Adding water wetter to your stock fluid would be a complete waste of money. I run water wetter in my 80/20 mix, but more for the corrosion inhibiting than anything else. I know what Red Line claims, but no one outside of Red Line has been able to independently validate it does what they claim.

 

gotcha. thanks for the info. I'd love to sit down with you and just talk about cars and things that go fast. you know enough to write an encyclopedia man

 

Another thing to consider about your cooling system is the coolant that came from factory. Toyota has been using Their super long life coolant for every vehicle they have been building since '04. This coolant has an initial service interval @ 100,000miles and 50,000 miles thereafter. The coolant comes pre-mixed and won't require to be diluted with water. It also means it should only be topped off with their coolant. Old toyota coolant is red in color and the new coolant is pink. The pink coolant can be used in place of the old stuff but the new stuff isn't backwards compatible.

Since the coolant over time and usage will breakdown, I'd expect the cooling system additives to add more harm than help. If you're planning on replacing the coolant more frequently then go for it. I'd rather forget about it until its time for replacement.

 

sweet. just needed advice from people who know (you guys)

 

I would be interested in trying a higher temp thermostat if someone knows of one. If I can run a little hotter without detonation and / or the ECU retarding timing or adding fuel, then I'm all for it. Does anyone know where I could find a hotter one?

 

I'd also like to try a step colder spark plug too if someone knows where I can get one (or six).

 

You guys are correct that there is a "sweet spot" to running the car for maximum fuel efficiency. Running a car hotter than it is supposed to be run is not going to help anything. Higher temps lead to reduced timing which leads to less power. Less power means burning more fuel for the same amount of output. The ONLY time you may notice a benefit from running a higher temp thermostat would be on long distance highway driving where you are babying the car and it's cool outside. Other than that you are just going to make less power, there is a reason cars feel "slower" when it's hot out, timing is retarded to ward off detonation, the last thing you want to do on a summer day while your zipping around trying to have a spirited drive is raise the operating temp of your engine.

 

^^^ If a higher coolant temp leads to the knock sensor detecting detonation or the ECU predetermining detonation based on coolant temp then it will retard ignition timing. Otherwise, slightly higher coolant temps will be beneficial.

Anyway, the selection of a slightly hotter thermostat does not equate to running it hotter than it was desiged to run. I doubt any car I've owned was capable of maintaining the temp that the thermostat would go FULL OPEN for under the loads that I subjected it to.