Great feedback already, but yall know Slamma coudn't leave this one alone

No doubt there's been some all out "T-Stat wars" on other forums, and lots of opinions elsewhere.

My take on it: With so many variables - cooling capacity, operating conditions, climate, engine type, engine size, vehicle weight, FI vs. NA, clutch fan vs. e-fans, etc etc - to state that a t-stat wth temp rating X will cause an engine to run at temp X is erroneous. It may or it may not.

Setting everything else aside, there's at least four basic facts:
1) The temp rating of a t-stat is ROUGHLY the temp at which it begins to open.
2) Auto t-stats ROUGHLY follow the "rule of twenty". A 160* t-stat will be fully open at about 180*.
3) T-stats, at best, are calibrated to plus-minus 2*.
4) The temp rating of a t-stat does not imply the engine will operate at that temp.

Here's a graph i found a while back, not sure of the original source. It suggests a 175-185 engine operating is the best balance of "ideal performance" and "ideal overall".



The bottom line: If you're running a 160* t-stat, and overall operating temp is between 185* and 190*, no problem.