160° thermostat

[Power Hungry]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I don't know much about engines and such. What is this 160° thermostat that I keep seeing in peoples mod lists and what are its advantages?

[jagan323]

keeps the engine cooler. Cooler engines perform better for longer

[Power Hungry]

How does it keep the engine cooler? Does it come with some sort of cooling system that the thermostat triggers when the engine reaches 160°?

[BowlingSS]

You have to change the tune to match the 160 thermostat.

Bill

[1 bad azz ls3]

do not put in a 160 thermostat.. it is not good for the engine....

[GraysonPeace]

Do a search! many good discussions.

[USNSCPO]

Originally Posted by 1 bad azz ls3

do not put in a 160 thermostat.. it is not good for the engine....

Very good advice.

Don't ever use 160 tstat with hybrid, multi-metal engines. You've got aluminum, various steels, magnesium, various blended metals, to name a few, and all of which will expand and contract at various rates at various temps. They need to reach the designed operating temp so the various metals expand to proper tolerance. If the tolerances aren't met, you will get greatly accelerated wear.

The 160 Tstat trick was great for the old school iron blocks.

[MARINE1991]

Good post, someone told me I should do that.. but now after reading the tread I think I better leave it factory...

[Power Hungry]

Thanks for the info guy. Definately good to know.

-Grayson, you don't happen to be a member of 1911forum as well do you?

[Slowhawk]

The people that say it's no good obviously have no clue. The engine warm up just fine and expansion rate is fine.

You can run a lower t-stat or run the stocker. I recommend the lower temp on and use them on a ton of ls motored cars and have been for over 10 years. It does not damage the motor, ever.

Remember, this is more towered my own testing and opinion.
No offense to anyone here.

[USNSCPO]

Originally Posted by Slowhawk

The people that say it's no good obviously have no clue. The engine warm up just fine and expansion rate is fine.

You can run a lower t-stat or run the stocker. I recommend the lower temp on and use them on a ton of ls motored cars and have been for over 10 years. It does not damage the motor, ever.

Remember, this is more towered my own testing and opinion.
No offense to anyone here.

None taken, but you should keep an open mind. My no clue opinion is shared by some of our respected, C5 tuners. Perhaps they will drop in and share their view as well. In the meantime, check post #75 here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=136468&page=3

cheers

[Infern0]

Originally Posted by Slowhawk

The people that say it's no good obviously have no clue.

Remember, this is more towered my own testing and opinion.
No offense to anyone here.

Care to share any additional technical information about your own testing?

I've seen one of these no clue tuners run one of the top 5 fastest Camaros in North America.

[1 bad azz ls3]

Originally Posted by Slowhawk

The people that say it's no good obviously have no clue. The engine warm up just fine and expansion rate is fine.

You can run a lower t-stat or run the stocker. I recommend the lower temp on and use them on a ton of ls motored cars and have been for over 10 years. It does not damage the motor, ever.

Remember, this is more towered my own testing and opinion.
No offense to anyone here.

well let me ask. when you say that we have no clue you must have some kind of testing to back up that statement right.

[Slowhawk]

Originally Posted by USNSCPO

None taken, but you should keep an open mind. My no clue opinion is shared by some of our respected, C5 tuners. Perhaps they will drop in and share their view as well. In the meantime, check post #75 here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=136468&page=3

cheers

I've got an open mind. Fully understand expansion rates ect. Got to understand some of us " top tuners" have played around with engine temps for years looking for the most up out of them.
From my personal testing we consistently get more power keeping the engine cooler, both on the dynos and at the track. This translates to performance on a street car. The stock t-stat keeps the car at an average of 192-194 degrees while easy highway cruising from what I've seen. The 160 t- stat keeps the car at 178-180 degrees at the same conditions.
Under aggressive driving I've seen 230 degree engine temps, at this time the timing gets pulled which drops some hp which the dyno has shown. With the 160 stat the temp raised to 210 degrees which pulled less timing. This is just one simple test we've done.there are many 1/4 miles passes we did varying engine temps (electric water pump) that shown a starting water temp at 155 degrees,ending the run at 180 ran quicker than starting at 200 degrees. This is probably why people cool there cars down between runs.

I like the lower stats because they keep a lower operating temperature during aggressive driving. More engine wear? I do not believe it do to seeing cars with well over 100 k miles on there 160 t- stats.

Remember fm builds these cars to meet emmision requirements. Hotter engine can get a cleaner emission test.

Now remember this is my own opinion and testing which alot of us known ls car builders have come to stand by. Nobody is obligated to even read this or believe it.

Also contests to all the shops that have the fastest cars around here. It does take good knowledge to do it. Don't make the mistake that they are the only ones. There is always someone faster out there that doesn't go on the Internet . Lol