von

I just drove from texas to San Diego in a 1200$ rx7. Ran great but what I noticed is that the temp gauge (S4 would sit at the half way mark in texas (60degrees) and slightly creep up a little when held at 4k rpm's. It would drop after I went back to 3k.

Once I came off to SD which I think is a few thousand feet lower and the same temperature I noticed the temp gauge took a dump. It hung lower then half way.

What effect does elevation have on temp ?

Parastie

Usually not much, are you sure it wasn't just colder in SD?

rodney87

lower elevation = denser air, thats the only thing i could think of. I'm at sea level and my temp gauge never gets above 1/4 the way up.

Evil Aviator

None, but the boiling point changes with changes in pressure.

NZConvertible

And hopefully you were well below boiling point at all times...

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

The lower elevation has denser air which means it has more mass. More mass means more efficient cooling.

The other thing that will affect efficiency is the humidity. More humidity=more mass.

Elevation affects the boiling point of open systems, i.e. a pot of water. The cooling system of a vehicle, if properly maintained, will boil at the same temperature, regardless of elevation.

The amount of work required to reach elevation, and the reduction in air desity can cause a cooling system to overheat, when it normaly wouldn't at a lower elevation.

Spent too much tome up and down the mpuntains.

If your temp guage is running at half through west Texas, maybe it's time for a flush, fill and thermostat.

NZConvertible

Humidity affects cooling, but negatively, not positively as you imply. Moist air can't absorb as much heat as dry air.