Depending on how fast your going, yes ambient air will cool the engine, but what happens when its 80 or 90 degrees out?? Yea it will still cool the engine, but not as effectively as having the car tuned, and having the fan kick on earlier. What happens when you are sitting still or rolling in traffic? You have a stock tune/fan settings to come on with the stock T-stat at 195 (or 190 whatever), not at 160.

On a stock car, with stock tune, 160 T-stat is not needed. IMO It's a waste. Start getting into modding the car with cam, headers etc etc.. then yea there is benefit to be had.

 

... if people believe higher temps are a good thing by all means don't change it. Even before mine was S/C i changed to a 160 stat and it lowered my cruising temp to around 180 to 185... When stuck in traffic it quickly climbed back to 200+. The rad in these cars is marginal imo so I changed to a Dewitt when I SC mine.

As for the oil not reaching high enough temps with a 160 I've never seen evidence of that. The oil gets plenty hot with a 160 stat to drive out moisture and with synthetics it's really not an issue anymore. There is also VERY little moisture to begin with so I wouldn't worry to much! However the higher operating temps have everything to do with emissions and nothing with better performance! Those temps are also harder on everything under that hood. Heat is seldom good for rubber and plastic parts!!

Lower operating temps produce MORE power because timing is pulled from these engines when they get hot. In some instances it's A LOT of reduced power.. say 30 to 40 hp. GM doesn't care about that because they have emission standards to meet which i understand but I do care. I do not like giving up HP when it's not necessary.

With my Dewitt rad my car operates around 180 at all times.. even on hot days, in traffic running a giant heat pump called E-Force! Anyone that tells you higher temps do not reduce power doesn't know anything about these engines. Take one on a dyno and you'll see exactly what happens when you are over 210 water temps. Have you ever wondered why your car seems to run better on crisp cool days? Well it's because the lower operating temps produce FULL power while elevated temps do not. Simple as that.....

BTW.. timing is also pulled with high IAT's I measure them on my car and it gets incredibly hot under that hood even bone stock! That's however another can of worms....

 

Just a butt lift.

 

Actually, it's the cold air the engine gets to ingest.

You should try an halltech bee hive setup to keep your IAT's lower. Someone around here tried it with their e-force kit and it worked out well.

 

As mentioned earlier, changing from the OEM to a higher/lower thermostat will accomplish almost nothing without a tune and adjusting the fan settings. Also, for those of you in regions that have a huge flux in season temps, I hope you're re-tuning each season

 

My 05/Ls2 has a 160* stat. But I also have a Chuck Cow tune, Long Tubes, CAI, wires etc. etc.

My car used to run 205-215 and at times 220 in the VEGAS heat. With the tune, the fans come on earlier, the motor stays cooler, even the a/c works better. forget about the tunnel heat!!! Driving in the middle of July with road temps about 130*, ambients at 118*, the car is now at 185* Every once in a while the car will get to 196ish and bam, the fans cycle and I drop to 185-190. Which, when looking at it, it would seem that YES that IS where the factory wants it based on what their OEM stat is rated as.

Bottom line, heat KILLS

And while a 160* isn't the fix for a completely stock car, when you do things to enhance performance and you couple the low-temp stat with programming... You have a winner. For those of you who think your daily driver is happy running around town at 215*, having fans continuously ramping to max... enjoy.

I would 100% agree that with a better/bigger/more efficient radiator, that 160* stat would not be needed. I do all my own work, and recently replaced my radiator and fan. Put stock stuff back on... and you would be disturbed if you saw the actual size of your radiator. No way that 400+hp cars should have that small of a radiator. IMO

Oh, and yes, I build motors, for various motorsports. I would never think of using a radiator that small in any application. It's scary small.

 

that's exactly what I've done per Motorhead 47 (Ken). What it does is drop my IAT's much faster after the car has been sitting soaking up heat from that 70lb block of aluminum! It used to take some extended driving to really drop IAT's under 135 before using the halltech bonnet arrangement. Now in 5 mins of driving I'm usually under 135 even on 90 deg days.

I realize we do not fight the temps you guys do in those southwest states.. not even close really but a PD blower really generates a lot of heat quickly when you are jumping on it. What's amazing to me is how FAST IAT's jump when the car is shut off.... it's ZOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.... I've seen IAT's climb above 170 degs on some 40 deg ambient days after the car was shut off. If there is a disadvantage to PD blowers is HEAT. There's a guy testing out a chiller system in FI section right now and it shows promise, but it remains to be seen.... If it really works the designer/mfg stands to make a good buck making them for sale......

 

Forced induction, no matter what kind produces unimaginable heat. I mean... CRAZY HEAT

What ever you can do to cool your intake temps down is a bonus. Cooler, dense air is what it's all about.

I wish I had some form of forced induction. I would love to be at about 550hp.

What's the drivability like? Sorry, don't mean to thread-jack

 

Oh yeah! CRACK KILLS.... And so does HEAT!

Get yourself a nice COOL 160 STAT!

No MORE STAT POSTS...Or I'll go POSTAL!!!!


Chuck CoW

 

IMHO:

Installing a lower temperature thermostat (with a stock radiator), without doing a "fan" tune, is a waste.

A stock thermostat on an LS3 will begin opening around 188 F. On a nice summer day (something I'm dreaming about right now), my LS3 cruises around 196-198. If I was running around 188, than I would agree that it could possibly run at a lower temperature if I installed a lower temperature thermostat. To my logic, it will still run at 196-198, even if I installed a 160 thermostat.

Installing a lower temperature thermostat will only be effective if you install a larger capacity radiator and/or tune the fan to kick in at a lower temperature.

Just a word of caution:
Setting the Coolant Fan to run continuous, or at lower temps, has issues since the fan connectors and leads cannot handle the 40 amp load for long periods of time. The connector at the relay fries - this is a common problem with the C6. Leads will have to be soldered in place.


Be cool,


M....

 

But Chuck says it's good, so I'm gonna run right out and buy one...

 

I installed a 160 a few years ago with no tune, no reprogramming the fan, all at highway speeds (75-80) in SW Arizona, I track the numbers:
104 - 199
83 - 196
104 - 199
112 - 199
106 -199
Installed the 160
70 -183
92 - 180
61 - 183
94 - 176
101-181
107 - 189
102 -183
77 - 188
106 - 189
91 - 180
If in traffic it goes back up just as the OEM thermostat does!

 

Hey Major Hal:

I took your 160 thermostat readings and re-arranged them in outside temperature sequence. There seems to be some inconsistentcy.

I would have expected an almost linear path up - as outside temps increase, so would engine temps. This does not appear to be the case. Perhaps there is some other variable here - like rpm, a/c on or off, hill (in Arizona?). As you drive faster, more air is cooling the rad, so perhaps your different speeds explains it.


61 - 183
70 - 183
77 - 188
91 - 180 lower than at 61 degrees
92 - 180 lower than at 61 degrees
94 - 176 lower than all of the above temps
101 - 181 lower than at 61 degrees
102 - 183 same as 61 & 70 degrees
106 - 189
107 - 189

Anyways, I am surprised with the readings. I just cannot explain why my C6 consistently cruises (65mph) at 196-198, with a 188 degree thermostat.

M...

 

There are some variable I did not mention in almost all cases the A/C was on, the reading are always after at least two hours of running the highway, and in some cases there was a rabbit out in front that I may have taken advantage of, during the Arizona summer it takes a while for the temp to come back down!

 

Downshift to 5th gear at the same speed and watch what happens.

FWIW, my stock Z06 will cruise between 189-194 at speed with the stock thermo. A big factory oil cooler, and the larger Z06 rad make the difference.

 

Pretty much the same type of temp data I've found on my vette after installing a 160 stat and some Red Line water wetter. We have folks that simply refuse to believe what we've both observed yet they HAVE NOT done the swap. Might as well as to explain it anymore!
They have all the answer WITHOUT actually doing the mod...

I have installed a Dewitt rad when I SC'd mine along with adjusting the fan settings. It now runs a constant 180 even on hot days, AC on and sitting in traffic. Even romping on the SC seldom brings it over 190 degs now which is exactly what I was aiming for....

 

No he didn't, but if (and only if) you opt for one of his tunes he would.

 

It does not void the warranty !!!!!

 

100% True!!!!!