Right now I have my fans to come on at 178* with stock thermostat, would a 160* be worth it or no?

 

Borrowing your thread, is it worth doing this in Sweden? In the summer it's like 28-30 degrees celcius at most. Or is it just for you Texas-people?

What's the benefits?

 

The thermostat opens at a lower temp allowing the coolant to pass through your system hence lowering your engines temps. Yes this is a good mod all around because its cheap/easy to install and yes if you live in the south where its hotter than hell go for it. As for Sweden hey why not? Your car is going to warm up and get hot at one point in time.

 

Won't a overall lower engine temp also incrase your engines overall life? Help it run stronger as well?

 

Heat is a killer so I would say sure. Thats why people get oil and tranny coolers. Saves the life span of such components.

 

How would you hook up an oil cooler to our engines?

 

I'm not sure if I agree here. High air intake temps kills horsepower, but from my experience, the LS1 runs better at warmer temperatures, and I've seen dyno #'s to prove it. If you take your car to the track and let it sit for an hour or two to cool off, it will run slower that first trip than it will the next after it has warmed up. Don't forget, the running temp of the engine and the air intake temp are two completely different things. Warmer engines temps run better, while warmer air intake temps run worse.

 

Hell if I know.

 

I dunno, my car got its best time when hotlapped. Maybe a colder thermostat would allow more timing?

 

my car consistenly ran 1 mph slower on the 1st pass than it did after a 1.5-2 hr cooldown. i have only made ~75 passes to confirm this. same result EVERY time.

 

Cooler air temp will definately help power. Cooler water might help as well, but different engine designs may have different sensitivities to water temperature. The amount of water in the cylinder head and around the intake port will have a big influence on volumetric efficiency. Water temperature will, however, also affect the clearances and fitment of running parts in the engine, most importantly bore to piston clearance. Generally, high water temperatures will reduce friction by slightly increasing the piston to bore clearance and reducing friction.

Oil temperatures are a bit different as the power response is sensitive to the oil you use. Engines using really thick oil will usually make more power at high temperatures because the oil thins out. The best plan for oil is to use the thinnest oil you can get away with, then control the temperature to something reasonable.

 

To what gain?

Lower temps doesn't mean more power. Engines need to run at an optimum temp. Too cold and they under perform plus the oil becomes more viscous and less efficent at lubing and protecting, plus will require more effort to over come. Too hot will be the opporsite. But I'm quite happy to lean on GM's MILLIONS of $$$$'s worth of R&D to what temp range to run the motor in.

Stock thermostat and reprogrammed fans is probably about right unless you have some oddball or extreme setup.

Oil cooler is a great idea, a thermostat probably won't affect oil temps much anyhow. However if you want to be real flash a dry sump oil lubrication system is by far and away the best setup, the new LS7 uses one but it's common practice in motorsports and many high end European/Japanese cars.

 

What about in road racing situations, where you sustain heavy loads for longer periods of time? would it be worth it then? I've never noticed my temp when racing but i was just wondering.

 

I have read so many posts on this subject and the results are still the same, its a 50 to 50 split on if you should go with a 160TStat. I'm running the 160Tstat, and have noticed when its hot outside and the car has warmed up a bit around five minutes or so the car does run stronger, and this is with the 160Tstat. At first startup and acceleration down the road the car seems a bit slower, unless of course its below 60, then the car seems to scream. I have the 160 in, and will just probably keep it in.

 

I like my 160 and to me it just makes sense.... the cooler the engine is (once it is already warmed up) the better it will run