Lex_Giorgio

Does anyone here warm up the car before driving and/or let the turbo cool down before turning off the car?

Darqhelmet

Both previous cars of mine were turbos. I always let them get out of fast idle on start up and let the temp gauge start to move before pushing much load to the motor. Almost always got them to operating temp before going over 50% of engine speed. The problem with not waiting is your oil isn't protecting the bearing and you can cook them almost instantly if you pull hard on a cold motor. Especially in the winter. As for cooling down you are mainly worried about the turbo spooling down in RPM before you cut the oil to it for the same reason. Once you shut your motor off the oil stops and if you're still spinning over 100K on the turbo you're going to end up with a bad bearing from having to spin down with out lubrication. If you are driving calm the last couple minutes before I you park give it a solid 45 seconds before you cut the engine. If you have been driving like a maniac you're going to need to give it a couple min at idle.

zhifan1

I always let the rpm come down to <1k before moving off in the morning. As per the manual stated, if travelling >60mph for an extended period of time, let it cool for about a min before turning off the engine. Most times by the time i park, it would have already been a brief period off the highway anyway.

E46CT

I figure unless you're at a track, this won't matter. By the time you get off the highway, stop at lights, and drive to your drive way, a minute would have long passed.

mcomer

Still waiting for the electric motor experts at Toyota/Lexus to connect one to the
turbo to answer just about every possible turbo trouble. Turbo lag? just spin up
with a jolt. Hot bearings after shut down? Draw them down as in our Hybrids by
generating a bit of electricity. No torque at idle? Punch in the boost. Eliminates
the need for waste gates (gonna miss the sound of them however!)

premier3IS

I do the same on startup, let RPM dip below 1k before moving. As far as turning it off, I don't wait.

nealw

iTrader: (1)

I checked my owners manual pg 157 and this is what is recommended:
●IS200t only: Make sure to idle the engine immediately after high speed driving or hill climbing. Stop the engine only after the turbocharger has cooled down. Failure to do so may cause damage to the turbocharger

E46CT

There's a lot of ambiguity in that. Nobody drives "high speed" then immediately shuts off the car and goes to sleep. There's typically a point when you get off the freeway and drive/stop/wait at lights, etc., or simply driving around the neighborhood. Also there's no turbo temp indicator on the dash, so how would one know when "the turbocharger has cooled down."

It's a mass produced mainstream street car. I don't think there's any danger here if you don't sit in your driveway like a buffoon waiting for your "turbos to cool down yo"

It's a 250 hp street car. Not a drag strip 1000 hp supra. Don't overthink this, you'll be fine. Just drive it like any other car.

If you do happen to track it and pull it into the pit lanes/waiting area after, THEN yes you should idle your car just as you would with even an NA car like a Miata or something. That's what I always did when I tracked my cars. Let the coolant circulate. But even then only a minute or two. nothing crazy. Cars are overbuilt more than you think and doesn't take long for temps to normalize after what YOU think is "hard driving"

Lex_Giorgio

lol all the good remote starters have built-in turbo timers for this reason... but regardless, good info here everyone! Thanks!