[straffs]

... BTW - How long do other MGF`s take to get to normal running temperature?......
i never hammer it until the temp gauge is showing the normal running temp? .....
And, should the temp rise much more quickly if you have the heater switched off?

The water temp guage gets to "normal" pretty quickly 1-3 miles depending on when the car was last used and outside air temperature.

The guage to watch is oil temperature. The advice from others (which I stick too, mostly) is keep engine revs below 3k until the oil temp gets to 60 degrees which is generally 2-4 miles.

The water temperature will rise quicker with the heater control on cold as coolant is not flowing through the heater matrix (kinda like a raditor) only coolant in the engine is circulating so will get hotter quicker. The engine thermostat will also be closed as water only circulates to the radiator when a certain temperature is reached.