Back in the day with the 2.0L engine and the viscous fan, my temp gauge stayed at 1/4 all the time. I expect that a continuous airflow through the rad forces the thermostat to regulate the water temperature.
With the V8 and electric fan, I expect the 82c thermostat now spends most of its time fully open with the fan controlling the temperature instead. The gauge moves between a 1/4 and 3/8 when the fan kicks in around 90c. I've been driving the wedge in stop / start traffic through the recent hot weather and it clicks on and off regularly until it finds a constant moving road and isn't required.
Looking back at the standard two litre setup my viscous coupling eventually started to screech badly and had to be replaced. (My pals FHC had the same problem but wasn't replaced quickly enough as the fan launched itself in to the rad) . The replacement coupling was almost solid by comparison and noisy at high revs.