best warm up patern in winther.

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I let my car warm up for 10-15 mins when it's extremely cold, 5-10 mins when below freezing...I know some say it's not good for the vehicle to let it warm up for that long, but I routinely get 200K-300K miles out of my vehicles, so I'm guessing it can't be doing too much damage...besides, who likes riding in a cold vehicle and having to scrape windows?
 
-26C (-15F) here this morning. I'm car pooling this week so the Charger is still frozen but I plugged the G6 in before I left.I will get about 2 hours before the wife leaves. To me that's better than the remote start for 10 minutes.

Once it's below freezing my typical routine is to start it and clean it off before I leave. Haven't really let the cars run just to get heat since the kids were little.
 
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
Some people are WAY too anal about warm-ups!


Mostly due to the anal vortex that pulls them into BITOG...

If it's below 50F I usually idle mine four or five minutes then add another minute or two for each 10* below that...
 
Disclaimer: I'm referring to temps in Celsius.

If its -15c or warmer I don't even warm it up. I get in,start it,light a smoke,roll down the window a crack and drive. I've got 15kms of side roads that are too rough to drive any faster than 80km/hr-50mph so the engine gets driven very easily til I hit the highway.
By the time I've hit the highway junction the oil temp is 160+F so I accelerate quickly to 110km/hr-70mph and cruise to the city.
In temps colder than -15c I'll let it warm up a bit,if its -30 I let it warm up til its blowing hot air. -30 is darn cold. I pay for the fuel,maintenance and everything else on the vehicle so I couldn't care less what the bitog police think.
My vehicles are an appliance and built to serve me. It's just that simple.
Try turning the wheel at -30 in a cold car. The tires are frozen slightly out of round and it takes a mile or 2 for the thumping to stop.
If it isn't -15 and warmer then minimal warm up is required. Don't rev past 2000rpm til oil temp is at 160F and drive sensibly.
At -30 your breath with frost up the windows in minutes,and that's not safe. Visibility is important so if it means warming up my car to attain clear windows then so be it.
And my comfort is of the utmost importance to me. Why would I want to suffer being cold when my appliance can provide heat.
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
Some people are WAY too anal about warm-ups!


Mostly due to the anal vortex that pulls them into BITOG...



Anal vortex !? oh that's good. I may have I popped on stitch on the hernia repair with that. lol
 
Hmm. Wife leaves her 2005 Legacy/165k idling about 5 mins in the morning to make sure defrost working and car warm. At work she gets on highway within 1 min out of parking lot (no warm up) and is going 70-80mph.

It makes no difference in longevity of vehicles.
 
^^^

I did that to the older Forester daily during the work week.

Revved to 5000 rpm in first to get on the highway from a dead stop.

Never seemed to care.
 
Oh man, The cold start is where a modern engine with modern oil in it shines. It is so easy to start. 4F and I start the Transit van without touching the pedal. I set the heater on defrost and went back in to pack my lunch and coffee. 10 minutes later I'm back out and the crusted ice on the windshield is slush. The mouse fur upholstery is way better on my posterior than vinyl or leather too. So I hit the road with warm car that I can see out of. If the windshield is clear, I'm idling down the driveway in a cold car. The sooner the car warms up, the sooner I will.
laugh.gif
 
I just don't like the idea of engaging a clutch or shifting a transmission into D or R when a cold engine is racing. I wait for the tack to idle down to 1,000 rpms and then go. That seems to have worked well for me since I started driving in the 70's. But then again I don't live where it gets to -30°F or colder either.
 
I suppose that if one is starting their vehicle after sitting all night and within the next few second, merging into 70 mph traffic on a freeway, then some form of warm up would be in order. But most of us have at a least a little bit of driving at a reduced speeds on streets before hitting the big road. An engine will warm up faster under moderate power than sitting at idle. After maybe a minute, mine is going to go into drive and I am going to head out. If the cold is something really blistering in the morning, the get a block heater, oil pan heater, and maybe a battery heater pad. That would be better for your engine than starting at extreme cold on it's own. These items are not that expensive, use little electrical power, can be put on a timer, and take a lot of strain off of an engine at startup in extreme cold.
 
Heh, I found myself annoyed with myself this morning. I took the truck, but as it was warm (like 18F) I didn't bother with warming up. Coming down the hill I wasn't thinking and forced a downshift, making the truck go into fuel cutoff. After going through the light and getting up to 55mph I had to endure at least 2 miles of driving with the trans refusing to go into high gear and lockup.

Teaches me about trying to save fuel and brakes!
 
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