warm it up!

[boogz]

Hey Guys,

Just want the general consensus and potentially technical guide on warming up before driving off...

On another thread I mentioned I warmed up my car for about 5 mintues before driving on the road and was kindly told that it was probably doing more harm than good. Probably true, but want to hear from everyone else as well. Plus it's an exuse to get a thread going... hehehe...

Would love to hear your input....

[Manaz]

Interesting question - one I've thought about myself quite a bit.

I generally don't spend a lot of time warming my car up - but I do try to drive sedately until the temperature needle starts to swing upwards.

I don't know that warming up is necessary these days with oil technology being what it is, but I'm no mechanic, and would definitely like to hear the opinion of someone with better knowledge than I!

[Arctra]

My understanding is that with Diesels it's better to do what Manaz said. The diesel engine needs to work in order to not glaze the bore. Start car and drive sedately till the engine is warm before caning it. Usually 5 to 10 minutes of driving depending on ambient temps and how hard the engine is working. The temp needle is usually for your coolant temp, not oil temp, so I wait for even longer than when the needle hits ideal temp.

[WABIT]

lol, there is no need to warm up new cars, some vw models even have pre warmed water flowing through the radiator upon startup!

warming up is old news now

dom

[rayray086]

Yeah I remember reading my Golf's manual and my sister's Polo's manual (both Mk3) and it says in bold writing that there's no need to let the car sit, rather just drive once you started but not to give it stick. Their reasoning was that using the car straight off will help warm up the car faster than if it was just idling away.

[SoVeReIgN]

I usually let car idle just long enough for it's initial high idle to calm(~1minute) and get oil flowing, baby it until it hits operating temp, then drive sedately for 5~10mins after that to get the oil up to temp.

All my cars get treated nicely.

[Mrk_Mickey]

I do what most do here..just keep it steady for a few minutes. I turn the car on and turn music on, so I've got around about 20 seconds of idling which I think is more than mandatory before I drive 'carefully' for 5 or 10 minutes.

[Rocket36]

In my R36, I wait for the auto choke to lower the revs back to regular idle and then drive away. Definitely don't drive it hard until it's at 90 degrees but other than that it's all good.

[chris.]

i always let mine warm up to operating temp before i drive but i dont think its nesesary on a non heavily modded car but i just do it because i love her and i do everything else to try and keep her happy & ive been in the habit for years now

[Greg Roles]

Just drive it sedately, and as mentioned the "90" degree mark on the temp gauge is anywhere from about 82 to 98, and the oil takes approx twice as long to reach it's 80 degree operating temps in my oiler. The oil temps only start to rise as the water temp shows towards "90".

Your TSI will warm up quite quickly given the fact it's a gasser, has high boost pressures, and consequently high exhaust temps. As a comparison, on a 10-20 degree day, my diesel has idle exhaust temps only around 100 degrees, and I've seen 70 degrees backed off down a hill. You need to boost it a bit to warm it up, and all turbo's are the same.

All the wear happens on the first few dry revolutions on initial start anyhow, sitting there for five minutes adding to greenhouse gas doesn't help that fact.

[gti]

I think it runs better and sounds better without warming it up but I still wait about 20 secs or so before driving off.

[mikepologti]

yeps i let her idle till the auto choke backs off then drive her nice till the 90 degree mark

[dubbed]

As has been said, modern cars should be driven moderately until the temp is at operating temperature.

You should never leave a new car idling for long or run it on a light load as you can glaze the bores. I also think this is true to a degree for a car that has been run in but idles constantly.

[brad]

Start car & drive out of garage. Press garage remote & wait at top of driveway long enough for door to close, put on seatbelt, plug in phone, adjust A/C & get comfy. Drive off & try and keep revs below 3000rpm until the temp gauge is halfway.

Sitting in the drive idling might warm the engine but it does nothing for the gearbox oil, wheel bearing grease, brakes, etc.

[Flaps]

lol, there is no need to warm up new cars, some vw models even have pre warmed water flowing through the radiator upon startup!

warming up is old news now

dom

I disagree.

It takes 15mins from start up for my Oil Temp gauge to reach 90-100 degree's where it stays for normal driving. It takes 5mins for the water temp gauge to reach middle(90) and by this time the oil temp still hasn't moved from 60 degrees(bottom of the dial).

I start mine and let the auto choke finish then I move off keeping the revs down for the first 5 mins.