Do you let your car warm up?

[swallace]

Be honest

[Davis Silver Sti]

If its really really cold, then I'll let it warm up for a minute or so then drive nice and easy for the first 8-10 mins. Helps when my garage doesn't get below 45 thou.

I have noticed, perhaps you have too, that the 6-spd tranny is a bit picky when its cold and starting out. After some mins it loosens up and is ready to go.

I'll admit that I probably should warm up my car more before an AutoX. Sometimes its just turn and and let the wait in line warm it up.

If its a normal day, then no, I just drive and go, but still take it easy for a bit.

Some people (inlcuding some good friends) have and use turbo timers (shut-off). While I understand their purpose, stock turbos without mods really do not need this gentle cool down cycle. (SOA-Subaru of America has come right out and said that they are not needed to "protect" the turbo)
After hot laps at Mid-Ohio I do a long cool down lap (with no brakes) and then do a couple 5mph loops around the parking lot before I park it turn it off without using the e-brake.

[narfdanarf]

I pretty much always just get in my car and go...but normally I would take it easy till it got to temp. My car always warmed up quick though, like three blocks and I was good to go.

[Kurt_W]

If it's really cold I will usually start the car up and let it run for about 10 minutes (go start the car then pack my lunch.) I usually just start it and let it run for about a minute before I go. If I don't get a chance to warm the car up I try to keep it below 2500-3000 rpm till the guage starts to move.

There have been various reports over the years discussing warming the car up before driving or while driving...most had to do with emissions moreso the engine wear. The overall result was that neither way was better really for emissions, though you will note that some new cars such as the Chevy Malabu are available with remote start from factory. They claim for emissions though I'm inclined to believe that its more a selling tactic. In terms of wear, the oil of course flows better warm then cold, so it makes sense to let it warm some prior to running the vehicle hard.

Some people (inlcuding some good friends) have and use turbo timers (shut-off). While I understand their purpose, stock turbos without mods really do not need this gentle cool down cycle. (SOA-Subaru of America has come right out and said that they are not needed to "protect" the turbo)

While this seems like a good idea, I sometimes wonder what the point would be...at the rate I drive my car (about 660 miles a month) it will take me close to 10 years to hit 80 thousand miles (which is how long I expect a more-or-less well-treated but ignored stock turbo to survive.) Since most people unload their stock turbos anyway, I don't care if mine survives for 100 thousand plus miles as i will likely upgrade it sometime in the coming few years. I don't drive my car particularly hard either most of the time either...there is a reason I refer to it as "the Buick."

[RallyEX]

Very rarely do I let my civic warm up before driving. I just get in and go. But it is a daily driver with well over 80k miles on it now, and it is N/A so I really don't care at all...

The hatchback is another story. I actually let it idle for several minutes (10+) before it leaves my driveway. Most often, it is already at operating temp by the time I'm backing out of the driveway.

[s2kosu]

A rev limiter will kick in on the S2000 at 5500 rpm's if it is not warmed up. It won't allow vtec to engage. I've found this out. lol

[narfdanarf]

yeah i know adam's car won't hit vtec if it's not warmed up.

[Feedman]

yeah i know adam's car won't hit vtec if it's not warmed up.

This is true. I always let my car get to opertating temp before tromping on it. I remember one time I was headed to work and I had left my house, there was this slowwww person in front of me....30 in a 55. So I went around them, down shifted and nothing.....no vtec....looked @ my console and my temp guage was just a shade low on temp....once I about got to work I tried it again, and it kicked in just fine. I later found out that vtec is controlled by a slew of things such as Rpm, engine load, temp, etc.

As far as letting a turbo'd car cool down. I think its a good idea...especially if running it hard. It not only helps your turbo but the whole engine as well. A min or two is fine. Gives the car time to shed some of the internal heat and circulate oil before turning it off....the turbo bearings are hit the hardest when the oil starts to cook around them from just shutting it off...

8)

[ramrod]

Kind of depends on how long it takes me to setup my labtop lol

[m pwrd 3]

My S52 is cold natured.

When I first start it I let it idle for about a min, until the idle smoothes out then I go.

[ben2000formula]

Fire her up in the 70 degree garage and roll about 30 seconds or so after that.

[jchouse]

Fire her up in the 70 degree garage and roll about 30 seconds or so after that.

70 my ass that mofo was cold

[C_Note]

If I have time, yes. Heated seats in the Tahoe make it easier to forget, though...

I'll tell you what, though. I've got a 2005 Cavalier out here in SLC (we all do, I call us the Cavalier Cavalry), and even in these freezing temps, it only takes 2-3 minutes for the thing to warm up and start pumping out hot air. Pretty nice. They've got some stove in them, too. I put it on the 2nd notch until it warms up, then I have to turn it down to the first, because its too hot.

[ben2000formula]

not with plastic around the window and plastic stuffed up under the garage door it isn't

[kmfdmk]

With my supra it warms up fairly quickly. Since I need to get the E-Brake looked into I can't start it and leave it. So I start it up, leave it in neutral, light a cigarette, and smoke about half of it. Usually after about 2 minutes the temp guage has come up half way and I pull out after about 3 minutes, by the time the engines been running about 5 to 6 minutes it's up to temp and by 10 it's hit all the hotter it's gonna get.

I almost always try to let it warm up gently for the first 15 minutes of the driving day. Since I live on a hill, I'll not push it over about 3000 rpm and coast it down hill in 3rd, but the time I get to Rinks, it's warmed up.