What is the best way to warm up your car?

[btm]

Just doing an open general discussion and poll and to what everyone believes the best way to warm up a cold car is.

[oneightoo]

mine being an older car i always like to let it idle for a minute, just to get the juices flowing a bit.. dont think revving it hard would be a good idea..

[InsaneAsylum]

mine being an older car i always like to let it idle for a minute, just to get the juices flowing a bit.. dont think revving it hard would be a good idea..

older car????? it's a calibra not a kingswood

[tmov81]

if i can ill let it idle until the temperature needle starts to move...
i keep it under 3000rpm until it the needle gets over 90°C

[1OPL2C]

i always start d car and wait til the revs drop to normal idle before i drive..

[MatsHolden]

Modern cars engines don't need to be left to idle to warm up, best way apparently to warm up is to drive it, obviously not hard though. It states in the manual of the Barina that it isn't necessary to idle the engine to warm up (probably the same for the Astras), but I allow it to run for at least 1min before driving anyway.

[stevedee3]

I'm not sure whether this is true or not, but I've heard that in some European countries (Germany?), it's illegal to start your car and leave it idling before you are ready to drive.

[oneightoo]

older car????? it's a calibra not a kingswood
its 15 years old dude.. not exactly the best on start up..

[beep beep sri]

usualy let it idle to the revs drop. then drive it gently till she's warmed up. then keep driving it gently most of the time. no point in rushing everywhere you do'nt save that much time by speeding and floging your car

[tmov81]

i always start d car and wait til the revs drop to normal idle before i drive..
ah yeah thats the other thing i do... i look at the fuel consumption...

it sits on 2L/hr on start up... it drops to about 0.9L/hr when its at running temp so if i got time ill wait till it gets below like 1.3 or something before i go...

and yeah the cally manual says its best to drive it to warm up... but i have to go up hill pretty soon after i leave home so i like to let it warm up a little before i hit the hill...

[CJB]

I have done the start in reverse and go within 3 secs of the engine starting and it doesnt feel too good, not like letting it run for at least 10 - 30 secs before driving.

[InsaneAsylum]

its 15 years old dude.. not exactly the best on start up..

i think of it as "almost legal" rather than "older" :D

[ROCCO]

I have a Astra H its says don't need to warm up...but its an engine so fluids up top means nasty rubbing I prefer to warm it up...only thing I hate is in the H there isn't a Temp Guage....i'm putting one in this weekend.

[low astra]

after owning a rotary for a while i know its best to let them all warm a bit, dosnt really matter what they say int he book, its about expansion ratios on different types of metals and gettting good lubrication

[InsaneAsylum]

I have a Astra H its says don't need to warm up...but its an engine so fluids up top means nasty rubbing I prefer to warm it up...only thing I hate is in the H there isn't a Temp Guage....i'm putting one in this weekend.

no temp gauge in the H???????????? i didn't know that as i've never been in a H..... isn't that just stupid??

[btm]

cant you get the temp guage to display in the centre dash thingy?

[16GSi]

My car (GSi) actually has a hieghtened idle for about 1 and a half to 2 and a half minutes of about 1000 revs, so i let it warm up that much make sure the oil gets everything lubed and then once the revs drop back to 750 im off. and ill straight away be able to revto like 5 thou without any problems. So yeah mine automatically has a warm up period.

[Dee]

for my car they recommend that you dont let it idle for too long... so i picked option 2

[JR]

i let my astra g idle down (from 1000 plus rpm) to its normal 750-800rpm idle before driving off. its generally a good indication da engine has settled n is ready to go.

but i still don't drive hard until the engine has reached its ideal operating temp of 80 - 100 degrees. this is da critical part.

[ROCCO]

Yup the H doens't have a temp gauge....so after market one is being instaled......only ha s alight that comes on if engine is over heating....bloody stupid idea that one

[GeeeAus]

It's completely unnecessary to warm an engine at idle before driving off. It just wastes fuel and contributes to combustion chamber build-up, which is not good either. Every 3 minutes of idle time is equivalent to 1Km of driving in terms of fuel consumption. The manufacturer actually states that extended warm ups can damage the catalytic converter, which then contributes to poor engine performance and environmentally damaging emissions.

Drive it as prescribed in the owners manual, best policy by far.

GeeeAus