Cool running/Fuel economy

[grizzo@domain.elided]

<<the wind boring straight in to the engine bay lowered the water temp 
to what I guess to be around 125F (just before the first tick on the gauge 
which appears to represent about 150F, with the mid tick marked at 175F).  

If the engine is more efficient when quite hot, does this mean that the wind 
dropping the temp would decrease gas mileage?>>

Dunno a thing about whether hot engine temps increase fuel economy, but I do
FEEL, contrary to what others have suggested that, as the engine begins to run
higher than "normal" temps, power seems to fall off proportionately. My Milano
with big oversized radiator, has indicated temps of around 140 on cool morning
100 mph sprints and feel very powerful during a quick burst to 120+ or so , yet
sit it in traffic on a hot day and the thing feels positively sluggish until I
get the temps back down by moving back up to speed. My aforementioned rad (one
of those Alfa Heaven RT monsters) has yet to be mated to a fan that can pull
enough air through it at low speeds, The stock one's going back on this weekend
via some custom fabricated brackets. 

Giovanni 
88 Verde
in increasingly warm SoCal.

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