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So if your thermostat is working, your radiator is not being used at all, ...ever! You could remove the radiator and the fan to save weight! Ha ha.
The themostat should only begin to open at 87 degrees and should maintain a temperature of about 92, using the radiator to regulate things. (Anything up to about 105 is absolutely fine and normal. The dash guage will show '90' between 75 and about 107 I believe. The radiator fan cuts in at a certain temperature... About 102 perhaps? I forget.) When I changed my thermostat last year I tested both the old one and the new one with a pan of hot water and a thermometer. The old one was beginning to open at 65 degrees (!) and the new one at spot-on 87 degrees.
Once I'd changed the thermostat, things warmed up very appreciably, and I did see a rise in fuel economy (it was November I believe) but looking at the actual coolant temperature via VagCom, it still wasn't getting up to temperature, and the thermostat was never opening and never sending heat to the radiator. So I started gradually blocking the radiator grille, monitoring the temperature at every stage, until it was 100% blocked and all was well.
One other thing I notice with the grille blocked is that the engine loses much less heat when parked up for an hour or two. If I go somewhere in winter and park the car for an hour or so, when I come to drive it away the engine is still pretty much up to normal temperature. Well, 75 degrees at least, as the temperature needle shoots straight up to '90' on the gauge and the heater works straight away.
I've been thinking of ways of improving fuel economy in winter. Been looking at small 240v self-adhesive pad pre-heaters on oil sump and gearbox for early morning starts.
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