Its gettin cold on the east coast and I like to start my car a while before I drive it.

How long do you guys usually warm up your car? I'm pretty sure I read in the manual to wait until it idles down to 1500 rpms.

Should I wait even longer in the winter?

 

Depends on what I'm doing. If I have time to warm up, I'll warm it up 5-10 minutes before I leave. If I have to leave right away, I just wait till the rpm gauge drops for the first time (1 minute wait) and just take it easy on the car till it's warmed up.

 

I let my car warm up till I see 2 or 3 bars on the temperature gauge

 

just drive under 2k..

 

You should let it idle for 1 minute, then drive normally (no full throttle, no redlining). When cold and at idle the engine isn't lubrictating as well as it can. You want to get the car warmed up as quickly as possible to prevent wear.

 

u doent have to warm up the car for the safety of the vehicle but it is recommded that you let it idle for one minute after starting. If its for your comfort then just start driving it whenit feels comfortable to u. I've always just let it idle for the minute then it normaly warms up within 5 minutes. oh yeah dont forget the longer u let it warm up the more ur mpg is going to go down.

 

I let it idle down to at least 1K

 

i warm my car up every morning. I let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. She likes it

 

In most states its illegal to let a car idle without anyone in it... here in charlotte it is... this time of year I hear a lot of news about stolen cars from people letting them warm up unattended.

yes id doesn't get that cold down here 530am can get a bit brisk... ha i bitch about 30 deg... im sorry for everyone north.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yobbr5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i warm my car up every morning. I let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. She likes it </TD></TR></TABLE>


whatttt you are crazy... thats just a huge waste of gas.

15 - 20 seconds tops for me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by exhaust_note &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


whatttt you are crazy... thats just a huge waste of gas.

15 - 20 seconds tops for me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You really should wait 1 full minute in order to make sure that enough oil has circulated through the engine and gotten to critical parts before driving.

True though, anything more than that is wasting gas and putting extra wear on the engine. My mom used to idle for 15 -20 minutes in the mornings and after 100K it was clear that there was some serious top end lubrication problems from it. The motor lasted to 250K, but the last couple years of it's life were not too pleasant.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yobbr5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i warm my car up every morning. I let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. She likes it </TD></TR></TABLE>

thats a gang of gas dide. but hey if it works it works, i usually let my car warm up about 1-2 minutes, it doesnt get too cold her in sunny dego. but yeah, oh and just to let some ppl know if they dont know, that for every 1 minutes the car is at idle it uses up the same amount of gas when you start the car, or so ive heard, so just keep that in mind as you let your car idle for long time.

 

Those are exactly the answers I was looking for.

I like to let it warm a bit in case I feel like hitting VTEC past the drug dealers 5 blocks from my house. It gets close to 0 around here in dead winter so i'll probably let it warm up more in a month or so...

 

I dont put it in 1st intill i see at least two bars come up.
I use that time looking for a good playlist on my Ipod.

 

My car is stored so i dont have to worry about warming it up this winter! YEss
but anyhow i usually let the car warm up at least till i have 2 bars. But i also heard that its better to idle for 30 seconds or so and start driving slow since the car warms up faster = less wear.

 

I let it idle til I get settled in (music, climate control, garage door open). Usually it takes just over 30 secs. I never let it idle more than a minute unless it is extremely cold or the windows are fogged or iced up.