180 vs 160 Thermostat

Stang2003GT · Mar 30, 2006

I want to get a low temp Thermostat to gain a bit performance keep my motor cool. I want to get the 160 because it will be more effective then 180. Are there any side effect to aftermarket Thermostats like fuel mileage?

triggz · Mar 30, 2006

Cool is not necessarily good..

For the BEST performance you want a HOT block and cold heads/intake.. of course thats not possible in the real world.. Neither would it good for internal wear. Your engine will wear best at 180*+.. it is designed for longevity at this operating temperature.

With that being said, get the 180*. It will bring the engine to around 188-190* during normal driving around town which I'd consider a healthy temperature.

tomustang · Mar 30, 2006

triggz said:
Cool is not necessarily good..

For the BEST performance you want a HOT block and cold heads/intake.. of course thats not possible in the real world.. Neither would it good for internal wear. Your engine will wear best at 180*+.. it is designed for longevity at this operating temperature.

With that being said, get the 180*. It will bring the engine to around 188-190* during normal driving around town which I'd consider a healthy temperature.

heat does bring out horsepower

the98stang · Mar 30, 2006

keep the stocker

timeless2 · Mar 30, 2006

As stated, the 160 is a bad idea. It's a piece of history that does not apply to these fuel injected engines. 160 is just a tad too cool.

If you get a 180, you may also wish to get your fan configured to turn on at 180 as well. With a lower temp thermostat, your car is going to start releasing coolant to the radiator earlier than stock, so you may as well start cooling it while it's there.

jstreet0204 · Mar 30, 2006

4u2nv said:
As stated, the 160 is a bad idea. It's a piece of history that does not apply to these fuel injected engines. 160 is just a tad too cool.

If you get a 180, you may also wish to get your fan configured to turn on at 180 as well. With a lower temp thermostat, your car is going to start releasing coolant to the radiator earlier than stock, so you may as well start cooling it while it's there.

+1

There are also temperature thresholds in the eec the depend on the engine being up to atleast 180. One being the change over from the richer startup fuel table to leaner stabilized fuel table. Unless these thresholds are changed you will lose power if the engine runs too cool. Unless you are having problems with detonation, you aren't going to gain anything by changing it from stock.

Stang2003GT · Mar 30, 2006

I plan on geting a Diablo Preditor and adv the crap out my timing and I figured that Id then be able to adv the timing more if I ran the motor cooler.

John Smith · Mar 30, 2006

I just installed a temp gauge in my car (which has a 160º thermostat) and my car stays right at 180º driving around town. It starts to go up a little if I am sitting in traffic. On the stock gauge this seems to translate too a few ticks before the center of the gauge. Of course my tune has the fan coming on earlier and often.

TangerineGT96 · Mar 31, 2006

i have a 180 in my car and i like it alot. it stays between the n and the o. i have also heard for some people that a 160 is to cold and will make the check engine light come on

Stang2003GT · Mar 31, 2006

TangerineGT96 said:
i have a 180 in my car and i like it alot. it stays between the n and the o. i have also heard for some people that a 160 is to cold and will make the check engine light come on

Do you have a custom tune, if so did the 180 help you get a bit more timing out of 93 octain? Did you also get any gains out of it or just more fuel burn?

Kilgore Trout · Mar 31, 2006

Do not go lower than 180 unless you f/i manufacturer recommends it such as the KB recommendation of a 160 with their blowers.

03ghoststang · Mar 31, 2006

Kilgore Trout said:
Do not go lower than 180 unless you f/i manufacturer recommends it such as the KB recommendation of a 160 with their blowers.

i agree with kilgore on this

03stage2roush · Mar 31, 2006

Keep the stocker...

DTNODYA · Apr 1, 2006

Keep the stock thermo. If not, your car will get hot while sitting at idle (faster than it would with a 180 or 195 degree).

Mike97gt · Apr 1, 2006

if you lower the thremostat temp you need to make sure it's within the specs of the tune. you don't want to be in open loop all the time. a 160 degree thermostat would require the PCM to be retuned for it.

warpd · Apr 1, 2006

Does anyone know how to set up the fan control on a Predator so that it comes on at the proper times with say, a 180* thermostat? Or how to adjust the fan controls at all? I don't really understand what the values mean.

Mirrahasmycar · Jun 15, 2006

Stang2003GT said:
I want to get a low temp Thermostat to gain a bit performance keep my motor cool. I want to get the 160 because it will be more effective then 180. Are there any side effect to aftermarket Thermostats like fuel mileage?

The cooler thermostat will make your fan kick on at 160 instead of 180, the benifits are a slightly cooler motor, a few more hp and with that I would assume a very slight increase in mpg, this is because the engine is more efficient at a little bit lower temp than stock.

ADRENLN · Jun 15, 2006

the lowest i would consider going is also 180. my tuner told me to get a 180 thermo. i havent gotten it yet but he set my fan for it. he when you get it i can just pop it in.

my fan is now running constantly trying to bring the engine temp down i guess. i will probably wear out my fan if i dont get the thermo.

jstreet0204 · Jun 15, 2006

Mirrahasmycar said:
The cooler thermostat will make your fan kick on at 160 instead of 180, the benifits are a slightly cooler motor, a few more hp and with that I would assume a very slight increase in mpg, this is because the engine is more efficient at a little bit lower temp than stock.

This is incorrect. The thermostat doesn't have any control over what temp the fans come on. A cooler motor in not more efficient, and gas mileage will go down with a cooler thermostat.

Pennywise2 · Jun 15, 2006

triggz said:
Cool is not necessarily good..

For the BEST performance you want a HOT block and cold heads/intake.. of course thats not possible in the real world.. Neither would it good for internal wear. Your engine will wear best at 180*+.. it is designed for longevity at this operating temperature.

With that being said, get the 180*. It will bring the engine to around 188-190* during normal driving around town which I'd consider a healthy temperature.

+1 a 180* thermostat is the way to go.The 160* thermostat is way to cold.

180 vs 160 Thermostat

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