alangordon

I just had my stat replaced a month ago.i noticed the other day while driving on the hwy at 70 mph in 78 degree outside temp,the lowest the temp in the car was 192 degrees.
Should the temperature with a 160 stat be lower?

ringo11

the temperature associated with a thermostat is an opening temp. Once open, the temperature you see is largely based on the efficiency of the cooling system and the ambient temperature your operating in.

Paratrooper307

Thermostats have little to do with the overall running temperature once the car gets heated up. The reason that manufacturers install higher temp thermostats is to let the temperature get hotter quicker for emissions purposes. A colder thermostat just lets your tuner get more aggressive with the tune, and they can change the activation point of the radiator fans.

Must_Have_Z

FTFY. Once your coolant reach the temperature of your thermostat (160, 178, 187, etc., whatever you have installed), it has absolutely zero to do with cooling beyond that point.

BlindSpot

There is a new thread about this every week. As said, in posts 2, 3, 4...The Tstat rating governs the warmup time. Nothing to do with op temps which, as said, is a function of radiator/fan capacity.

If you want to do a simple grade school test that demonstrates the function of the tstat, put a pot of water on your stove. Put the tstat in the water and a cooking thermometer. Start heating the water. Note the temp when the tstat valve opens completely (and stays open). Now let the water go up to 212, boiling point. Note whether the tstat did anything but stay fully open. Same thing is happening when installed in your coolant system.