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That is to say you can redline it after taking off after a cold start up. You should still give the car time to warm up, NOT ONLY to ENGINE operating temp, but transmission and DIFF operating temp as well (many, even enthusiasts, overlook this detail) BEFORE driving aggressively.
But as far as warming it up before you drive away (normally), not necessary. And to take a step further, it's actually harmful. Not terribly harmful but still harmful.
One of the common misconceptions and guy things I really hate seeing/reading about. "I LET MY CAR WARM UP BEFORE I TAKE OFF IN THE MORNING"
they think they're doing good. they're actually doing bad.
Originally Posted by E46CT
The best for your car is starting it up and driving away immediately. "Warming it up" does more harm than good. I can elaborate on this extensively.That is to say you can redline it after taking off after a cold start up. You should still give the car time to warm up, NOT ONLY to ENGINE operating temp, but transmission and DIFF operating temp as well (many, even enthusiasts, overlook this detail) BEFORE driving aggressively.
But as far as warming it up before you drive away (normally), not necessary. And to take a step further, it's actually harmful. Not terribly harmful but still harmful.
One of the common misconceptions and guy things I really hate seeing/reading about. "I LET MY CAR WARM UP BEFORE I TAKE OFF IN THE MORNING"
they think they're doing good. they're actually doing bad.
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That being said, you shouldn't floor it after only 2 minutes of driving. The oil takes time to come up to temp as E46CT said. My rule of thumb, even on a warm day, is no less than 10 minutes of driving before giving it anything more than moderate throttle, but I up that to 15 minutes in the winter. Also, coolant temp is not the same as oil temp... So if the gauge is reading in the middle, that doesn't mean it's time to go racing... yet.
Absolutely agree. Nowadays, car engines are built to start and go - you'd really be wasting gas for it warming up (unless you have it remote started and are wanting the inside cabin to be nice and comfy...) As stated above, I wouldn't go ahead and immediately go out and race the car upon initial start up but normal driving actually would be beneficial.Originally Posted by arentz07
The engine warms up a lot faster if you are putting load on it. If it's just parked, you are actually allowing the engine to continue to run at a cold temperature for longer, which means the engine gets more wear.That being said, you shouldn't floor it after only 2 minutes of driving. The oil takes time to come up to temp as E46CT said. My rule of thumb, even on a warm day, is no less than 10 minutes of driving before giving it anything more than moderate throttle, but I up that to 15 minutes in the winter. Also, coolant temp is not the same as oil temp... So if the gauge is reading in the middle, that doesn't mean it's time to go racing... yet.
As far as the "break-in" period discussion, newer cars really don't need this at all unlike the older predecessors (I'm talking like 2000s and previous, if that). TBH, for our cars, I think this is to get the car to fulfill a complete drive cycle so the ECU can learn your driving habits. Again, aside from stupid and unnecessarily aggressive driving on a new car, you would be fine without a "break-in" period but for the purposes of product liability/responsibility I really feel that every automaker puts this out as a precaution. There's no harm in following, but there's also no harm in not following their precautions to a T.