Grundy Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Just curious as previous car had a turbo, and I used to always give it a few minutes before driving anywhere. I.e. mornings, leaving work etc Just have the habit of doing it with the Z. Are there benefits or is it fine to drive as soon as starting her up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 On any car I would say you need to warm it up....from a 1 litre Yaris to an Enzo. Definitely worth sticking too bud. Engine, coolant and oil need to get up to optimal temps before any major stress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I give mine a few mins to warm up before starting off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Yup always give it a few mins to warm up! Especially in winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Yep good practice on any car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I generally give it 30-60 seconds before moving it, but don't put my foot down much at all until up to temp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Manual says something about warming it up for a bit. Think it might be 30 seconds. It's safe to drive cold but would never give a cold engine anything more than 2-3k rpm until the temp gauge starts to rise 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Just remember that when the temp needle says you're up to temp, that's only coolant. You're oil will take longer. Esp this time of year when cold oil is like treacle. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Interestingly I read about this a couple of weeks ago. Consensus was once it was relevant but now a myth. That might have been good advice for yesteryear's cars but is less so today. Modern engines warm up more quickly when they're driven. And the sooner they warm up, the sooner they reach maximum efficiency and deliver the best fuel economy and performance. But don't rev the engine high over the first few miles while it's warming up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 So much bad advice here, it hurts. Do NOT leave the car to warm up. Start engine and move away promptly. What you should be doing then is limiting yourself to about half revs until engine oil (not coolant) is warm, so about 10-15 mins before allowing yourself hard throttle and rev-range use. All modern (2000+) vehicles should be driven like this. Leaving a car to idle creates hot spots and can lead to damage long term. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie-B Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 your better driving it softly until the oil temp is up to temp.... Leaving it sitting in the drive ticking over doesn't heat the diff and gear box oil.. so best to drive it softly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 (edited) So much bad advice here, it hurts. Do NOT leave the car to warm up. Start engine and move away promptly. What you should be doing then is limiting yourself to about half revs until engine oil (not coolant) is warm, so about 10-15 mins before allowing yourself hard throttle and rev-range use. All modern (2000+) vehicles should be driven like this. Leaving a car to idle creates hot spots and can lead to damage long term. When I was mad keen on getting a Clio 182, their forums also recommended not leaving the car running stationery... even when scraping the car on a frosty morning as it could increase engine ware. Edited November 15, 2013 by Paddy78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 So much bad advice here, it hurts. Do NOT leave the car to warm up. Start engine and move away promptly. What you should be doing then is limiting yourself to about half revs until engine oil (not coolant) is warm, so about 10-15 mins before allowing yourself hard throttle and rev-range use. All modern (2000+) vehicles should be driven like this. Leaving a car to idle creates hot spots and can lead to damage long term. your better driving it softly until the oil temp is up to temp.... Leaving it sitting in the drive ticking over doesn't heat the diff and gear box oil.. so best to drive it softly Good advice here imo. I generally limit myself to around no more than 2500rpm in any gear until the engines properly up to temperature. So glad I don't have my old 96 Subaru anymore as warming it up & cooling it down (even with turbo timer) was such a ball ache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdg32 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 So are we saying that it's really bad to let the car warm up at idle under any condition? Just thinking what with winter coming up - I'd always start the engine and run for five mins minimum whilst scraping ice, snow etc off the panels and glass. Is it really that bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Got to get on the move so everything warms up not just engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdg32 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 fair shout, but what i mean is will it really damage the engine sitting for 5 mins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 It's not bad just not as good as driving steady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I can't believe that letting any car regardless of age idle for a while would do harm, are you telling me letting it idle will get anything in the bay anywhere close to the temperatures those components will get to on a track day or after a long motorway run? Letting it idle and then ragging it immediately afterwards may not be a good idea though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdg32 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 yes, there seems to be 2 theories these days, and it's still not clear-cut which one is correct: 1) that idling is perfectly fine - better than pulling away straight away, and a viable way to begin warming the engine; 2) that idling wears the engine, and that starting off straight away at low revs is the best policy for damage limitation. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevoD Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I dont think letting it idle will cause issue what happens if i pull out into traffic? but i would say steady driving to warm gearbox/diff/tyres is bet option, not letting it warm up to temp for 15 min think its warm and ragging a cold diff and box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdg32 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 i rarely take it above 2k revs until a good 10-15 mins have passed, more like 15 in current conditions. as others have said, the warm water temp doesn't always mean warm oil i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I can't believe that letting any car regardless of age idle for a while would do harm, are you telling me letting it idle will get anything in the bay anywhere close to the temperatures those components will get to on a track day or after a long motorway run? It's not about excess of heat, it's lack of even heat. You will not be warming up all parts of the engine equally as nothing will be circulating with any force, so you end with parts of the block suffering from different rates of thermal expansion. As an extreme example, imagine cylinder 1 having loads of heat because it's right next to the oil pump and water pump, but cylinder 6 is furthest away and so you have one side of the engine expanding at a much different rate. This can lead to things like bore scoring and cylinder walls destabilising. Don't get me wrong, neither of which are likely to happen to the Zed as the engine is a good 'un, but by introducing the possibility you can be opening a can of worms. It's okay to leave things idling after a hard run (i.e. cooling down on a trackday) as everything is nicely warm and even, but to start a stone cold engine and then leave it is not best practice. Admittedly some older cars do require a certain amount of idling before moving off, but that's by design and a result of older manufacturing techniques. I dont think letting it idle will cause issue what happens if i pull out into traffic? Well that cannot be helped, but by that point you've already started a better circulation of the engine fluids by simply moving away so you're already reaping the benefits. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not for one moment suggesting that leaving your car idling for 5 mins in the morning is going to cause any sort of damage you'd probably ever notice, but it does introduce the possibility. For me, I would always seek to reduce that risk of giving myself grief in the future, but each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 So much bad advice here, it hurts. Do NOT leave the car to warm up. Start engine and move away promptly. What you should be doing then is limiting yourself to about half revs until engine oil (not coolant) is warm, so about 10-15 mins before allowing yourself hard throttle and rev-range use. All modern (2000+) vehicles should be driven like this. Leaving a car to idle creates hot spots and can lead to damage long term. When I was mad keen on getting a Clio 182, their forums also recommended not leaving the car running stationery... even when scraping the car on a frosty morning as it could increase engine ware. It was to do with the dephaser pulley which if went was a cambelt out job, which is a massive job. I think, could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I never ever left my Zed to 'warm up' I just took it steady for the first few minutes whatever the weather, never had an issue and it ran as sweetly at 110k as it did when it ledt the factory Sent from the golf club... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Its very dangerous to leave your car to warm up..My neighbour last Winter left his Merc on his driveway warming the engine, he went in to get an ice scraper when he came back out some "spotty scrote" was ragging it down the road..!! :scare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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