03sonicgt

What exactly does a thermostat to do our cars? I've seen people with 180 degree thermostates, what do they do? I hear they add 2 or 3 horsepower? Where can I get one and how muhc are they?

099gt

A thermostat on our cars do the same thing they do on everybody elses car. now i am not %100 sure but my understanding is it restricts the flow of engine coolant untill your engine is warm. A 180 degree thermostat means when ur engine reaces 180 degrees it will open allowing coolant into your system.

i havnt heard anything about addin hp. when i changed my engine coolant i replaced my old thermostat with a 180 degree one which you cna buy for about 10 bucks at any parts store

ShadowDrake

099gt is right with his description of a thermostat, although he could have been a little more fluent. It sits in a coolant passage near your intake manifold (by the way, the thermostat housing is very prone to cracking, then you end up with coolant everywhere), and when it is too cold, it is closed almost all the way off. When the coolant touching it gets warm enough, it will start to open wider, and at the rated temperature of the thermostat, it will be wide open.

Your stock thermostat is 193 degrees. It is rumored that a lower thermostat will pick up a few horsepower, a 180 will net 2-3, and a 160 degree thermostat will net another 2-3 horsepower on top of that. The thing about a 160 degree is that the engine WILL always be in warm-up mode, so your gas mileage will be awful at best, the engine will always be running rich. A 180 degree t-stat shouldn't keep the engine in warmup mode, and will at most let your engine run a little cooler. The Ford engineers chose 193 degrees because your engine will be the most fuel efficient at that temperature, while still being streetable and having a decent amount of power.

rbstang

Certain chips require lower temp thermostats due to the increase in timing from the chip.
Lower Temp Thermostats help keep the A/F Charge cool increasing performance.

DILO2001GT

i have a 160* one from SLP

Deannostang

As far as thermostats are concerned, I had this conversation with a rep from Steeda. He claimed the 180 degree stat is the overall best and definitely did not recommend a 160 as it can frog up your computer diagnostics a bit. I suppose in Florida, other parts of the deep south and California it would be okay but still not recommended. Perhaps on forced air induction cars it may be the best set-up. Call Steeda if you want to argue the point.

code3GT