I used to have to travel at 90k on the highway to stop my a12 overheating. Since i put an electric fan in front of the radiator I've been able to travel at 110k for extended periods without the engine going over operating temp.
So in my opinion, they are a worthwhile investment (got the fan from a mate, spent $10 on wiring and $20 on a missile switch) and a noticable difference.

olboy, theres a few north-souths with elec fans, and i would say the typical car mechanical fan (running off the motor) would be cheaper as only 4wd's use the clutch fans you describe
plus a mech fan is more reliable as theres effectively no way for it to fail

but if ya want power go the thermo!

i believe you need a well sorted cooling system before you attempt to put a thermo fan on, and also that theres not much point putting one on unless you get the proper thermostat contoler for it

When i had my 1000 sedan with GX on the road, i used the stock radiator [cleaned & serviced] with half a stock 1000 fan.

The 1000 fan is a four blade steel unit made from two separate blades. Just remove the fan from the pump, then refit just one blade & bolt 'er up. I never ever had a problem, although most of my driving was in highway cruise mode.
I did however make quite a number of trips into the big smoke over the years, including mid summer in peak hour traffic. I was amazed just how well it kept it's cool,

One of the things that worked for me was the fact that i had adjusted the idle to 900 rpm at my place [at 2,500 ft altitude] & that translated to about 1000 rpm or a little more at near to sea level [the big smoke] Those extra rpm actually reduced the load [heat] in the engine & increased fan efficiency. Like i said, i never had a problem, but if any "A" series engine ever used a fluid coupled [aircon] fan / waterpump, then thats what i would use. These things pump huge volumes of air at idle, but are RPM limited at speed, allowing the fan to freewheel above a certain speed, & also at low temperatures.

I have one of these setups from a late series 1 Bluebird in my 200B. The aircon. fan is an inch bigger in diameter than the standard one & has seven [Bluebird] or eight [200B] blades.
I don't care how hot it gets, my triple row, heavy duty radiator & big fan will allow me to run the aircon in even the heaviest traffic. No sweat.
Electric fan?... not needed.

yeah this probably ist the easiest way, ill get a pic of mine tommorow i promise

as a comparison

What is the advantages of instaling an electric fan, does it really save HP by deleting the fan ?,is it trustworthy?.

I'am about to do that for the summer months, but I can not decide yet.

Jaime.________________________

It's not a big deal. If you are drag racing, yes it does remove some power drag from the engine, cause they switch the fan off when going down the 1/4 mile.

For a street car, you'll still spend the gas to spin the fan, just through the alternator when it runs. Although when the fan's not running (engine cold) then you make up some of it. Better? yes, but not a whole lot. The danger is if it isn't done right, you spent time and money and get poor cooling. The stock fan works fine.

Hey Dgonz, in that case, might be better to use one of those flex fans that seem to have less drag at high speeds?, I think the name is flex fan, my fan has one of the 5 blades broken(got it like that), so a flex fan would be a good choice? . Because I was thinking, if the fuse goes bad in the electric fan, there would be no cooling air for the rad.The flex fan should be an improvement from what I read , but, I never had one, I would rather take the advise before venturing to get one, nothing like a cool running engine.
Jaime________________________

My opinion, having used electrics, is use the stock fan ... the larger B210 radiator and stock fan with shroud will keep your A-engine plenty cool.

The flex fans work OK, electrics are good if sized and installed correctly.

nup have to say your wrong this time dd

the thermo fan only comes on when its needed, and in every car ive been in which has one, its only come on when sitting at the traffic lights for too long

when your moving the radiator and air rushing through it due to movement is sufficient to cool the car (as long as its in good condition) and the thermo fan will turn off therefore adding no load to the alternator when the caar is moving

think car revving at 6000 with that fan spinning in the air, thats a lot of load for nothing, as the engine doesnt even require the cooling effect because the wind rushing past when the car is moving is plenty enought to keep it cool

thermo fan is good for increased top end (high revs) and extractors seem to help torque and therefore acceleration

thats what i have been told too......people have told me you can feel the difference, when changing to the thermo, more go!

I don't disagree with you. I'm just coming from "if it's not broke, don't fix it". The stock fan works fine. And most of my experience has been with dodgy aftermarket electric fans. All the factory electric fans I've used work fine.

Jaime, if you do it right -- like 1200rallycar's setup -- electric fan is good.

Electric thermo fans are the best things ever invented.

I always put a thermo on all my cars. 2 if they'll fit. It gives a definate increase in power, better cooling and a lot more room in the engine bay.

And as for trouble with dodgy aftermarket fans...don't use dodgy ones.

Anyway, thats just my opinion

Jeff and John Taylor, our resident 1200 gurus both run the stock fan. I represents insignificant hp gains at high revs deleting the fan and installing a thermo. The plastic fan actually flattens out at high revs decreasing the load with the rate of RPM gain.