Well as my topic title says, why do we warm up cars in the morning? I never understood why,please excuse my unexperience and lack of knowledge since I am of that age. Is it because we won't see the "Smoke" on our tail pipes? Lol

 

when it is cold, the oil is thicker.. so engine wont run as good. Also it is nice to drive a warm car when it is -20 F outside.

 

and, you are supposed to warm it up before taking off because as the metal in both the pistons and the cylinders expands, it expands at different rates because they are each made of different types of metal. if you take off right after starting up, the piston may expand a lot faster than the cylinder, causing a nasty lockup. you shouldnt run into this problem on a day-to-day driver, but when you start adding performance parts it can happen.

and im not talking about just driving it, im more talking about how some people will start their car in the morning and take off winding out each gear.

 

All vehicles warm up. It's a misconception that you should do it in idle. Just warm it by driving smooth initially.

As it states in your Owner's Manual,-"The multiport fuel injection system/sequential multiport fuel injection system in your engine automatically controls the proper fuel-air mixture for starting....Engine should be warmed up by driving, not in idle. For warming up drive with smoothly turning engine until engine coolent temperature is within normal range."

 

Warming up a car is completely unnecessary. Modern cars don't need to be warmed up at all -- even where there is real winter. You start the car, you put it in gear, and if it goes -- and doesn't stall -- it's ready to go. Driving the car at a moderate speed, without hard acceleration, for a few minutes is the fastest way to warm up an engine. You don't want to jump right on the highway and floor it; three to five minutes of ``in town'' driving is all it needs. f it's bitterly cold out, like 10 degrees, you might let the engine idle for 30 seconds or a minute, just to allow the oil to fully circulate and heat up a bit. But otherwise, warming up a car is a complete waste of time and gasoline.

 

i like to let mine warm up for about 2 minutes, because if i don't, the tranny shifts like crap

 

Wow. This is absolute bunk - sorry man, but it is.
If this were the case, AAA would need a tow-truck for every other car on the road.

Start, put into gear, drive.
Yes, flooring it is bad - start out smoothly and slowly, and after a couple of miles, it's warm.
My tC warms faster than any car I've owned.

Scott

 

I don't let mine 'warm up' per say... I just let it idle down from like 1500 - 2000 RPMs down to around 1k or so...

After it does that, I go...

 

*inexperience

You're welcome =)

I always thought it was just easier on the car if you warm it up, but I guess I've been doin' it wrong (in idle) .

What a waste of gas it's been. I always warm up my car while I brush my teeth or something. Or sometimes while it's warming up I like to give 'er a rub down with some microfibers to keep 'er spiffy. Warming up the engine is like bonding time, spiritual time...

 

tg you weren't sitting in there revving it. we all make mistakes.

 

i let my car warm up for 30 seconds at the beginning of each day to just let the fluids circulate.

 

Well no, it's true for the most part. The idea is that you don't run your car hard until the metal of the engine finishes expanding (usually a couple minutes after your coolant tempurature reaches normal). I've never heard of it locking up a piston, but the parts will develop imperfections and you'll see a degradation of engine life over the long term. This is part of why a used car that was owned by a gentle owner will often compression test much better cylinder pressures than one that was ragged on by an idiot kid, etc.

 

You must not have winter where you live if you think 10 degrees is bitterly cold. Try 60 below zero...now that is bitterly cold. Ten degrees above zero is a nice day in the winter time where I live. haha

When I get in my car for my morning commute, I start the car, then put on my seat belt. That is my car's warm up. Then, I pull out onto the street for a nice, leisurely drive to work. Cars today are built to be driven after they are started...they don't really need to be warmed up.

 

i just hop in and drive, keep it under 3k rpm for 8-10 minutes and it's all set.

 

The first part about different metals expanding at different rates is of course true. I was talking about the next bit. Engines and tolerances and metals are so well refined that his scenario will not happen in a modern or even semi-modern IC engine.

Scott

 

'Warming up' is an old concept that doesn't apply to modern cars. Now, if you owned a '57 Vette...that's a different story.

 

My car warms up in about 1 or 2 minutes of normal (under 3k RPM) driving.. no reason to wait 8 or 10 minutes.

 

the only true reason we shoudl let our cars (tC) "warm up" is because our tranny is complete garbage and SUCKS butt to shift when its cold...i hate it, i wish it didnt suck but never the less...

 

my take is that cold engine doesnt have good lubrication since the oil sits on the bottom, especially those cars that hasnt been running for several days.

Let the car warms up for a minute or two, let the oil pump does its job lubricating all the pistons internal parts.

 

i don't rememeber if the tc manual said it but on my vw jetta is says to not warm up the car by idling... it says just keep it under 3k rpm until it's at normal op temp... and it's all good with gas prices this high.. you better be using every drop of it driving and not just sitting