How long should your car warm up before driving in winter?

Does you car need to warm up before driving I. Cold temperatures?

[nolby]

I live in Winnipeg, windchills always hover between -40 to -50 in the winter. I usually give the car at least 10 min to at least have some type of heat going

[kalatapie]

"modern" is a loose term. By a modern car i understand a non-carbureated car lol.

There are 3 answers to the question:
1. If your car was made in the last 10 years, the engine is likely to idle low at 1100 RPM on a cold start. Those cars you can start driving immediately.

2. If your car idles high (1500-2000 RPM) on a cold start, it lacks the precise technology needed to achieve a perfect air-fuel ratio on a cold start. Then you need to wait for the RPM to drop to 1200-1100

3. If your car is ancient or for some reason you are not using fully synthetic oil, you need to wait for the oil to warm up. That may take a while, especially in winter. In cold temperatures conventional oil has the viscocity of liquid chocolate and if you drive off before it has warmed up it would be like driving with no oil at all.

[malcolmmarzo]

Depends on how cold it is. Metal still needs time to warm up.

[DiamondScuff]

I wait for the rpm to drop. Thats the computer essentially letting you know the engine is warmed up enough to idle properly. Especially dont high rev your car until coolant is at operating temperature. Yeah in 5-10 the oil has reached everywhere, but the metal is still contracted ( Ice = shrink/tight, heat = expanded). Of course this mechanic tells you to start right away cause then you need to see a mechanic faster.

[zoomanx]

I usually let it warm up until the idle drops

[Denstoradiskmaskinen]

Turn it on, scrape the windows and Then drive it.. some people drive without vision

[epiphone]

5-10 seconds is nowhere near enough. What a buffoon. Even though modern cars use light weight oil, letting a car warm up for 5 minutes is not a bad idea. Listen to this guy and you will have head gasket issues, more engine wear, poor fuel mileage, ect. Learn about metallurgy before you give false advice. Let it warm up to at least 100 degrees coolant temp before you put it in gear!

[_Low_Off_Road]

Your car is good to go once your temp gauge starts to show temp. You'll get warm heat and a warm engine 👍🏻

[BigKWS]

I think it depends on how old your car is and how cold it is outside when you're warming it up. Older cars take longer since they utilize a heavier weight oil. Most newer cars run full synthetic oil which is not as heavy and goes through the engine much faster.

[robertalexandrudobre]

Yup, that's right, modern cars need 5-10 seconds of warmup... Don't bother changing the oil or filters at all, it's a modern car, those are old habits... Oh, yeah, also, slam it right on to max rev, that will help the warmup... We, modern people, jump right from the sheets into the workplace in 5 seconds with no problems at all, right?! Keep in mind though that waiting a little more will only do good.

[brandondarnes]

I always let it idle for at least a minute or two. It runs better when I do that. If its been in a garage, then yeah you don't have to wait as long. But if its below freezing out, i'm not just hopping in and taking off.

[jsos]

I notice that my 06 crown victoria uses much less gas when I let the temp gauge warm up a few centimeters above the cold mark on the temp gauge. Every car, especially cars with high mileage all have different quirks. They are pieces of machinery and they break and get stressed out in extreme conditions just like we do. I've never met a person who will wake right up, go outside with no warm gear on, and be as efficient as when they are warmed up

[atlantis]

I think warming up the transmission is often overlooked on newer cars, I wouldn’t give the car a proper workout on cold start until the transmission has warmed up.

[kevinmeraz]

I have a 19 tacoma and I always warm her up I give her like 6-10 min I don't care what people say I'm not doing 30 sec and start driving unless it's an emergency situation

[ryannrjohnson]

When it's under 25 degrees in the morning I can tell my vehicle is asking me to give it a minute to warm up. If I take off after 10 seconds that V8 doesn't want to move fast so I refuse to push her until about 2 to 3 minutes when I feel that electronic throttle loosening telling me she's ready for race car mode.

[damonleeb]

That’s like saying popping it in drive and redlining it warms the engine up faster. Let the engine warm up to say 100 degrees oil temp in the winter time. You don’t want to put the engine under load with oil that is not the correct viscosity. It’s not about whether or not the oil is circulated or not because it only takes a few seconds to lubricate the cams. But you would want to take it easy until you reach operating temp

[markdstump]

It's my understanding that this is the wrong answer for Diesel engines.

[knightriderexplorer]

Its not about warming it up. Its about letting the oil come up from the oil pan and oil up all parts of the engine

[lerkzor]

I typically give about 30 seconds just to ensure that things have stabilized. My motorcycle (1978 Kawasaki KZ-650) takes a bit longer, I have to babysit the choke for about a minute or more if it has sat for more than 4 hours since it ran.

[deepcow]

If you own a Toyota or Lexus it doesn’t matter, they run forever.