I'm thinking of removing the heater matrix from my MK2 Golf track car and replacing it with an electric heater, does anyone have any experience with these and can you please tell me the pro's & con's Thanks in advance
you can buy very small lightweight heaters that run off the coolant as a normal one, supposed to give out 3kw - not actually fitted mine but there is a pic in my build thread towards the end
lightweight heater I recently fitted one to our race car and they are a doddle to fit and work well. I wouldn't go to the hassle of ripping out the standard one though if you have it. we had no choice as it had long gone and come the rain at Silverstone I could not see a thing for misted up windscreen.
Just in process of doing mine. Removed all the heater matrix and fan, replaced with a bilge fan 12v electric. Check my build thread
I'm going to try an X5 rear heater/blower - see pic below for example. It's about 12 inches long and weighs around 1kg. I've tested the blower and it's pretty powerful - just waiting on the heater element to arrive so I can see if it heats worth a toss
If you're chasing hundreths on your lap times then weight reducton is what you need to do. I've always found the electric heaters ****e and ill be fitting a heated screen to my race car. For a track toy I'd keep the original
Thanks for all of your replies, to be honest there are a few reasons for me considering it but weight isn't one of them. I have a cage fitted and if I remove the matrix I can add an extra bar under the dash (I can also mount my MK4 golf clocks on this), I'm not sure if the heater actually work as I bought the car as a non runner so never tried them, I also need to source some longer water pipes from the PD engine to the bulk head. I was thinking the electric heater will also warm the car quicker....hopefully. I know these reasons probably aren't worth the hassle but the dash is already out so it's a 2 minute job before I go any further with the build. If I do remove the matrix I would fit a heated front screen too to avoid the steam issue. Let me know your thoughts please as I'm still unsure what to do at the minute. Cheers
If its exposed already then bin it. I have always found the electric heaters terrible for demisting. The plastics 4performance lexan doesn't really fog too bad So its just the front screen really. If you're getting a heated screen then you don't need any other heater
I removed mine as I never used the heater just the fan now and again. Also wanted the space where the old heater controls were as now I just have one flick switch.
I'm deffo tempted to remove it, how have you found the heater you fitted vr6smith? I still want a heater of some sort as the car will be getting driven on the road occasionally and probably to the track when possible. Cheers
Very strong fan with great flow. no heat though it's just a fan. I never needed the heat before but mine is a track car only not road going
