Fact or Fiction
Here is a quote from a recent Yahoo article:
"tip: Don't idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm."
Whats the TRUTH?
My friend had a good analogy...
Driving your car while its cold is like sucking cold syrup through a straw. Its very thick, like molasses, and hard to do. Then when you drive when your car fully heated up its like sucking warm syrup through a straw. Much easier. So, when your car is heated the oil is warmed up and fully lubricates everything as it should. When your car is still cold and you drive it, the oil is much thicker and does not get to every part.
Here is a quote from a recent Yahoo article:
"tip: Don't idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm."
Whats the TRUTH?
The yahoo article is right.
First off, idling an engine places no load on it, which makes it warm up much slower. Second, just because the engine gets warm doesn't mean anything else does. Your tranny and rear end are still cold and need to be warmed up. Start the car, and drive slowly keeping the throttle under 30%. This warms everything up uniformly and also wastes less gas, and if you care it makes the cats light off faster (if you have any), decreasing emissions.
Here is a quote from a recent Yahoo article:
"tip: Don't idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm."
Whats the TRUTH?
during the summer i'll just hop in and drive, but winter i'll let it run for like 15 minutes before i go.


