For my case, it was the upper hose relocation, the thinner form factor, and retaining better than OE cooling efficiency. This was a must as I daily drive in some wacky environments. Bling was an additional feature.

No problemo. I didn't appreciate it much before until I spent all summer trying different fan combinations, coolant combinations, fan speeds, fan shrouds, ac weather strippings, thermostats, etc etc etc. on my friend's forward facing setup with the EVO half-width from Mishimoto (which I DID tell him that it's a drag only radiator).

 

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy a Koyo Radiator. They are total pieces of ****. I bought one of these when my stock unit took a crap and started to leak, thinking it would be a great upgrade for cooling during road racing. The first radiator didn't even last 250 miles and was pissing fluid everywhere. After going back and forth with the vendor I purchased it through, they helped me out and replaced it with another Koyo. That one lasted about 5,000 miles of mainly daily driving before the entire end tank started leaking. Said screw this, wasn't worth my time to try to get another replacement and went and bought a used stock radiator. That ended up being a lovely $450 mistake.

 

In case you have not purchased your radiator yet, I highly recommend a Ron Davis radiator. Haven't seen/used a better radiator, and they also will make you custom sizes depending on your specific application. Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for, and Ron Davis doesn't spare expenses.