The whole time I've ever had my 1st gen, the temp gauge would NEVER go above about 1/5 up the gauge..

It idles good, I see no problems at this temp.. but is redlining, pushing it hard.. etc dangerous at this temp? should it be hotter?

 

Mine runs at about 1/3rd. I get scared when it gets up to 1/2 and it means I need to add more coolant.

 

I have my doubts as to the accuracy of stock gauges. When I changed my cluster, my car went from about 1/4 to almost 1/2 on the gauge. It would probably be better to run an aftermarket.

 

Have you checked to see if it has a thermostat? Sometimes if a thermostat goes bad people will temporarily fix the car by just removing the thermostat to keep from overheating. Maybe the person who sold it to you did that. It is easy to check to see if it has one.

 

Mine runs colder than it should (about like the OP's), including on my aftermarket oil temp guage, but I'm fairly sure I'm running a 160-deg thermostat.

I don't think it's particularly dangerous (or I'd swap t-stats), though it might let the engine carbon up faster. Passed smog without issue.

You might have a colder t-stat, or it might be stuck open (failed 'safe')

 

I had actually replaced the T-stat with one from blackdragonauto (before i knew about the OMG OEM ONLY thing)
No problems with it though.. I thought I picked the 180 deg one..

 

I'm basically just running mine until I feel the need to change out the AF, then I'm going back to factory.

I switched lower due to heat problems on an earlier build, which turned out to be because of other factors.

 

I have heard a lot of people talk about only using factory t-stats but I would say myself that it depends on the area and the kind of weather you have. I live down in Louisiana right now where it gets really hot. My t-stat keeps it kind of cool which is much better than overheating. If I were back home in north georgia in the winter I would probably switch to a hotter t-stat in order to let the car warm up faster. As long as it isn't extreme I wouldn't think it would hurt anything.

 

I run no t-stat and the water is about 160 - 170 and the oil is 200 - 210 on the hottest days down here in the Southland running wide open at Road Atlanta or CMP. I too worry that it may be too cold but I think blocking off any part of the air dam is against the rules.

I also run a big ISC radiator and the big oil cooler in a "L <-" configuration where the foot of the L is the oil cooler, the leg is the radiator and the arrow is air flow from the air dam opening.

 

I don't like to run by FB when it's cooler than 50*F out because of heat problems. I can get it up to temperature (1-2 needles into the "normal" range) and within 10 miles it's back to full cold (heater blowing cold air and everything), but during the summer it stays just under 1/4 on the temp gauge, so I think I just have a decent cooling system (FMOC and Short radiator.)