Do you warm up your car??

[SarcasticaLy]

Hey guys,

Sorry if this has been covered but I cant find anything on it. I was just curious who warms up their car every time. Do you warm it up for 5 minutes? A minute? 10 minutes? Thanks for those who care to answer.

 

[socold57]

i warm up my car prior to drives,

 

[joboy77]

It gets as long as it takes for the garage door to open . I'll drive mildly until the temp gets up though.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I don't. But I keep the rpm's as low as possible "shifting at 3k" then once my coolant is up to temp I still wait 5 or so more min before I get on it.

 

[SarcasticaLy]

Very interesting. My diesel mechanic instructor told me he does what you guys are saying, just drive it and it'll warm itself up "naturally". Same thing with turbo timers (when applicable), just drive it and tone it down the last few minutes of the drive and you're good.

 

[grtahoang]

I just wait until the RPM's drop on initial start up then keep the rev's low until it's fully warmed up.

 

[skafia]

I've read the best way to warm up your car is to just drive it extremely slow until it gets to operating temperature.

 

[Nukem]

My personal way of warming it up is back it out of the garage and then give it 30 secounds (long enough to put my seat belt on and plug my phone into the iphone adapter. Then cruise until temps are up. Shift at 3K until then.

 

[Moses]

I don't. But I keep the rpm's as low as possible "shifting at 3k" then once my coolant is up to temp I still wait 5 or so more min before I get on it.

^this^

 

[Honcho]

^this^

+1 Oil takes longer to heat up than water, so even if your coolant is at temp, the oil will take a little longer to get there. On the street, I shift at 3k until warm and then wait another 5-10 min before I get on it. At the track, I keep it under 5k on the warmup/out lap and by lap 2 the car is ready.

 

[DreamPowered]

I always warm my cars up for about 5 minutes. I let oil and water flow throughout the engine and then once im driving it usually warms up within 2 more minutes.
I also let my car idle for 1 minute before turning it off.

 

[geometro]

Just enough till there is movement in the temperature gauge, then easy until it's up to temperature...

 

[crazyukrainian]

+1 to just taking it easy for a few miles. i usually wait a few minutes after its at temp before getting on it (because like some have mentioned, coolant warms up faster than oil), and i also try to take it easy the last few miles of a trip to let it naturally cool down and avoid high rpm stress before turning it off. i do the same for all cars/bikes/etc

 

[NRG TRADR]

I wait until the idle drops then easy cruise shifting around 3k. To add to Honcho's comment about the oil temp - My Dad's C5 Vette has the digital oil temp readout and it's surprising how long it takes the oil to get up to temp after cold start, lagged several minutes behind the water temp under normal driving. Anyone with a gauge in their NSX ever see how long oil takes to reach temp relative to water?

 

[tbnsxt]

Some times I get in and go and some times I warm it up.But I always wait till oil temp is up to full operating temp before getting on it. You know when the oil is at full temp when your oil press gauge reads 2 at idle. That is of coarse if your oil pressure gauge actually works properly.

 

[docjohn]

I short shift till up to temps.

 

[rbilder]

I normally get in, start it up, fumble around getting my sun glasses, putting my seat belt on, slowly back out. I may or may not let it idle, then slowly drive out of the neighborhood.

I drive it mild until the temperatures are up. I've also read where a car will warm up naturally as you drive it as long as you don't just jump in it and fly into VTEC as you pull out. Of course it wouldn't hurt to let it sit and warm up to operation temperature before you take off.

Well it would hurt the environmentalists who would say you are wasting resources.

I'm too impatient.... when "I get the motor running, head out on the highway," Steppenwolf . . . I want to get move'n.

 

[LMR]

I just wait until the RPM's drop on initial start up then keep the rev's low until it's fully warmed up.

Same here.

 

[DRIFTER]

At minimum it gets a 5min warm up. I keep the RPM down until its at operating temp.

 

[Kyras]

It gets as long as it takes for the garage door to open . I'll drive mildly until the temp gets up though.

^Same here.

 

[davidf]

I crack the garage door and start it up, go back in and grab my wallet/gun ect. That usually takes 4/5 minutes. Of course the AC is blasting on high too.

 

[hofffam]

I get in, start the car. Fasten my seat belt. Plug my phone in. Fiddle with the radio. Then I ease off. At this time of year, the temp gauge is almost at normal temps 2 miles from my house. I don't reach a road with highway speeds for another 2 miles. I have no worries about VTEC RPM if appropriate at this time.