Benefits of 160 degree thermostat?

[Kwik]

In virtually every high performance engine build, they swap out thermostats. I'm just curious what you gain with the 160 degree unit. Thanks for your input.

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting." Steve McQueen

[Ghost of Vincent Price]

Less chance of knock retard, but you need to reprogram your fans to take full advantage of it. I think its a waste of time personally.

[ZZcamaro]

You do need to reprogram teh fans to take full advantage...

But what you do get is a system which will begin to cool your engine at an earlier time. It is very helpful if you have mods whihc increase output dramatically....they can make the engine run much hotter, and you do not want it to run any hotter than it does from the factory!!

[CamaroSkooter]

Haha, I read that too fast and thought you were calling him a retard.

I'm just going to mosey on out of here...

[Ghost of Vincent Price]

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

Haha, I read that too fast and thought you were calling him a retard.

I'm just going to mosey on out of here...

That would of been....less chance of knock, retard.

[R6P]

You will likely set a code unless you have it custom tuned.
Code p0128, The purpose of this diagnostic is to analyze the performance of the thermostat by using the ECT sensor to determine if the engine coolant will increase at the correct rate, and also to meet the calibrated target temperatures under various operating conditions.

[THE EVIL TW1N]

with a 160, you also usually get worse gas mileage, there is more wear on the engine over time, and higher emmissions.

[Mach]

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

with a 160, you also usually get worse gas mileage, there is more wear on the engine over time, and higher emmissions.

I concur....

[levi1922]

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

Haha, I read that too fast and thought you were calling him a retard.

I'm just going to mosey on out of here...

hahahaha this made me laughh

[two_wheel_mayhem]

Not good for a computer controlled car, temp sensor will never get reading that engine is to operating temp and therefore still be in warm-up mode.

You could try a 180 thermostat

[treedoc2000]

Originally Posted by levi1922

hahahaha this made me laughh

That was FUNNY!

[treedoc2000]

Would it not be better to just set the cooling fans to come on earlier and leave the thermostat as is ??

[wbt]

Believe Ted mentioned that there is no advantage. Said the best pulls he has seen are with motor up to factory operating temp.

[2010 Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by Kwik

In virtually every high performance engine build, they swap out thermostats. I'm just curious what you gain with the 160 degree unit. Thanks for your input.

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting." Steve McQueen

Originally Posted by Ghost of Vincent Price

Less chance of knock retard, but you need to reprogram your fans to take full advantage of it. I think its a waste of time personally.

Originally Posted by ZZcamaro

You do need to reprogram teh fans to take full advantage...

But what you do get is a system which will begin to cool your engine at an earlier time. It is very helpful if you have mods whihc increase output dramatically....they can make the engine run much hotter, and you do not want it to run any hotter than it does from the factory!!

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

with a 160, you also usually get worse gas mileage, there is more wear on the engine over time, and higher emmissions.

Originally Posted by two_wheel_mayhem

Not good for a computer controlled car, temp sensor will never get reading that engine is to operating temp and therefore still be in warm-up mode.

You could try a 180 thermostat

All of the above statements are true. More power, less gas mileage, more engine wear, worse emissions, need to reprogram the fans.

If you don't reprogram the fans you cooling system will circulate sooner. You may get a cooler version of heat quicker, but it will take longer to get to 200º F. No real harm done there.

I put a 160º thermostat in one of my car before it was a TPI 350 V-8 in a Formula 350. I didn't get much from it. I think it shifted a little harder. So you may get harder shifts, but this temp might not be good for the tranny I don't know. Too hot is no good and too cool is no good also for both the engine and tranny.

Todays engines are designed to run at higher temps. But putting that aside. Cooler air going into the cylinders because of a cooler engine will results in a denser fuel and air mixture thus more molecules of air and fuel will enter the conbustion chamber and the result will be more power. This is what a turbo or supercharger does, but they force much more air and fuel into the motor at any temp.. A cooler motor results in the same thing but on a much smaller scale and with no force. It's just one factor in the whole computation on any motor.

If you were to have a heat problem then you might change the thermostat and fan programing for that reason. Years ago the cars used to run 180ºF thermostats. So I'd say , in my opinion, that's a safe temp to run your car with the fans reprogramed. However, changing your thermostat temp might void your warantee or cause you to fail an inspection (not sure).