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Originally Posted by jhandy
what is the thought about the 160F thermostat from Raby's store? I have read that it is the best thing ever and have read that it will not make a difference. My temps stay at 198-202F when driving.
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For a car that's driven HARD, the 160° T'stat has some benefit. But it won't regulate the overall operating temp, the car will still run in the range you had before.
The 160° is just the temp where the T'stat opens and allows the coolant to flow fully through the system. Before this temp is reached, the coolant flows in a closed, or partially closed, circuit avoiding the radiators, to retain heat to warm the car up faster to operating temp.
The car will not temp spike as severely as with the oem 180° unit (a T'stat lags behind the actual temp). And, for a normal street car will take longer to fully warm because heat is being shed (by running to/from the radiators) sooner.
But all we're talking about here is the period from cold to fully warm, after that, the T'stat (whether 160°, or 180°) is fully open and will remain that way until the car is shut off and cools, because once warm and operating, it will not dip below 160° or 180° for the duration of the run.
But the cooling system is only responsible for about 20-30% of the overall cooling, or better, heat removal. The oil carries away about 50-60% of the heat (mostly from critical components) and the spark plugs and exhaust about 5-10% each.
For the Boxster, because of the oil-to-water heat exchanger (oil cooler), the coolant does have to carry away much of this heat too as opposed to a conventional oil cooler where the heat is released directly to atmosphere.
In TX or other southern climes, it's possibly beneficial. Or for a northern car which is only run in temperate weather. But for a northern car run year round, it may be a detriment because of the delay in getting it up to operating temp during cold weather.
My car is a northern car run only in warm weather, so when the time comes for me to replace, I'll look at the 160° unit and if it's cost competitive, will likely go with it. But if I ever started driving year-round, I'd revert back to the oem 180° unit.
