electric fan vs stock flexfan is the $$ worth it

[Dragon]

My v8 S-10 had the taurus fan on it. Thank God the PO did all the work. It was wired up with 2 40 amp relays & 8 gauge wire. It would suck the juice, thats for sure.
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The reason the Taurus fan draws so much is it rarely runs in the car so it pulls a lot of air when the car is standing still through a real tiny grill opening. I had a 98 Taurus SE wagon. and that fan rarely turns on. The late model Taurus cars have great airflow through the underside into the grill when moving so the fan shuts down. When it kicks in power to start it is massive.

[ForingaMex]

I had never considered how much power it takes to turn a fan until I had this experience. (it wasn't a bump nor a gas engine but I think it makes the point) Some years ago i was setting up an irrigations pump with a 6 cyl perkins diesel engine(about 110-120 hp). I wanted it to be a stand-alone unit (so it could be moved around) so I set it up with a radiator and cooling fan instead of the customary cooler that was submersed in the water being pumped out of the well and running without a rad and fan, just a small collector. Well... long story short the engine couldn't pull the pump. We tried all kinds of stuff till I gave up and pulled the rad and fan off the engine and set up the Well-water cooler. After that the engine had enough power for the pump. Mind you the fan was big, I can't say for sure but I think it was about 18 inches. I know this doesn't deal with the current draw for an electric fan but still interesting to me. When I get some good/accurate after-market voltmeter and temp gauges for my truck I will try want to try the electric fan idea. Right now I'm running a thermostatic clutch fan.
Jake