[derrick603]

I start driving right away, but conservatively until the oil is warmed up. The way I see it, if cold oil is bad, then why would you want your engine to run with cold oil longer than necessary? Conservative driving will warm the oil up much more quickly than idle, and will actually get you some miles and emissions to the gallon of fuel.

[WilliamS]

I jump in and drive off. No reasons to wait even on most older fuel injected cars. As for really romping on it, I let the JB4 give the go ahead.

[pepsih]

i wait about 2-3 minutes in my car to warm up then for the next couple of miles I don't exeed 3K rpm ( sometimes even 2k rpm).
in cold weather the temperature of the car after 22 miles (city/highway) is like 200. so must of the time i dont event go higher than 3500rpm on daily basis

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Why is it the factory engineers are so dumb with their recommendations & some guy on the internet with zero training is so smart that you follow his advice?

+ 1 on the JB4 telling you when is good to run hard.

[2wheelsrbetter]

start button press and clutch drop are simultaneous

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by BEAR-AvHistory

Why is it the factory engineers are so dumb with their recommendations & some guy on the internet with zero training is so smart that you follow his advice?

+ 1 on the JB4 telling you when is good to run hard.

Ever been to Germany? It is, after all, home of the Greens, and every motor manufacturer grovels to avoid offending them.

The restrictions on warming up without driving off are all about placating the Greens.

It makes absolute sense to baby the engine and transmission until they are warmed up, and although I would not sit warming up for 10 minutes, if it were really cold, sub-zero I would probably wait 2 minutes and then no playtime until the oil is at least 75c (which the manual recommends, in fact), which means light throttle and no more than 3k revs.

Even if the oil is fully effective at low temperatures the thermal expansion of the various engine components can never be exactly equal, and so gaps and tolerances will vary.

Stuff the Greens, I say

[Scirocco kid]

Wait until the rpms drop then go

[mynycbimmer]

not driving the car too hard until the oil warms up sounds like a good idea, but what exactly is "too hard", RPMs over 3000?

i have to join a very busy highway within 2 min of my morning commute so i typically have to gun it a bit on the entry ramp. i hope this isn't doing any long term damage to the car, once on i keep the RPMs low.

[AndyR83]

Sadly, mine sleeps outdoors. On bitter cold mornings, I have to wait for the windshield to defrost and/or be scraped anyway.

[NathanOfSeattle]

I only wait long enough to get situated, and favorite radio station or music going before starting to drive.

[DUI Elite]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Seems dangerous to drive off immediately on a 20 degree day.
So you're saying our cars are "advanced enough" to just be primed to go at a moment's notice? Wouldn't that be the equivalent of just drop kicking someone out of a sound sleep?
Doesn't the engine need oil to run with best results?

This.

All the hero's defending the manual can go ahead and do just that. Theyre ignoring common sense. Viscosity changes at lower temps so letting it warm for a min isnt harming anything.

Idling for 15 min could though because it makes you run LEAN.

At any rate, avoid heavy acceleration or 3000+rpm until at operating temps.

You dont need the oil temp gauge to see if youre at operating temp. The digital oil level check in the onboard computer or idrive only gives you a reading when at operating temps. Otherwise it gives you a spinning "loading" icon.

[gds52]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

I tend to wait. Old school habits will die hard I guess.

lol...same here.

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by straightcashhomie

I do exactly what the manual says... They say it's better to let the engine and tranny warm up at the same time by just driving off, then to sit there and just let the engine warm up alone. I wait at least 1 minute until my rpms drop a little and then leave.

I wait for the RPMs to steady around 600-700 and then go.

[Game]

Originally Posted by Eric335

I wait for the RPMs to steady around 600-700 and then go.

Damn I go at 900. Then again in Florida it probably doesn't take a while to get there.

[the_awakening]

Originally Posted by Tony B

Ever been to Germany? It is, after all, home of the Greens, and every motor manufacturer grovels to avoid offending them.

The restrictions on warming up without driving off are all about placating the Greens.

It makes absolute sense to baby the engine and transmission until they are warmed up, and although I would not sit warming up for 10 minutes, if it were really cold, sub-zero I would probably wait 2 minutes and then no playtime until the oil is at least 75c (which the manual recommends, in fact), which means light throttle and no more than 3k revs.

Even if the oil is fully effective at low temperatures the thermal expansion of the various engine components can never be exactly equal, and so gaps and tolerances will vary.

Stuff the Greens, I say

An excellent point. People shouldn't assume that the car is "warm" just because the climate control is blowing warm air. Your coolant being up to temperature does not mean that the entire engine is.

For this reason I'm quite happy that I have an oil temp gauge in my current car. Coming from an e46, which had a coolant temp gauge, and an e60, which had no temp gauge whatsoever, I am glad to actually have a temp gauge that allows me to better estimate the temperature of my engine.

I just think it's perfectly logical to wait until driving it hard...

[E92GRL]

agree with the people who drive the car right away... just let the oil temp heat up before you jump on the gas and go fast...

[4DRSpeed]

I wait till the RPMs come down to idle and off I go.

[MGT81]

Originally Posted by roundel335

I wait until the fast idle settles back to normal with the car in neutral and clutch out, then drive off and keep it under 4K RPMs until the oil temp gauge comes off the peg - this last part particularly in colder weather.

^ This

[BEAR-AvHistory]

The Greens & the guys in black helicopters make them tell you to drive off right away so they can save the world, give me a break. If the car had an oil pressure gauge you would see the oil pressure is up before you could move your hand from the starter button to the shift lever to move the car. Typically idle speed has a lower pressure then say 1500/2000rpm's full oil pressure there is no reason not to drive the car.

Back in the bad old days of 3K oil changes forged pistons were slapping around & rattling in their holes till they got warm & expanded. Like 3k oil changes we don’t need to do that stuff any more because the metallurgy & assembly tolerances are much better.

We are also running 0 & 5 weight multigrade oil for its cold flow characteristics in the cold weather not straight 30 & 40 weight like in an ‘60’s muscle car. The other end of the number 20 30 40 is its performance hot.

I drive easy till the JB4 flashes that the oil is up to 160 degrees F. I also have a gauge hijack for water temp on my gas gauge & noticed the water comes up very fast in this car.

[raj55]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Seems dangerous to drive off immediately on a 20 degree day.
So you're saying our cars are "advanced enough" to just be primed to go at a moment's notice? Wouldn't that be the equivalent of just drop kicking someone out of a sound sleep?
Doesn't the engine need oil to run with best results?

If you are using a 0W-30 oil i minus 20C temp, you are going to get the oil in your engine and you can drive straight away. The law in Sweden does not allow you to idle for more than few minutes (less than 2 min?). People usually start the car and scrape ice off the windscreen and move away. I usually scrape off ice first, then start and move away. The seat heater is very good and warms quickly compensating for the car heater delay

[BmerMeUp]

Originally Posted by BEAR-AvHistory

... I also have a gauge hijack for water temp on my gas gauge & noticed the water comes up very fast in this car.

Very clever. Just added that to my list of things to do!

[ken1137]

Modern cars with direct injection (electronic) do not require a long warm up. 25 seconds at 25 F and 60 seconds at 10F or below is adequate. Just enough time to get the fluids moving, but dont drive hard until the car is completely warmed up. The catalytic converter needs to warm up and will do so when the car is moving. Idling for long periods in general is not very good for the car. As mentioned in previous posts changes were made throughout the years to automobiles due to emission controls across the world.