To Warm up or Not to Warm up
02-28-2008, 10:15 AM
#1
Heel & Toe
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To Warm up or Not to Warm up
That is the question. Live in MD, at what temp do you guys warm up in the morning (your cars of Course), Right now it is feeling about 35 F in the mornings. Do you guys just start and ride slow? Start and Idle? or start and Merge onto the Highway at 95 MPH. I have heard it is terrible on your car to idle, and I have also heard it is terrible to not let it idle. Your thoughts please?
02-28-2008, 10:26 AM
#2
Team Owner
I would strongly recommend either start and idle or start and drive slowly.
I would NOT recommend start and thrash. Give the oil a chance to come up in temperature.
I would NOT recommend start and thrash. Give the oil a chance to come up in temperature.
02-28-2008, 11:00 AM
#3
Melting Slicks
Yeah its a pretty simple question anytime you have mechanical parts with oil the oil needs to be at a certain operating temp before it can properly lubricate. This goes for engine oil, tranny oil, differential oil etc etc. What I was always told is to start the car and go on your way driving NORMALLY until all fluids have reached a good operating temp. Anyone here who says they let their engine warm up and idle for 10 minutes is wasting gas and doing their engine NO good whatsoever infact I have heard its bad to start and let idle for periods of time.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
02-28-2008, 11:27 AM
#4
Race Director
Yeah its a pretty simple question anytime you have mechanical parts with oil the oil needs to be at a certain operating temp before it can properly lubricate. This goes for engine oil, tranny oil, differential oil etc etc. What I was always told is to start the car and go on your way driving NORMALLY until all fluids have reached a good operating temp. Anyone here who says they let their engine warm up and idle for 10 minutes is wasting gas and doing their engine NO good whatsoever infact I have heard its bad to start and let idle for periods of time.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
Pretty simple.
02-28-2008, 11:44 AM
#5
Race Director
I typically start the car put on my seat belt and get comfortable. takes about 60 seconds and then I slowly drive off. Once the car gets warmed up (oil & water) to around 150 degrees I drive it more aggressively.
02-28-2008, 11:45 AM
#6
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St. Jude Donor '05-'06
it is unnecessary to warm up car now-a-days, just let the oil pressure get to normal then you can drive off.
02-28-2008, 11:50 AM
#7
Melting Slicks
Yeah its a pretty simple question anytime you have mechanical parts with oil the oil needs to be at a certain operating temp before it can properly lubricate. This goes for engine oil, tranny oil, differential oil etc etc. What I was always told is to start the car and go on your way driving NORMALLY until all fluids have reached a good operating temp. Anyone here who says they let their engine warm up and idle for 10 minutes is wasting gas and doing their engine NO good whatsoever infact I have heard its bad to start and let idle for periods of time.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
I'll drive it lightly (under 3k RPM) until I see oil temps crest 180 degrees...
02-28-2008, 12:12 PM
#8
Race Director
letting the car sit and idle for a few minuets won't hurt the car anymore than starting it and driving it off while the oil is cold and keeping it under 3k rpm. I've always let my cars warm up and they drive much better once the idle has kicked down a bit.
02-28-2008, 12:19 PM
#9
Pro
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Yeah its a pretty simple question anytime you have mechanical parts with oil the oil needs to be at a certain operating temp before it can properly lubricate. This goes for engine oil, tranny oil, differential oil etc etc. What I was always told is to start the car and go on your way driving NORMALLY until all fluids have reached a good operating temp. Anyone here who says they let their engine warm up and idle for 10 minutes is wasting gas and doing their engine NO good whatsoever infact I have heard its bad to start and let idle for periods of time.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
Also, anytime I see someone start their engines and rev the crap out of it right away, or go flooring it out of the neighborhood I just kind of cringe but whatever I guess its not my car.
Start the engine and drive easily is the best thing you can do.
02-28-2008, 12:24 PM
#11
Drifting
02-28-2008, 12:27 PM
#12
Racer
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The engine isn't the only thing that needs to be warmed up, transmission and rear end need to get to operating temps too. Because of this, I start it, put my seatbelt on, then take off at a slow pace for about 5 minutes.
02-28-2008, 12:53 PM
#14
Safety Car
Ill let it warm up for a few minutes, especially if its a colder day.
02-28-2008, 01:05 PM
#15
Safety Car
For me, it depends on the temperature outside. (this is with my truck, btw... but I'd do the same with any car).
If it's above 30-ish, I'm good with 30 seconds of idle and then I drive gentle to normal for 5-10 minutes.
Closer to 0 degrees, I let it idle a couple minutes, until I see the rpm's drop from a high idle to a lower one; then drive gentle to normal.
From -20 to 0, I'll let it idle 5 minutes first;
If it's below -20 it gets about 5 minutes and then I drive it slowly; but not because I want to... but because the other fluids are so darn thick that I can't even coast down a vertical incline! It seriously sucks when my trans fluid and diff lube are SO cold that I can't even roll down a steep hill like my driveway without applying throttle.
In every case, I never like to drive hard until I'm sure my fluids are all warm and fuzzy.
If it's above 30-ish, I'm good with 30 seconds of idle and then I drive gentle to normal for 5-10 minutes.
Closer to 0 degrees, I let it idle a couple minutes, until I see the rpm's drop from a high idle to a lower one; then drive gentle to normal.
From -20 to 0, I'll let it idle 5 minutes first;
If it's below -20 it gets about 5 minutes and then I drive it slowly; but not because I want to... but because the other fluids are so darn thick that I can't even coast down a vertical incline! It seriously sucks when my trans fluid and diff lube are SO cold that I can't even roll down a steep hill like my driveway without applying throttle.
In every case, I never like to drive hard until I'm sure my fluids are all warm and fuzzy.
02-28-2008, 01:35 PM
#18
Melting Slicks
This is exactly what I do. In fact, since I do a lot more short trips than I do long trips, I have my electronic gages set so that the oil temperature is always displayed by default.
02-28-2008, 02:44 PM
#20
Melting Slicks
