I was wondering how a 160 stat helped. Is it because it just simply keeps the air going into the engine cooler, therefore denser? Or does it fool the computer into thinking it's not warmed up yet, therefore forcing it into a rich condition? And do you have to have a new chip or programmer to use one efficiently? Thanks!

 

The 160 deg t-stat helps the car by opening earlier (160 deg) letting coolant flow, which is earlier then the stock 180 deg t-stat which will cause the car to cool earlier. It is a mechanical device so it does not have much effect on the PCM directly. In addition to the t-stat, it is not necisary but it would help if you reprog the fans to come on earlier, OR you can do a manual fan switch mod which is what i recomend and what I had done. If you want some hard facts, on the highway my car with no fans on stays in between 160 and 180 mark, usally closer to 160 :-) Answer your question? :-)

 

Some info here that might help.

 

I guess the question was, how does it give you more power?

 

Well in theory cooler motor = more power and better throttle responce. Shoebox this sound right?

 

I did not expect a horsepower increase from my 160 stat.
I did it so my engine would last longer. It was getting too hot for my tastes and seeing the guage get up there is unsettling to say the least.
I did it so it would be easier on parts.

 

All of the above.. I highly highly highly recommend the fan switch.. I honestly feal its the best mod I've done.. not from a HP stand point but just from a "car care" stand point. I sat in 95* heat, bumper to bumper with the A/C full throttle.. I kicked my fans on high and the temp never moved from 185-190 with the stock tstat. I lined up with my buddy who has and identical car same year same mods even same tires.. the big difference.. I staged at 180 he staged at 220.. Guess who was at least a car length behind at the finish line every time... Him. Try it for yourself first thing in the morning at a traffic light @ 160* then let it heat up to 210* and do it again.. Well worth it in my book, but thats just my opinion..

Craig

 

It helps, but on a hot day it was pretty much useless, car still ran sluggish in warm weather

 

Antz97ZNJ, then you have a problem. Craig and I both have the fan mod and we stay in the 170's 180's even on a pretty hot day after driving it hard. And thats just with low speed fan on :-) Right Craig?

 

really??? mine stayed around 185* without the AC on, no matter how hard you drive it..... the temp. outside was around 85-90*

 

Just drove home.. 90* out.. never went above 165-170 no fans at all..

Craig

 

be very careful when doing the "easy" thermostat change out............i stuffed 3 towels completely surrounding my thermostat and it still managed to drip coolant onto my optispark.........hopefully i didnt do any damage.

 

Whenever you change the thermostat, you obviously want to keep moisture off the opti if you can. That is why there is a warning to do just that. Implemetation is in the control of the installer.

 

.02 rwhp. lol.

 

i know.......i wasnt saying anything bad about the instructions......your site is a great help for all the work ive done so far.....just for everyone to be extra careful..............i used 3 cotton bathroom towels and thoroughly stuffed them all around the waterpump, but A LOT of coolant came out and spilled over onto the opti.