There is nothing wrong, this is normal for these cars.
I wish they would run at low all the time, but don't.
You did the right thing by using the 180 over the 190.

Has anyone tried using a 160?

So long as steam is not pooring out of your car then this all looks normal to me. If you want you can try a bottle of redline waterwetter which reduces coolant temperatures by as much as 30�°F.