Normal Temp?
 

All stock. Owned car for little over a month, just changed/flushed coolant last week. I woke up @ 5AM and drove it. No sun out, I'm pretty sure it got all the cold air it needs.

I just feel like the temperature should be a little bit lower. I did not drive it hard, no freeways, no stoplights.

Does your needle stay in the same position as mine?

https://lh3.ggpht.com/_nZHt5IGnBOg/S...0/DSC_0561.jpg

I'll bite...
 

There's plenty of information here about the stock gauge if you search for it. I'm guessing the FAQ has it too.

Basically the stock gauge shows cold, warm, and too late.

Things are probably normal when it is basically horizontal but it's not accurate enough to really know if your running a little cold or a little hot.

Most people add an aftermarket temp gauge. You can also linearize the stock gauge to make it more representative of temps but it still won't give you actual values.

gary

Just get an after market water temp gage. It really is a necessity, even on a stock car.

What he said. The stock water temp gauge is an idiot gauge. It doesn't move up until the car is HOT.
Go to the FAQ thread stickied in the forum and find the link for the cooling system. READ it.

Long story short, stock watertemp gauges don't show an actual temperature. They only have 3 settings: 'cold', 'warm' and 'your engine is fucked'.
Just get an aftermarket watertemp. gauge and maybe a boost gauge while you're at it.
Normally the watertemp doesn't go over 80 degrees (C) and should never go over 90.

If you sit in traffic, your temps can go really high.

Just make sure your fans come on when it gets toasty. I believe by default they come on at 102 right?

+1 for Gflenn's post

You don't need an aftermarket gauge (at least not a permanent one) if you are willing to do a little work. If you insert a simple circuit between the sender (under the oil pressure sender) and the stock gauge then it can be calibrated (you will need a separate gauge for this step).
Do a search for linearize. I have had this mod on my car for years... It fixes the gauge to work the way it should have come from the factory.

That's not necessarily true...I know ever since I did my FMIC my temps went up a bit. Typically when I'm driving I'll see between 82 and 87. If I boost hard for a long enough period of time I'll get up to 91 or 92. I also know several other people in this boat, some of whose temps get up to 98/99 when boosting hard...

seriously dude??? what you drive your car in an ice cave or something?

My fans don't come on until 85C and thats only because I set them to come on early through the power FC... On average temp days (25C) my water temps stay rock solid between 85-87C. On scorching days (37C) they can be a high as 100C with the AC on. Turn off the AC and my temps stay around 95C.

I'd say anything that deviated from the norm is time to pull over and check for problems.

Edit-
don't the stock fans come until 105C?

That is what I was thinking. My cars stays pretty rock solid around 85-87C unless I am in the throttle pretty good for a while. I don't even WANT to add much/if any boost until water temps are around 75-80C. That is when the car actually gets warm enough to drive it hard.

**EDIT** P. F144 (p.332) First cooling fan come on at 105C (221F), the second fan comes on at 108C (226F). If you do not have a copy of the manual download it, you will use it many-a-times http://www.rotarydb.info/rotarypdf/9...SEARCHABLE.pdf

I have a FMIC and if i dont turn on my fans on myself, temps would reach 200F in the quickness, especially in these summer days.

If i boost, it will go to about 210F but i have the habit of always turning on the fans, yes i know its bad for the fan motors, and temps would stay under 200F.

Just depend on your setup! I sit around 87 degree's C on a roaster out here in AZ but I am v-mounted which seems to help drastically with ambient engine heat soaking.