I notice they have eerily similar claims and "numbers" to prove their effectiveness. They also have the same directions. I have a feeling they might be the same product with different colored dyes, but can anyone more knowledgeable give their two cents? Thanks.

 

save your money

 

I use Reline Water Wetter. At the very least its a rust inhibitor and at best its helping your radiator and coolant be more efficient. It appears you need 2 to 3 bottles of the stuff in more extreme conditions or if you are pushing your engine more.

Team RX8, you appear to not like the stuff. Care to elaborate on why? Also, I think you typed before that you were using NPG, are you recommending to use that instead of regular anti-freeze?

 

Well I'm researching coolants and this isn't a question about the effectiveness of either as there are enough threads debating that. Rather, the numbers seem way too similar to me so I'm wondering if they're actually the same thing in different colors.

 

Haven't used water wetter in my 8 yet, but I can tell you that my Honda CBR954rr runs a few degrees cooler with it.

 

Damn - I just boght a bottle to try -was over $20 nz

 

Used Redline in my bikes, Like it! So using it in my 8. Dont really see a diference but I'LL KEEP USING IT.

 

Both are based on glycerin, which acts as a surfactant.
This causes the boundary layer of the water to be less cohesive which, in turn, presents more of the water's mass to the cooling surfaces.
Why they are so expensive, I can't tell you.
You will see a nominal drop in cooling temps with the stuff under normal conditions with all other things being equal, but not a lot.
Its main advantage is that you can use it as an adjunct to running straight water in the cooling system.

 

I grabbed a bottle of RP Ice at NAPA, and I remember it being pretty cheap in the neighborhood of $8-14.

Could be the same thing as RL Water Wetter, which I used last time. But I don't know I've never actually tasted either one to be sure.

For annual coolant flush purposes, I think the bottles of coolant flush you buy probably add up to more money.

 

I think is better to run more distilled water than coolant like 70/30, should give ya more cooling power.

 

sorry...and why is that?

 

I thought the reason for running distilled was to make sure the gravity of the water was consistant ... and to make sure creepy crawlies don't get into your radiator!

 

Nothing has more "cooling power" than straight water. "Coolant" is a bit of a misnomer.
If you live in a climate where freezing is not possible, nothing will work better than straight distilled water.
The additives are just for corrosion protection and lubrication of the pump seal.

Distilled is used because all other forms of water have minerals in them that will damage your cooling system and its effectiveness.

 

I won a couple bottes of this stuff at SevenStock and now I don't know where they went.

It is starting to get awfully warm out here....

 

I've used the Royal Purple in all my cars. It doesn't seem to keep it much cooler, but the recovery time(time it takes to cool down is much better. I have a fan bypass switch on my Neon, and when I turn it on manually, you can actually watch the coolant temp gauge go down before your eyes. On an average 85-90 degree summer day, I can lower the temp with the fan bypass from 210 down to 170-180 in about 1-2 minutes. ( comes in handy trying to cool the motor between drag passes ) I recommend it. The temp may still spike as high sitting traffic, but it will cool down A LOT faster once you get moving or install a fan switch or other bypass control. I think there is a kit available for the 8.

 

I will say that when mainframes were cooled by water, they used only distilled water and small additive as a wetting agent.

So if was good enuf for multi-million dollar electronics, it might work for your 8.

And if you think those honking boxes didn't get hot, think again! They usually didn't have freezing problems though. I have heard a couple of good stories...

 

as mm says dont forget the lubrication factor NEEDED if you decide to go with anything higher than a 70/30 blend. Start to lose stuff you need then
olddragger

 

I'm tempted to try watter wetter next time I dyno my car, just to see if it drops the temps under that heavy load. (no, I dont' expect more hp from it..)

 

I have used Water Wetter , but not Purple Ice just have never found it on the local auto parts shelf. I have a 69 Camaro with a small block 350 4 bolt main chevy stroked out to 383 11:1 compression and about 505 hp at the flywheel. I used to have lots of overheating problems and tried lots of things. The install of a Edelbrock Aluminum water pump helped, and removing the 50/50 anti freeze/water solution also greatly helped. I have used water wetter and it works my temps below. I also installed a pusher type fan on the front of my radiator with a flip switch. Car still has stock type metal radiator its a 3 row unit that was totally re-done. Next change will be to go to an All Aluminum welded radiator with dual fans and a shroud, looks much better. Be-Cool has the best one its just hard to plunk down $1300+ for a radiator/fan unit but its very cool.

215° with old iron water pump 50/50
200° with new Edelbrock Aluminum water pump & 50/50 & back up pusher fan
180° with new water pump & only distilled water
171° with new water pump, distilled water and water wetter

it works for me, I know totally different type of car/engine etc. but we all face the same problems. Running cool on 90°+ days now with the changes. Next will be the New Radiator.