How important is it to let your engine warm up before you drive your vehicile? I usually try and let the temp guage read the normal temperater before i drive.

How should this be done? Wait about 5 min depending on the time of day and outside temp?

 

i usually let my engine warm up before putting any sort of load on it. Driving, A/C and such. just to be sure the oil is warm and flowing good. but i've also heard it's not madatory either.

 

yea well do you think it will hurt to just idle around like no put any throttle on? I mean the rpms dont change when you are in drive and idling.

 

I start mine and drive.

 

i start up my car and drive away. it's not bad to drive your car when the engine is cold as long as you aren't hard on it. i won't go over 3.5k rpms, give it anything close to full throttle, or turn up the bass loud until its warm.. but i'll still drive it. no need to waste gas warming the car up for 5 minutes unless its freezing cold outside and you need the heat.

 

for my car its mandatory to let the oil temp warm up from a cold start or VTEC will not engage and my car will set a lower rev limit until the motor has reached normal driving temp.

for safety and efficiency

 

i don't have VTEC. i just do it to make sure everything is all lubed up before i put a load on it. =\

 

I'm glad I'm not in Northern Michigan any more, I hated plugging in the block heaters . I don't see the need in warming up the engine, as stated before though. Don't go racing before it's warmed up to normal operating temp.

 

The most wear and tear is done on a cold engine, its very important you are not hard on a cold engine. The oil needs time to circulate and warm up a bit.

In FL warming up may not be a factor since it stays warm just about all year. When I was in climates of 20 degrees I would start the car, run back in the house and get breakfast, then leave.

I guess if you care about your car you will let it heat up a bit before running it hard.

 

I warm my car 4 2min b4 I drive, and until the car has reached ideal temp I keep rpms under 3k.

More important to warm up carburated vehicles.