Is it really necessary to warm up your engine everytime before you drive it? I know you should give it a 5 mins warm up every morning but I do it everytime and my buddy tell me its not necessary! What are your thoughts?

 

in my owners manual it says to drive it right away. but bump for some more thoughts

 

up

 

When I go for a drive I hop in and leave right away, but wait till the temps come up before any aggressive driving takes place....

 

i personally wait about 5 minutes because i live in colorado. I dont think its good to just drive the car while its cold and would rather have it warmed up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM B16A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is it really necessary to warm up your engine everytime before you drive it? I know you should give it a 5 mins warm up every morning but I do it everytime and my buddy tell me its not necessary! What are your thoughts?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i cant drive my car cold..it like holds back..dosent give me full power..unless i smash the peddle..then it will brake loose and i get full power back (ha power..i drive a stock 1.5 8 valve cx whats power?)

 

Warming up your car for too long of a time messes up your cat. I just hop in and drive away within 30 secs. I stay below 3k until the motor is fully warmed up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EK k kay &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Warming up your car for too long of a time messes up your cat. I just hop in and drive away within 30 secs. I stay below 3k until the motor is fully warmed up.</TD></TR></TABLE>
How does warming up your car for too long mess up your cat?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How does warming up your car for too long mess up your cat?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats what I want to know.

You should always let your car warm up. Let the oil circulate, etc. I turn my car on in the morning, turn on the heat, come back in, get dressed and leave about 10 minutes later. If I'm forced to get in and go while its cold I stay at or around 2-3k before I even remotely do any "hard" driving.

 

i think u need to circulate the oil in the motor 1st.

 

you dont really need to warm up cars nowadays. but that doesnt mean you start the car then do a half block burn out... it will take you about 2-3 minutes to start the car, put the seatbelt on, adjust your mirrors, then to signal and pull out. thats enough time to get the oil circulated within the engine...besides your ecu will control the rev speed until it reaches the operating temperature. hence older cars dont have this luxury.

warmup mainly have to do with older cars, that will stall out if not warmedup for a few minutes. also for motorcycles aswell.

just my experience of owning a hemi 68 charger, a honda and a harley.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1995Ex_Sedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats what I want to know.

You should always let your car warm up. Let the oil circulate, etc. I turn my car on in the morning, turn on the heat, come back in, get dressed and leave about 10 minutes later. If I'm forced to get in and go while its cold I stay at or around 2-3k before I even remotely do any "hard" driving.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Turning on your heat will make the car take longer to warm up...

 

Well. Thats why its about 10 minutes before I go out. Its warm and at normal temps when I leave.

 

I am just saying it would be warm sooner and less gasoline wasted if the air was turned on once warm.

 

When your motor is cold it runs super rich. Unburned fuel that passes through the catalytic converter can ignite and damage the cat. Letting it warm up for a long time at an idle makes this worse. By driving off and keeping at low rpms, your motor warms up a lot quicker than if it were to just sit and idle.

 

On almost every car I've owned, I've cultivated the habit of ALWAYS letting the car warm-up. Letting the oil circulate is a good thing. It also allows your engine to reach peak operating efficiency.

If I understand VTEC correctly, it won't even work below certain temps.

So, yet another reason to let your engine warm-up.

 

Ive got this habit of waiting for the rpms to start slowing dropping before heading out. I doubt it makes a difference and im probably just wasting gas..

 

only when cold just dont drive hard 4 a while

 

O.K.
Here goes...
1.What is the most unefficient time for a motor?
Most people think your car is most inefficient at W.O.T. (wide open throttle)
Or during deceleration. (and that used to be a close second).
Many engines now shutdown the flow of gas during deceleration.
But the most inefficient time is during idle! Thats right during idle.
So drive-thru anything ruins your gas mileage.
So warming your car before driving is not only a waste, but unnecassary.
Just don't go buck wild before the engine comes up to operating temp.
Engine parts have a tendency to stretch when cold.
The thing is that they won't revert back to their "normal shape" later on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cxSHOE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">t will take you about 2-3 minutes to start the car, put the seatbelt on, adjust your mirrors, then to signal and pull out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I can't remember the last time I adjusted my mirrors.

 

What idiot tells people they need to let their engine run for 5 minutes before it's ready to drive. You car isnt a Pop Tart. When a car is turned off all the oil drains into the pan with very little left to lubricate the cams, crank, rods, etc. When you start the car it takes a few seconds for the oil punp to get the oil back flowing over all the critial spots. It only takes about 3 seconds to get the oil pressure up once the car is turned on. That's why you dont rev your motor the second the car starts. Yes the engine becomes more fuel efficient as it warms up but you dont need to let the damn thing run for a few minutes before attemping to put it into gear. All you're doing is wasting gas. Like the other people have said, dont drag race down the street 5 seconds after starting the car....otherwise start it and go.

 

Waming up your engine everytime?!

"nope"

I agree with Turboexlax 100%, all you guys are doing is wasting gas. Now perhaps if we all drove freakin circuit race cars, THEN a warmup procedure might be in order.

 

 

Letting it warm up to full operating temp after a cold start before driving it isn't necessary. If anything, it only wastes gas.

The main thing is to avoid pushing the engine before it's up to operating temp. This means no WOT acceleration, high revving, hard downshifting, etc. And certainly no VTEC. Just start it, wait a couple of seconds then get going. Drive it mildly.

If you feel you're incapable of driving like a grandma for the few minutes required for your engine to warm up during travel, then, yeah, by all means, wait for it to warm up fully before taking off.

 

interesting...was wondering too....