highest coolant temps
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,007
Likes: 103
From: Phoenix AZ
Damn, I guess I'm the winner here. Yesterday in Phoenix it was 114 with no humidity. I was driving my Z06 kinda hard, and got coolant temps to 245 and oil temp to 230. Crusing on the highway the coolant temp came down to 220, but started to elevate again in stop and go traffic. Yikes, maybe time for a better radiator...
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 16,557
Likes: 2,108
From: Peoria/Phoenix AZ
C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,537
Likes: 1
From: Southlake Texas
I would expect this. At 75mph air resistance really is having an effect- the engine is working much harder than at 60 mph, for example. Just for fun, the next time you have a chance for some long term high speed cruising, set the DIC to instantaneous MPG and ride for a while at 60mph, then 65, then 70, etc. and notice the difference in instantaneous MPG. The decrease in MPG is almost entirely due to air resistance.
Decreased MPG=engine working harder=more heat
Decreased MPG=engine working harder=more heat
You are certainly right about the instantaneous gas mileage. I played with it little on the trip and you could see it drop along with the pedal.
The LGM radiator seems like the best option for Texas. The coolant will keep engine oil at an acceptable temperature in colder weather while the increased cooling will drop the engine oil and trans temps during the summer.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,253
Likes: 50
From: Sandy Eggo Calif.
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12, '16
The reason your temp did not go above 210 in stop and go traffic is not because of the thermostat. The reason is that the fan speed has been adjusted to run faster at lower temps. If the fan speed had not been adjusted the temp would have gone higher even if you had a 120* thermostat.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 528
Likes: 0
Temps will not necessarily be cooler with a 160 and a tune than with a tune only. If it's 95* ambient and you're sitting in traffic it doesn't matter what temp thermostat you have, the coolant temp will reach the same level as if you had a 180* stat.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,762
Likes: 4
From: Chandler Arizona
Damn, I guess I'm the winner here. Yesterday in Phoenix it was 114 with no humidity. I was driving my Z06 kinda hard, and got coolant temps to 245 and oil temp to 230. Crusing on the highway the coolant temp came down to 220, but started to elevate again in stop and go traffic. Yikes, maybe time for a better radiator...
Outside temp: 114
Coolant after 10 miles cruising on the freeway: 189
Coolant after 4 miles of city driving: 203, but came back down to 199 as I pulled into the garage.
I have a 160 tstat with my fans reset. I also have a Honker knock-off inlet. The only thing the Honker takes away from radiator air flow is the engine inlet air, which is not very much. But the Vararam also leaks air flow around the opening which robs the radiator of more air flow.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,253
Likes: 50
From: Sandy Eggo Calif.
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12, '16
I guess we're having a failure to communicate. I meant all around temps will be cooler with a 160 and fan adjust that with a fan adjust only.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 16,557
Likes: 2,108
From: Peoria/Phoenix AZ
C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
I was wrong.
Sorry guys.
After another member asked for references, we both researched the issue. I found an obscure document from the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that correctly answered the question.
At the same temperature dry air will transfer heat faster than humid air. The fact that air is such a poor conductor of heat makes the differences almost insignificant, but that doesn't excuse my error.
I just felt the need to correct the wrong statement so it didn't continue to be passed along as a fact.
Sorry guys.After another member asked for references, we both researched the issue. I found an obscure document from the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that correctly answered the question.
At the same temperature dry air will transfer heat faster than humid air. The fact that air is such a poor conductor of heat makes the differences almost insignificant, but that doesn't excuse my error.
I just felt the need to correct the wrong statement so it didn't continue to be passed along as a fact.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
5 Best & 5 Worst Corvette Daily Drivers
Joe Kucinski
The Headlights of Every Corvette Generation Explained
Joe Kucinski
5 Best & 5 Most Overrated Corvette Track Packages of All Time!
Joe Kucinski
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
Le Mans Master<br><img src="/forums/images/ranks/5k-6k.gif" border="0">
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,404
Likes: 1
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
I was wrong. Sorry guys.
After another member asked for references, we both researched the issue. I found an obscure document from the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that correctly answered the question.
At the same temperature dry air will transfer heat faster than humid air. The fact that air is such a poor conductor of heat makes the differences almost insignificant, but that doesn't excuse my error.
I just felt the need to correct the wrong statement so it didn't continue to be passed along as a fact.
Sorry guys.After another member asked for references, we both researched the issue. I found an obscure document from the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that correctly answered the question.
At the same temperature dry air will transfer heat faster than humid air. The fact that air is such a poor conductor of heat makes the differences almost insignificant, but that doesn't excuse my error.
I just felt the need to correct the wrong statement so it didn't continue to be passed along as a fact.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 22
From: Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania
I monitor mine all the time and with a stock stat my moving temp is 194, idle temp in traffic with temps in the 90s is 199. It will see 204 until the fans come on which are set to run constantly at lower speeds.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,762
Likes: 4
From: Chandler Arizona
I was wrong. Sorry guys.
After another member asked for references, we both researched the issue. I found an obscure document from the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that correctly answered the question.
At the same temperature dry air will transfer heat faster than humid air. The fact that air is such a poor conductor of heat makes the differences almost insignificant, but that doesn't excuse my error.
I just felt the need to correct the wrong statement so it didn't continue to be passed along as a fact.
Sorry guys.After another member asked for references, we both researched the issue. I found an obscure document from the Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab that correctly answered the question.
At the same temperature dry air will transfer heat faster than humid air. The fact that air is such a poor conductor of heat makes the differences almost insignificant, but that doesn't excuse my error.
I just felt the need to correct the wrong statement so it didn't continue to be passed along as a fact.
But your key is that air is such a bad thermal conductor that displacing some of it with water vapor doesn't hurt it a lot.
Thanks for your hard work finding the info.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 254
Likes: 0
From: Old Forge PA
The highest I've gotten mine up to is 217, but to be fair I only do "spirited" driving at night, long after sundown, when the ambient temperature is much cooler than high noon, for instance. (I get home from work at 9, so I drive around from 10 to midnight usually.)
Pro
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 528
Likes: 0
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 26
From: Austin Texas
Yes, any of the "TRUE" CAI's that use a cut shroud, even the DIY of propping the shroud open at the edge uses ambient air instead of air that has been thru and around the engine compartment on the stock air filter/box setup. You even get a slight ram air effect.
If you cut the shroud with the stock air box be sure and change the filter element(s) to the aftermarket oiled type, the stock paper filter will disintegrate when water exposed to moisture.
If you cut the shroud with the stock air box be sure and change the filter element(s) to the aftermarket oiled type, the stock paper filter will disintegrate when water exposed to moisture.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 117
Likes: 2
From: near Scranton, PA
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,762
Likes: 4
From: Chandler Arizona
Guest
Posts: n/a