As a comparison, in my 95 golf, DD, 1.9TD, I run about 85-90C on a warm day, normal commute. A littler cooler on a cold day tho, say.....if it's 5 deg C outside. oem vw rad and vw pink coolant.
My question is regarding my samurai with aaz. It's got the Acme diesel conversion rad, and vw pink ?G12? coolant. All of the cooling components are brand new, except the T stat.
Been taking it off road and the temps sure climb as the elevation and long grind up the mountain in second gear continue. On the pavement commute, it sits around 85-90C +/- a little depending on the hills. If it climbs past 90C going up a hill, the temp comes back down quickly when I get up onto the flat, or the downside of the hill.
I do have the fuel turned up, 1.6TB boost pin, and max boost of 15 psi for the Ko3. Water / meth injection also.
So yeah, the zuk is heavier than my golf, runs more rpms vs kmh than the golf, and of course the air flow through the rad is not great at only 20 mph [ second gear ].
I'll consider 220 deg the time to pull over and let the engine cool......until I learn otherwise. Better safe than sorry.
BTW, 90C = 194F
85C = 185F
104C = 219.2F