Alright, I live in KY where it gets hot in the summers and cold in the winters, my question is this,

Im replacing my 195" thermostat, and I dont know whether to go 170 degrees or 180 degrees with the new one.

The car is my daily driver, and im going for all out performance.

Which one do I need to get?

 

ive heard good things about the 170

 

I live in Ontario, Canada and we get both extremes here aswell. Really cold in the winter and really hot/humid in the summer.

I had the factory 195 thermostat seize on me last week and my car overheated. I replaced it with a 160 stat I had laying around from my LT1.

All I can say is WOW! The difference in average temperature is ridiculous. My average before was like 210-220, way too hot in my opinion. Now with the 160, it doesn't matter how hot it gets, or how long I have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic on the way home from work each day on the 401, the coolant temperature never goes above 170-180. One of the best mods I've done so far.

A cooler running car will lessen the possibilities of detonation and unless I'm imagining it, the car feels as if it runs better (faster) than before.

When the winter comes around, I'll just thow in a 180 or something, but for now, during the summer month's, a 160 is what I use....

 

You don't want to overcool a TPI unless you've got a chip. I'd go with a 180 at lowest. And if you do a lot of city driving, perhaps the best thing you can do to make it run cooler would be to change out the sensor in the passenger's side head with a lower-rated one, so your fans kick on at something lower than the factory setting of like 225. Also might try running less antifreeze in the summer, and put a bottle of WaterWetter in there.

 

Which one would be best to have all year round? The 180" or 170" ?

My driver side fan is wired to run all the time non-stop, and I guess the other fan comes on by itself when it needs to.

When winter comes around I dont want to have to switch out thermostats so my car runs right, some mornings get down to maybe 20 degrees (which isnt THAT low, but its still pretty cold)

 

I would run the 180 all year. Still not a bad idea to have the other fan kick on at about 200 or so.

 

ahh, ty

 

If 180 doesn't do the job then you've got other problems. I don't think I'd run 170 or lower in the winter even on a carbed motor, although it would probably be fine in the summer. All of these engines, TPI especially, have a certain range they like to be in for optimal performance. Say, 190-210. Sure you're not going to actually run at 170 in the summer with that thermostat. Probably would be no difference than with the 180, but in the winter might run unneccessarily cold.

 

 

I run a 180* fail safe t stat in my Iroc, it only goes out when it nice tho, stored all late fall and winter, i dought there is much need for anything lower than a 180* i never get too hott.

 

i agree with faceless. camaros are notoriously hot, 220 is about average. i just replaced my 195 with a 180 because i overheated and my t-stat got pegged. now, just bopping around town i barely go over 160 which is more than cool enough. be careful not to overcool. go with 180.

 

i run a 180... 170 is too cool - the engine guy i always deal with says hot oil, cool coolant...

 

It does no good to say one guy uses this and another guy uses that because we are all in different environments. Pick your desired temp and experiment with the different stats to see which one puts you there and keeps you there.

GM says 195° is normal operating temp and they put in a 195° stat with fans that kick on at 230°(plus or minus).

I want to be at 180° and in my environment, with my car and my driving habits it takes me a 170° stat to accomplish it.