Back when aluminum radiators were becoming popular and coming down in price I did some reading up on them. What I remember reading was basically while aluminum does not transfer heat as efficiently as brass copper, because it’s more rigid the tubes can be made wider allowing for more surface area and better cooling. Basically the more surface area the coolant is exposed to, the better the radiator will cool.

Most of the earlier aluminum radiators I can remember seeing were 1 or 2 row with 3/4” to 1” wide tubes. I’m now seeing 4 row aluminum radiators being advertised, but usually with only 3/8” tubes.

OK, here’s the question for you guys. All other things being the same (number of rows of tubes, fin count, size etc) would you choose 4 row radiator with 3/8” tubes (1 1/2" surface area per row of tubes), or a 2 row radiator with 1” tubes (2” surface area per row of tubes) ?

Am I missing something about the efficiency of the 4 row aluminum radiators?



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