I've always heard that it's a good idea to let your car warm up before driving. Is this true or am I just wasting gas?

 

i voted no because i dont, but it is true that it is better to let it warm up for a minute.

 

if i dont let it warm up i feel like im runnin on my car with low oil due to the oil not covering the camshaft after its parked overnight since its all dripped to the bottom...[:@] maybe this is not even the case tho

 

howstuffworks.com stated with modern fuel injection of today, most cars, even in the winter, need only 30 seconds to warm up. after that, its actually best to drive easy until normal operating temperatures opposed to sitting there letting it idle. that said, yes i usually let it warm up for a few seconds to 30 seconds even in the summer. in the winterthough, i usually letit warm up until its warm inside. yes its bad for gas and the environment, but i hate driving cold.

 

You shouldnt let it warm for more than 30 seconds.
Why? When you let it idle, (ecspecially on cold days) the valves are not are their right size because they are cold. This causes more wear, and since it takes longer to warm up when the car is idling it there is more wear and tear. But that does not mean to floor it when its cold, that is the most abusive thing you can do to it. Simply start it, sit for 15 seconds, then drive normally. Also, when you car is up to temperature, that does not mean the oil temp unless you have a gauge for that. Oil takes even longer to warm up. But like everything...its all up to you're own decision.

 

i let mine warm up for way too long in the winter, remote start+ laziness=let it warm up untill its warm.

it is however a bad idea to just start it and drive, like in the movies when they start their car and immediatly rev it up to redline.............terrible idea.

 

Great responses guys. I usually let my car warm up until the RPM drops below 1k. I'll start considering taking less time for it to warm up after I read up on it. Also how much time will it be okay to start going to higher RPMs? I usually go up to 4-5k when I'm gettin on the freeway which is only a mile from my place, which takes about 5mins with red lights.

 

I would think if the car is at operating temp (almost to the halfway mark in both of my Accords) you would be fine to go up into the 4-5k range.
I actually started to let both of mine warm up in the morning because of something I read on here. Now I'm confused

 

In the servie manual it says the accord doesnt really need more then 10 seconds in the cold to warm up. But its been a while since i read the thing. But iam postive it says something abvout this in the manual.

 

I dont for more than a few seconds...15, 20 or so. Waste of fuel...

Something to consider when letting it warm up for al ong period of time....while the engine may be at operating temp, the driveline isnt, cause it hasnt moved yet. Just because the temp gauge is at half mast doesnt mean the car is ready to go strong. On my M3 (RIP), the tach lights would go out as the car warmed up, telling you how much you could rev it until it warmed up. It was key with that car to not let it warm up, cause the tach lights were only tied into the engine temp, but the driveline is just as important.