<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mc55:
Putting in a lower temp thermostate actually does increase performance. It runs the car cooler, thus more efficient. Also decreases the chances of detonation. As for it knocking off a .1 seconds, I don't know.
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This is not true (mostly).
The "equilibrium" temperature of most modern engines (sitting there stationery at idle) is around 200-210 degrees or so. At this temperature the thermostat will be open all the time. If you have a 195 or a 180 or 160, it will always be open.
A 160 will usually run the car a little cooler in cool weather or on the highway, but not by all that much. In order to realize the benefits of a t-stat change on a Viper, you would need to *seriously* upgrade the cooling system.