What temperature should my 8v GTI be running at?

[6sr]

I've noticed that my car seems to be running at about 70 - 80 degrees when I'm driving. When in traffic it goes to about 90 degrees.

Does this sound right? I was thinking that perhaps a temperature sensor was playing up.

Any thoughts?

[Christo77]

That's exactly how mine behaves anyway, although i think it takes too long to warm up from a cold start.. so i'm replacing the thermostat when i can get round to it, see if it makes any difference..

[6sr]

Yeah, mine takes a while to warm up.

My last mk3 didn't do it, thats why i thought there was perhaps something up.

[Khare]

water or oil temperature?

My water stays at 90 all the time, and my oil varied, normal driving about 88-90, traffic 90-94 and motorway 94-100

[6sr]

This is the water temperature, I'm getting pretty poor fuel consumption - driving sensibly around town and I'm getting 25mpg

[rubjonny]

seems a bit cold, but it could be under-reading. has the ecu temp sensor been replaced since you bought it? this also does the dash gauge.
run the car from cold and feel the bottom hose to the rad, it should stay stone cold till the temp gets to about 87 degrees, then get warm

[6sr]

I've not changed it, but will check this out - thanks!

[G60GTI16V]

theres no problems there, mine runs the same

[Rmachines]

My 1.8 warms up in about 30 secconds, my diesel takes a a good 15 mins,  my 1.4 took somewhere in between and all my GTIs have been about 10 mins ...  never understood why it varies so much

[Cable]

Sounds like the thermostat is stuck open.