Photos: Deven Solanki
NZPC: Fenix has been a staple in the Kiwi scene since 2004. What was the original vision behind starting the company, and how has Fenix evolved from those early days into a worldwide name in performance cooling?
Fenix has changed hands a couple of times over the years, but our director Adrian Andrew has been part of the business since 2006, so he’s seen the brand evolve through most of its journey.
When he took charge in 2018, the focus was on moving Fenix forward and building products we’d genuinely want to run in our own vehicles. That meant strengthening our quality-control processes, introducing more in-house testing, and working more closely with our factories to improve the products at every stage.
At the same time, we put a lot of work into lifting the Fenix brand, growing our product range, and staying active within the car scene. What started as a well-known name in New Zealand has steadily grown into a brand with customers and connections around the world, while still keeping that Kiwi, enthusiast-driven mindset at the heart of it.
Being a New Zealand-owned operation, how much of that Kiwi car culture shapes the identity and growth of Fenix?
It’s a massive part of who we are. New Zealand is our core market, so we put a lot of focus on what’s happening here. The cars people are building, how they’re being used, and what the local scene actually needs.
With that being said, some strong relationships overseas are starting to bring in influences from markets like the United States. We also work closely with our mates at Fenix Australia, developing products that suit the Australian market and the way vehicles are used over there. That mix of Kiwi car culture and international influence has played a big part in how Fenix continues to grow.
Turbos and dyno sheets get all the attention, but cooling keeps engines alive. Why is thermal management so critical, and why do factory cooling systems start to struggle the second people start turning up the boost?
More boost means more power, but it also means more heat. Cylinder pressures climb, exhaust temps rise, and the cooling system has to work a whole lot harder to keep everything under control.
Factory cooling systems are designed around factory power levels, packaging, and cost. They’ve usually got a bit of breathing room, but once you start turning up the wick, that margin can disappear pretty quickly — especially during repeated pulls or track days.
Once temperatures start creeping up, performance drops off. Intake temps rise, oil gets thinner, the ECU can pull timing, and the risk of things like head-gasket failure starts to increase.
That’s why proper thermal management is about more than just chucking in a bigger radiator. The radiator, intercooler, fans, shrouding, coolant flow, and oil cooling all need to work together. Power gets the glory. Cooling is what keeps it alive.
What are some of the most common cooling mistakes or misconceptions you see enthusiasts make when modifying their street or track cars?
One of the biggest misconceptions is that bigger means better. Whether it’s a radiator, intercooler, or oil cooler, the largest option isn’t automatically the most effective one.
Good cooling comes down to efficiency and balance — proper airflow through the core, suitable coolant flow, sensible pressure drop, and components that match the engine and how the car is being used. A thicker or more densely packed radiator can actually restrict airflow, while adding more rows or capacity doesn’t necessarily improve cooling if the core design or water flow isn’t right.
The same applies to intercoolers. Going excessively large can increase pressure drop and add unnecessary volume to the intake system, which can affect response without providing much real-world benefit.
Oil coolers are another good example. Oil needs to reach its proper operating temperature to flow and protect the engine as intended. An oversized oil cooler without a thermostat can keep the oil too cold, particularly in a street car, which can be just as undesirable as running it too hot.
We also see plenty of fans fitted without a proper shroud. Without one, the fan is only pulling air through a small section of the core rather than using the full radiator effectively.
Another common mistake is hard-mounting a radiator. Proper rubber isolation is hugely important, as vibration and chassis movement can put unnecessary stress through the radiator and dramatically shorten its life.
Stray electrical current and electrolysis are also major radiator killers (probably second only to crashing!). Keeping the engine and electrical system properly grounded can make a massive difference to the life of the cooling system.
Most people don’t realise Fenix will go above and beyond for full bespoke solutions you wouldn’t find off the shelf. The owner of this setup brought in a rough wood template hand-crafted from shed offcuts, and four weeks later, the team turned it into a fully functional custom radiator
Whether someone is building a high-powered street car, a drift machine, or a dedicated time-attack car, how does your approach change when matching a cooling setup to different uses?
It really comes down to communication and understanding exactly how the vehicle is going to be used. Once we’ve established the power level, engine setup, and intended use, it’s usually pretty straightforward to match the right cooling package. We’ve been doing this a long time, so we’ve got a solid understanding of what works across different applications.
A drag car, for example, only needs to manage heat for a relatively short period before it has time to cool down again. That’s a completely different challenge to a professional drift car, which can spend long periods on limiter with limited airflow and often requires a large rear-mounted radiator setup.
A street car needs to be a bit more balanced. It has to stay cool in traffic, work properly at open-road speeds, and still maintain suitable oil and coolant temperatures during everyday driving. A time-attack car, on the other hand, needs to repeatedly handle sustained high loads without temperatures creeping up from lap to lap.
The engine itself also plays a major part. Rotaries are notoriously hard on cooling systems, so we’ll pay close attention to radiator capacity, coolant flow, oil cooling, and making sure the fan and shroud setup can pull enough air through the core.
There’s no single cooling setup that suits every build. The key is looking at the complete vehicle and matching each component to the conditions it will actually face.
The development lifecycle of Fenix’s new billet GT-R intercooler. Starting with the factory core, the team 3D scanned, prototype printed, and heavily tested the design to ensure direct bolt-on fitment using OEM mounting points and factory piping, resulting in a core dyno-proven to support up to 600kW (800hp) at the flywheel.
To get these billet radiator mounts right, Fenix buys a brand-new OEM unit, 3D scan it, print test prototypes, and refine the design before sending it off for CNC machining. This JZX100 1JZ bracket took five revisions alone just to hit the perfect fit!
Can you walk us through the life cycle of a Fenix product, from initial design and local R&D through to testing and final production?
When possible, we’ll start with an OEM radiator or intercooler (or whatever part it may be) and use that as the foundation for the new product. The first step is capturing all the important dimensions, either by measuring the original unit or 3D scanning it.
From there, we look at the space available in the vehicle and what we actually want the product to achieve. For a radiator, that might mean increasing cooling capacity while still maintaining good airflow and straightforward fitment. For an intercooler, the focus may be supporting more power and reducing intake temperatures.
Once the design direction is locked in, we move into CAD development and produce 3D-printed prototypes for test fitting. This allows us to check mounting points, clearances, and overall fitment before committing to a physical sample.
The next stage is producing a working sample that can be tested in the real world. Where possible, we’ll also work with specialist companies to validate performance. For example, we partnered with CTB Performance to dyno-test our next-gen Ranger Raptor intercooler kit and make sure it delivered the gains we were aiming for.
Once we’re happy with the fitment, performance, and overall quality, the product is signed off for production and prepared for release.
Over the years, Fenix products have ended up on everything from street cars to serious competition builds. Are there any memorable projects or applications that stand out?
There have been plenty over the years, but a few definitely stand out. Building Ben Jenkins’ Fenix S15 in just six weeks ahead of the LZ World Tour in Melbourne was a massive one. It was a huge effort from Ben, the Fenix team, and all the supporting partners, so seeing him out there shredding at Calder Park made all the late nights worthwhile.
Adrian’s S14 was another memorable build. It started as a bare shell and ended up as arguably one of the cleanest S14s in the country. No nut or bolt was left untouched and we managed to fit just about every Fenix product we could into it.
We’ve also built some awesome relationships with drivers over the years, including the likes of Gaz Whiter, who’s been a huge name in the Kiwi drift scene for a long time.
More recently, working with CTB Performance on our next-gen Ranger Raptor intercooler kit was a standout project for a different reason. It marked a move beyond the Japanese performance cars we’re best known for and into the growing 4×4 and off-road market, which is an area we’re really excited to keep developing.
What’s next on the horizon for Fenix Cooling? Are there any new products, tech developments, or areas of the market you guys are excited to tackle next?
We’ve been putting a lot more focus into the 4×4 and off-road market, with a range of new intercooler kits in development for vehicles like the Ranger, Hilux, Courier, and plenty more.
Having an in-house design team has also allowed us to experiment with more CNC-machined products. That includes billet radiator mounts, billet intercooler components, and even complete billet radiators. It’s still an emerging area for us, but there’s some seriously exciting stuff taking shape.
We’re also continuing to push further into overseas markets. New Zealand will always be home, but growing Fenix internationally and seeing our products used in builds around the world is something we’re really excited about.
Cheers for the yarn, guys, and for taking us behind the scenes of what it takes to keep performance builds cool!
Head over to the Fenix Cooling website to explore their full range of performance radiators, intercooler kits, oil coolers, and custom solutions for your next build: fenixcooling.co.nz
