COLD BLOODED BEAST!!! Help!!!!

[MaroonI30]

My 97 I30 takes forever to warm up in the winter time its almost ridiculous i live in nebraska so are winters are definetly not nice 2 us i used to commute 10-12 miles for work last winter and it was in the teens outside with negative wind chill's i would let her warm up at least 5 min if not more and just barley be coming up off of Cold and after i get on the highway it wouldn't let me completly take overdrive for almost the whole 10 miles the last mile or so it would kick in i've never owned a vehicle this cold blooded it doesn't over heat in the summer even with a/c on in traffic but is there still a chance i need a new thermostat? and i've heard that if u bump up the temp on ur thermostat i beleive its 10 degree's u'll gain some hp? but that doesn't make any sense to me cuz doesn't adding heat lose u hp? i mean thats like one of the simplest rules of cars in general i guess i've answered my question unless there is some info out there that i don't kno of well any help would be greatly apreciated

[MinisterofDOOM]

Thermostats fail "open" so the consequences aren't as dire (failing closed would lead to overheating). So it's possible your thermostat is bad. It would cause the car to heat up slowly in summer and winter.