Usually I warm my car and even my truck up to operating temp before I drive it winter or summer. I warm my vehicles up ~ 10 minutes before I leave work every day.

Yesterday I entered a lively debate with my coworker about warming up vehicles before they are driven. He says that getting in the car and driving to warm the motor is better. Long story short he pulled up what I thought was going to be imrightf**koff.com but what he showed me was from popular mechanics. Then I got really interested, now I want to know what you think.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...-harms-engine/

Its a fairly short article, less than a page. I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong forum as well I thought General was most appropriate.

 

I drive right away. I also don't gun it to 88 in the first couple of minutes.

I also live in SoCal, where we don't have winter.

The article you linked is making it seem like warming up your engine before driving is a cardinal sin and will destroy your engine from the inside out.. bordering on fear-mongering. I know plenty of people that warm up their cars and they havn't had to replace any piston rings..

 

Get in and drive, if I lived in sub freezing conditions I may let it warm up for a minute before I leave. When it's down to the 30's I don't rev it over 3k till the needle is at lease 1/4 for coolant temp

 

I tend to let it warm up for 20-30 seconds while i buckle up, put the phone away, get the radio where I want, etc...

Something the article didnt mention (that changed my mind) when your engine is at idle, your oil pressure is relatively low. If your oil pressure is low then you are not lubricating the engine internals at a lower rate than if your engine was operating at a normal range...

 

I usually run outside to start my car, then run back inside and pack my lunch, put on my jacket, and then go back out to my car. So I figure about 2 minutes, and I keep the revs low until it gets to operating temperature.

If everything is frozen, that is a different story...

 

I start my car go back inside try to plop a squat kiss the wifey goodbye and then go to work... Mostly because it's cold as **** and I dont like freezing my *** off on my way to work...

In the summer I dont warm anything up just keep the rpms down till it reaches operating temperature.

Also warm Z up most every time I drive it because its not a daily driver and I think it would appreciate a little warm up time.

I start my work truck and let that **** warm up for 15-20minutes before I drive always because the turbo diesel doesnt like to move when it's cold.

Wifey auto starts her car and lets it warm up every day also... Little colder here in Massachusetts though.

Haven't needed any internal engine parts yet, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

same

 

At initial startup in the morning is when all of the possible damage occurs, the oil has settled to the oil pan. If its below freezing warm up the car a minute or two to get the oil viscosity down.

 

Living in Colorado, subzero temps don't bother the Z. Just don't go WOT right off the bat. The only part that really needs to be warmed up the nut behind the wheel.

 

i been warming up my Z for about 5 to 10 mins going to work and coming back from work been my work car for almost 5 years no problems so far and im at 186k still running strong.

 

I had to re-read that first line to realize it was a punctuation error, not something dirty.

Oh, warm for 20 seconds then ease away, short shifting until normal op temp.

 

190k on my 06. No idle warm up. Just drive it responsibly until operating temp

 

I live in a climate where winter temperatures are below freezing for 3-4 months, and sometimes goes below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

I never “warm-up” my Z. I start the car and drive off. I have >100k miles on the car, and the engine is like new.

 

Remote start, warm up usually 5 mins then I'm out..

 

Same...

 

I usually pull away a minute after oil pressure settles down. Drive reasonably till temp.

 

I don't usually drive my z when it's really cold. If I do, I let it warm up while I'm scraping windows and then go. My dd warms up 15-20 minutes before I leave for work.

 

Warmer months I idle the vehicle for 30 seconds to maybe a minute and a half, just enough to let the oil get pumping in the motor then drive away easy until the temperature gauge hits operating temperature.

Colder months remote start the vehicles and let them idle for at least 5-8 minutes depending on how cold it is.

 

Same for both my Z and my Spec

 

I also agree with letting the vehicle idle for a short while if you've been driving it hard.