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Based on my experience, the engine definitely runs better now (the gas mileage is better), and the oil doesn't smell like gasoline as much (I would think that a lot of it that got in previously has been vaporized by heat). I'm going to do an early oil change because of this.
The temperature you describe is not normal. With a new thermostat on a 10 degree F morning, I now get up to 100C (not as quickly as I would like), then it popped back down to 80 very quickly, and then bounces between 80 and 90 after that, which is the normal operating range of this engine.
Another interesting thing I observed was oil pressure. Hotter oil = thinner oil, so the pressure will go down with temperature going up. I noticed that my oil pressure seemed higher than usual with colder temperatures and the bad thermostat. With the new one after an expressway jaunt, I'm at about 1.5 bars at idle, same as in summer. So, the oil wasn't really getting warm enough either.
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