I live in NJ and winter is here. In the morning it is about 30-40 degrees F. I wanted to know if I should let the car heat up for a while before going. If so, how long should I wait before driving? I know this is a stupid question but I don't want to mess up my baby.

 

a few minutes is fine, you arent going to hurt it. just make sure you dont try and drive in any sort of snowy conditions on the stock tires. thats a recipe for disaster.

 

and dont drive it like u stole it right after starting up.

 

thanks you guys

 

It's a good idea to let it warm up for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your climate. Longer than that and you're just wasting fuel. Then, take it easy (keep the revs low, less than 50% throttle, etc.) until the engine is up to operating temperature. Don't go by the coolant temperature, it's more important that the oil is fully warmed up. In the absence of an oil temperature gauge, watch for the oil pressure to stabilize (~65 PSI@ 3000RPM).

 

Agree. Start the car. Wait 60 seconds and drive off. Motors reach operating temperature by driving not sitting. Stay below, say, 3,000 RPM until the temperature gage moves. Then its OK to hit the gas.

And a note about cold weather and traction. Its not good. You can warm the tires, but if the road surface is cold (40 degrees or less) traction suffers.

 

+1 to davids comments. I usually wait about 30-60 seconds before getting moving. And make sure you wait until its reached operating temps (needle moves) before you get into it too much.