I'm currently running a 180 thermostat, yet my usual cruise temps seem to be 190. At 190, the car pings a little and is way down on power. At 180 or so the car runs great, has lots of power and no pinging.
Is it common to see coolant temps 10 degrees higher than your thermostat rating? If I put in a 160 thermostat, will it run at 160 or 170? What's the ideal temp for power?