thermostats

how does changing your thermostat add hp? and how much hp? and will you gain any more hp with a 180 thermo instead of a 160?

perhaps a few ponies, in light that a cooler running engine will transferr less heat to the intake charge before combustion, however it will negatively impact warm up time and emissions, so its more of a trade off, id say run a 180-190 thermostat if you want to drop the temp downa bit. 160 is a bit extream for a street car in my opinion.

Yea... I think that changing a thermostat is like changing pullies... some things are better left at factory specifications, and changing one thing will adversly affect many others, like a butterfly effect (excuse the corny metaphor). Plus, if you have a 98+ they dropped the stat from 195 to 180 anyway.

if i put in the 180 will anything hurt the engine or no?

i dont think it will hurt anything.

how much hp would probably be gained w/ a 180 thermo?

i doubt any will be gained....

yea... me too, it is one of those mods that really only shows gain on a very very heavily modified car... on a side note, I dropped from 195 to 180 in my 96 RS... had to change back in the Winter, it wouldn't get hot enough and I had barely any heat inside.

how much hp would probably be gained w/ a 180 thermo?

The 15 degree coolant temp drop wont affect incoming air temps enough to give you any noticeable power.. If you really want a cooler running engine, I suggest the Hypertech Thermomaster chip w/ a hypertech or similar 160 degree thermostat..

It'l adjust your closed and open loop operation temps to keep your engine running properly and taking a/f info from the proper sensors

But as 89Iroc said.. Definatly gonna affect warm up time, no heat in the winter, and it might affect your emissions..

oh, do a throttlebody coolant bypass to keep the coolant away from your incoming air all together

The line of thinking is the cooler the temperature is that the engine is operating the less detonation, and more horsepower can be obtained.

This however is true to a point. Unless you are blown or turboed, I would not run a 160 thermostat, it is just too cool of a temperature for the LS1 engines. I am running a 180F in my 2001.

HOWEVER, IF YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE FAN ON/OFF SETTINGS IN THE PCM, OR GET A MANUAL FAN ACTIVATION SWITCH, IT IS ALL IN VAIN ANYWAY. With stock on/off settings the engine will heat up to stock settings anyway.

what if i get a hypertech kit thing and a 160 thermostat?

I Went from a 180 to a 160 in my GN, I did not gain a damn thing, but my theroy is that something cooler will last longer than something that is hot. Heat kills all.

my thoughts exactly. not to mention the fact that the engine HAS to be more efficient somehow, its physics...

AC delco makes a 170 degree t-stat that should give good heat in winter and will keep cars from over heating in summer espically the 3rd gens

can you give me a link please?

I know that this thread's a little dead, but I'm gonna bring it back for now, because I was wondering about this stuff. I was thinkin galong the same lines as Hypsi, that heat kills. So then would the 180* be worth it?

im prolly going to go with a 180 for the winter, and keep my 160 for the summer. my car runs gloriously with the 160 in the winter, once it warms up, but i could use the mpg's and the heater when its 15 degrees outside...

would the 160 be worth it? also because nowhere around has the 160 for my car, id have to order it and pay shipping. 180 i can pick up tomorrow.

i cant honestly say if its better to go with a 160 over a 180, cause i havent dealt with a 180 yet. but ill tell you what, the 160 was probably the best mod i have done to my car so far. it had the most noticable increase in power, and the car ran so much smoother. unless someone can come up with a reason to not have one in the winter, id get the 160, oh wait i did...

k, i think then i'm gonna go to autozone tomorrow and get the hypertech 160 ordered.

If you get a 160 stat the only real way to get more hp is to have you fans programmed for it... Do not waste your money on the hypertech thing it does not give you access to the perimeter of the factory setting as a real pcm tune would, have pcmforless.com or madz28.com do this for you... you will see hp gains even on a stock car... and yes if you do both these mods its is worth the hp in return… I have seen up to 25 rwhp gain before with both mods…

*shrug*... chevyracincamaro do you have a reprogram?

whats the stock thermostat set at on a90 rs? cause i was gonna order one of them new fangled computer chips and it said to have a colder than stock therm.

My car usually runs at 220,225 but goes no higher is that normal?

dunno bout 90 or... whatever you have J.Cutta but i know on mine the thermostat's 190 or 195. Mine usually runs between 190 and 210