operating temperature?

[CLAG500 at aol.com]

I thought about checking the temp via the climate control head. Don't know  
how much more accurate this would be though. 
 
 Did your gauge come up when you got in to traffic or was it just  stuck on 
the lower end? Mine shoots right up if I'm not cruising. Just kind of  an 
annoying quirk at this point. I'm assuming the sensors are functioning OK due  to 
the fluctuation of the gauge that corresponds to driving conditions.
 
I'm suspicious that the Whaler thermostats all function this way. Do you  
remember what brand of t-stat you have in your car?
 
This is the third Audi I've owned that ran cold when moving like this. The  
one that has the most stable temp is my 1994 avant with a cheapo parts  store 
t-stat.
 
Chad
 
  a message dated 12/5/2006 10:48:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
kneale at coslink.net writes:

Has  anyone checked the actual temperature of the cooling system when the
car is  fully warmed?  We keep referring to a gauge in an instrument  cluster
that depends on a very poor sensor for its readings.   

My 200q20v sedan read in the middle of the first three marks on the  low end
of the gauge for the first 60K miles I had the car.  Then I  replaced the
radiators, the hoses and the sensors.  Now it reads just  above the big mark
that's not quite to the middle of the gauge.  It's  there whether the
ambient temperature is 90 (F) or -19 unless I sit in  traffic or at a
drive-up window.  Then it rises slightly until the fan  comes on and sends
it back to its customary position.  That's been for  the last 45K miles.

Before replacing a relatively new thermostat, why  not get actual
temperature readings in the coolant system?