[JFP in PA]

The 160 stat is an often debated item, which is most unfortunate as it is a very strong positive for the M96/97 engine. Most people think that the opening temp of a thermostat, 160F in the case of the LN unit, is the temp the engine actually will run at; it is not the case; the thermostat sets the minimum operating temperature the engine will see, depending upon the ambient air temperatures. The OEM stat begins to open at 186F, but is not fully open to well over 200, often 205F; resulting in “steady state” operating temps in excess of 210F in these cars. Before everyone chimes in that “But my dash gauge only says 180-185F”, you need to know that the dash temp gauge in most Porsches are woefully inaccurate and non linear in its movement, so don’t “bet the ranch” on what it is telling you. In addition, the design of the engine component castings also leads to localized “hot spots” considerably hotter than the average coolant temps, which is also not a good thing.

With the 160F stat, a typical Boxster (assuming not other major issues) will run at a steady state (cruising down the road on a warm day) at around the high 170’s to mid 180’s, which is just fine. Some time back, Charles Navarro of LN did before and after dyno runs on a car that was changed over to the 160 stat; results showed a very slight, but measurable HP increase, most likely due to improved thermal efficiency as the result of the lower coolant temps. In addition, because your oil is cooled by your coolant, lower coolant temps means lower oil temps, which increase the life expectancy of both your oil and your engine. With the 160 stat in place, if you get stuck in traffic, the car will still heat up until the fans kick in, but then will cool back down to its lower average temp once air flow over the radiators returns. Because the car starts from a lower base temp, it will also take longer for the engine to heat the coolant to the point the fans will run, which is quite normal. In very cold weather, you will still have plenty of heat, so that is not an issue either.

I’ve had the 160 stat in my personal cars for a long time, and I have a lot of customers running it as well. To date, I have seen absolutely no downsides to using it.