234]

As many of you know, water wetter is a surfactant that supposedly can allow your engine to run slightly cooler by way of reducing surface tension thus reducing cavitation (bubbles) in your coolant, which can provide more effective heat transfer. Interested in trying it, but was wondering if anybody had any opinions on it. I hear mostly good things...

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10

[BFD99]

Interesting stuff! Never heard of it before!

[DriveHard]

Alot of track guys use it .. 100% water and water wetter

Miata auto x'ers use it alot .. ( Miata radiators really arent that good for the high rpm, low spped short courses )

I have it in my Miata... and i also put it in my 128...

[golf_234]

Originally Posted by BFD99

Interesting stuff! Never heard of it before!

I thought so too. Redline products are usually fairly well regarded.. My friend swears by the stuff for FI applications (drives an '04 e55). might give it a whirl on the 1 at some point. its only like $9 so not much to lose, lol

[Red Bread]

Keep in mind that WW is meant to act as a lubricant for the water pump when using 100% water, ie, no coolant. It's less likely to do much, if anything beneficial if you just add it to a 50/50 mixture. I ran it with 100% water in my Miata, and it helped slightly with track day coolant temps.

Just pointing out the obvious here, but if you do go the 100% water and WW route, either make certain that you have a garage on both ends of winter commutes, or run a different mix during cold weather.

[NYC6]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Keep in mind that WW is meant to act as a lubricant for the water pump when using 100% water, ie, no coolant. It's less likely to do much, if anything beneficial if you just add it to a 50/50 mixture. I ran it with 100% water in my Miata, and it helped slightly with track day coolant temps.

Just pointing out the obvious here, but if you do go the 100% water and WW route, either make certain that you have a garage on both ends of winter commutes, or run a different mix during cold weather.

Agreed. I used to use it back in the day for dedicated racing cars. Never used it for street cars lthough some friends did. As you say, it was used with straight water to get best results. I heard somewhere they might have changed the formula to be able to be used with antifreeze. Not sure though and dont know if its as efficient as it was.

* using WW with 100% and no AF is very damaging to aluminum. There are properties in modern AF that help prevent Al oxidation and scaling.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by golf_234

As many of you know, water wetter is a surfactant that supposedly can allow your engine to run slightly cooler by way of reducing surface tension thus reducing cavitation (bubbles) in your coolant, which can provide more effective heat transfer. Interested in trying it, but was wondering if anybody had any opinions on it. I hear mostly good things...

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10

As others have said, it's mainly for track use.
Motorcycle races use it as well so that wreck won't throw antifreeze all over the track and cause a potential slippage area. Most races require only water, no antifreeze, so water wetter is an ideal solution for moto racing.

There isn't really a need for a daily driver though.
Maybe if you live the desert like Phoenix or Tucson, where you'll probably never see freezing temps, unless you head to the mountains, water and water wetter may be more efficient at cooling than water and antifreeze mix. Someone would have to try it and see if their engines run cooler.

[mdputnam]

Many Twin Turbo RX7 guys (like me) use it on the street. Been running pure water and water wetter for 16 years in my now vintage car. It's a special case though, these beasts just make too much heat running hard in the desert (only place to run wide open) to compromise the cooling system with antifreeze.

Oh, and no freeze protection isn't a problem in San Diego. And that whole aluminum debate thing just won't die.