Given the frigid temps here in NY, I was wondering if there is a benefit to warming up the car before driving. Typically my car is in a heated garage but today I had to travel to our office in CT for the day. The car will be outside all day and didn't know if I should warm up the engine before I start my return trip home.

Thanks!

 

Modern engines (although this one is ancient in a different way) don't require warm up at start even in cold weather. Just don't rev up much and try to stay below 2.5RPM. Most of the engine wear happens at cold start anyway and advantage of start driving right away that engine will warm up faster than idling. As a matter of fact idling is not recommended.

 

OK thanks!

 

Call me old school (cuz I am) but the what the heck does it hurt to wait for the revs to drop down I figure.

 

I've been doing that for years and never had any problems.

 

I usually try to let it run for a little. But when it is cold or really cold, it can take up to 10 minutes to warm up properly.

When I'm in a rush I keep it in very low rpms. Or at the same range as Eco mode.

 

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Good point... I thought that is what the initial warm up was for, once the revs come down you are good to. I wait...sometimes - my wife, never (no issues yet-knock on wood)

 

I just give'er, its all good. If I have time I warm it up so I don't freeze on my way to work, but if I'm late I get in and go, always done this, never hurt a thing.

 

The anti warm up school of thought came from the idea a fully warm engine made full power and the entire rest of the drive train was full cold and would stress components more than if all were warmed together. Is this true, maybe, maybe not, but it does make logical sense.

 

Doesn't hurt anything. I'm just not convinced it helps anything either. The rest of your drivetrain is still cold, so you still have to take it easy until it's all warmed up. To me, letting it warm up at idle just burns gas unnecessarily.

 

my biggest concerns are the valve guides have a very thin coating of oil with normal operation, when the oil is cold and thick you could cause premature valve guide wear.

also it is harder for oil to get splashed (or squirted depending on if your engine has piston squirters) onto the cylinder walls. you'll notice most any car with a cold engine that gets revved up will smoke blue slightly. this is because oil is getting past the piston, at the very least your consuming oil. at the worst the oil is not being retained on the cylinder walls to prevent premature ring wear as well as connecting rod bearings and main bearings.
the other thing to keep in mind is when your oil is cold and thick it still has to pass through the Oil filter pores and revving the engine will increase the oil pressure such that it can crush the filter media inside the filter. once that happens you essentially have no filter.

transmissions, when the oil is cold and thick it takes longer for the valves to actuate solenoids which operate the bands and clutches and engage different gears. since the motion of these parts is slower it can cause premature wear on the clutches.

now my car lives in a garage, its not exactly heated but because its attached to the house it typically stays about 40 degrees worst case even if its a lot colder outside. when i drive to work in the morning i do not let it warm up, but i rarely get it over 2k rpm until i see some temperature showing on the gauge and never rev the engine until its at full temp.
i can't say how well my engines last because i typically don't keep cars much more than 30k miles.

 

I warm the engine for 30-60 seconds depending on how cold it is, which is almost always enough for the revs to drop; only in extreme cold does it take longer. After that I'll drive away and baby it until it's fully warmed up.

 

I like how in my friends M3, the max rpm range is lower, as indicated by leds, when the engine is cold.