Snik - I am FULLY in agreeance with everything you've said above. Hence doing what I did and hence changing for an 88 degree coolant thermostat too at the same time as doing my chain guides recently.

I'm a firm believer that if the fluids were ran slightly cooler from factory then everything would last significantly longer. Only reason I believe coolant temps were designed to run at the level they are was to meet emission requirements.

Since my changes my coolant now sits at around 95degrees (13degrees cooler than before) and my transmission fluid sits between 75-80degrees and has been considerably happier for the past 25k+ miles