Should you run a car without a thermostat?

30+ years in engineering and common sense...

Think about the location (better yet, look for yourself) of the thermostat and adjacent "ports".

When it's closed, the water is FORCED to the rear of the block and cylinder heads via pump pressure. As that pressurized water absorbs heat from the combusion process, that heated water opens the t-stat allowing it to return to the radiator for cooling. As the heated water is displaced, the in-coming cool charge closes the t-stat again, so the process can be repeated.

When the cooling system is optimized, temperature will be maintained at/near the t-stats rated value and, though the t-stat is cycling, in an optimal system, the temperature should remain fairly consistent.

The reason "race" engines get away with running only restrictors, is because they run at very high rpm, which has the effect of forced cooling - similar in function to an engine with a thermostat - which relies on thermal cycling instead of rpm to accomplish the same thing. For street applications, the thermal cycling is required when the pump is operating at the "lower" end of the pressure scale, and idle/cruising rpms.

I'm not stating anything "new" here, just how the systems were designed to work.

Southernman