boston ss

i have a 2002 camaro ss. i just installed long tube headers and an slp powerflow exhaust along with a slp high flow intake. im taking the car to get tunes shortly and was wondering if i should run a 160 deg tstat opposed to the stock? what are the cons of running it? any info is much appreciated

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

Cons: slightly worse efficiency, wasted money, wider
coolant temperature swing for the tune to accommodate.
Because the 'stat sets your minimum coolant temp, not
the max. If you have an overheating problem the 'stat
is not the cause and can't fix it.

Your cooling system will also have a harder time "living
up to" the temp that the 'stat wants to hold. The stock
radiator is the #1 problem, not enough core, and you
want it to work even harder with less air temperature
delta. Ain't gonna work out when summer comes,
especially if it's holding 11 years worth of debris in the
fins (condenser and rad, both excellent chunk-catchers).

TransAmWS.6

Exactly, completely not worth it, especially on a car that's basically stock

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I always stick to 180° or stock 187° units for an NA application. Best power seems to be made when coolant temps are in the 190-210° range. What's ideal for best power is a nice warm combustion chamber with a very cool intake air charge.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

My buddy installed one and my M6 car must have one because they both take quite a bit longer to warm up to operating temp than my A4. It's a bummer on really cold days.

I have noted that his ECT's do stay about 10* lower than mine at the track since he installed it. And my car definitely makes more power at 190-195 ECT than 210-214.

boston ss

Thanks for the info guys.. i had thought about it because the cars giing in for tuning but ill wait till i do some internal mods.. much appreciated

CamaroSS27

iTrader: (6)

Good info I always wondered this.

RikkiTorment

The LS1 was designed around running between 180-210 degrees, anything too high or too low CAN affect the life of your engine.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The stock t-stat is a 187°F unit, so that's your minimum designed temp (post warm-up) as far as the factory is concerned. Stock fan settings will allow for coolant temps to reach as high as 235°F before engaging the high speed fans, though it takes some really hot weather and heavy traffic to creep up to that temp with a stock engine. Low speed fans are usually enough to cool things down unless it's really hot out, and these are set to engage from the factory in the mid 220s and shut off around 217° or so. Gas mileage and emissions are part of the reasoning here, and you certainly don't need to run the engine up into the 230s to get best life or power, but I do agree that running them too cold isn't the answer either. I like to keep the stock t-stat and set the fans to keep the engine in the 195-210° range most of the time.

There are two reasons why people usually consider a cooler t-stat, one is to reduce combustion chamber temps to allow for more aggressive timing or compression or boost with less fear of detonation. This is fine, if the trade off in more timing/compression/boost brings enough power to offset the loss of efficiency from running the combustion chamber cooler. The other reason is to prevent intake heat soak and deliver a cooler intake air charge to the engine. The latter makes some sense in applications where intake heat soak is a real problem, but this isn't the case for an LS1.