In general terms, both electric and engine driven fan shrouds are effective for cooling. When deciding which type of shroud to use, it's best to consider how the vehicle will be run and the space you have under the hood for your cooling system fan setup.
Why go electric fans?
Fan and Shroud Combo Kits
Electric Fan Shrouds with cut outs for fans
Stop and Go Driver
Lot's of idling or low engine or driving speeds will tend to allow heat build up. Low speeds also offer little RAM effect for airflow like a highway speed driving speed. If you have a parade vehicle, show off car show vehicle or just always stuck in stop and go traffic on hot days, the electric fan will be your preferred choice.
Off Road Vehicles
Most off road vehicles operate at low speeds. While you are idling at a rock crawl spot or waiting to get your vehicle down a trail, the electric fan and shroud combo will better provide a constant air flow.
Tight Engine Quarters
You may just have upgraded your radiator to an all aluminum or heavy duty replacement. But now your engine driven fan just won't fit... Pulling the shroud out and removing the fan from the motor can free up a decent amount of space for you to upgrade that radiator and get an electric fan and shroud combo installed.
Area so tight that you need to really streamline the setup? We offer SPAL low profile electric fans that are amazing space savers.
Power Saving
One downside of engine driven fan and shroud combos is it takes more energy to spin the fan then the use of electric for power.
Why stay or go with engine fan shroud?
Adjustable Collar Engine Driven Fan Shrouds by size
High Speed / Highway Driver
Belt driven fans increase in speed with vehicle speed. In turn, when you are driving fast, the engine driven fan will spin faster and create a better airflow than that of the electric. having a shroud on the engine fan is important.
Stock Vehicle, Simple Solution
If your vehicle is bone stock and you are not upgrading your radiator, then it makes most sense to stay with your engine / belt driven fan and shroud for sake of simplicity.
If you have just installed a custom all aluminum radiator and the original shroud won't fit, you can look into our adjustable collar engine driven fan shrouds.
These kits come with an adjustable collar that can fit from 15-20 inch fans. To search by size, you'll want to measure the core area of your radiator and match to overall sizing of the fan shroud. Once purchased, you will cut a hole in the middle of these units and install the adjustable collar to size with the included hardware kit.
Which option is for you?
If you are looking for extreme performance for a cruiser, we would suggest you go to electric fans and shroud combo. You'll want to be sure the fan coverage is at least 70 percent of the radiator core area for proper airflow. If you are running a thick 4 row with an ac condenser and oil cooler that blocks a lot of airflow and drive under high RPM whether on highway or towing, we would suggest going with the belt driven fan setup.