I know I live in a unique part of the country where my driving style may be "harder" on cars than other parts of the country. Before my trans rebuild on my 98 SSEi, the trans would be around 200* after HEAVY driving on the highway (90+MPH sustained for 30 minutes or so) However it would go between 195-205*. Outside temps are in the 70s and 80s.

Around town moderate driving never sees over 180*. On the road to work the trnas never gets over 120 but its only a few miles.

Going up a local mountain pass the trans temps will go 225 (10% grade for 12 miles)...Basically WOT, constantly shifting between 1st and 2nd around the turns. 225 Seems hot though.

So how hot does your trans get when you drive your car hard over an extended period of time? 20 minutes plus

FWIW I have not received my car from the trans shop yet, they are taking their time (3 weeks) as they are doing it in their spare time to save some money for me. Therefore I cannot compare what it will be after all the clutches and torque converter were replaced.

the most i have seen so far in traffic idleing is 205 but i did not check it going up a hille but my reading are almost like yours

Drilled 180* t-stats on both cars.

1997 SLE (4T60-E,148k miles): After I'm up to highway speed and just cruising - NO getting on it - my trans sits in the mid 160'* while the coolant is 180. I can push hard and it'll get up to 190, maybe touch 200 but I've never really seen it much over. On my trip out west there were several times it hit 195-200 on some of the climbs.

1999 SSEi (4T65E-HD, 102k miles): It takes a LONG time (45 mins) but if I'm only driving highway (75mph) my trans will eventually creep up to 180 to match my coolant. If you remember the video I posted of my 3-4 back to back WOT 0-80 runs (starting with the car warmed up and trans at 180ish), I got my trans up to about 205. It took a good 15 mins to cool back down to 180 while I continued to drive normally.

BOTH cars have pink, unburnt fluid.

The temps you are experiencing Hans are normal for our cars. Mine will hover at coolant temp of 160 F after about 30 minutes running. Most of my trips are 15 minutes so temps stay below 120.
Always wait till the trani temp is at least 100 F before opening her up.

Trani temps over 200 are not good. As little as 10 F cooler running can double the life of the trani.
The whole point of having the gauge is to know when you need to cool it and not exceed 180 F.

The warmest I ever saw was down in Oregon one summer running in 100 F temps at triple digit speeds, the trani heated up to 208 F.

No prerebuild numbers here to compare with....except that it was reasonable.

After rebuild numbers I've seen are 160-170 after some serious driving. That'* running through the radiator cooler from the factory. T stat in motor is a 180F