I read that warming up cars is unnecessary, and can actually be detrimental in the long term. I heard that very small particles and acid can build up in the engine while it's warming up on a cold day. Apparently, when the engine is running at operating temperature, it is hot enough to burn off these elements. However, a cold engine does not get that hot and allows the acids and particles to build up, causing wear over time. Instead it is better to just baby the car until it reaches operating temp, since driving it will warm up the engine faster.

This may not apply so much to our cars, I know my car always runs better when it's been warmed up. But is this true for newer cars? What do you guys know about this topic?

Thanks

 

Ive never heard anything about acid. All I know is that the faster the car gets to operating temp the better the gas mileage, and prefromance. Thats why my new car warms up in about 3-5 min. The faster it warms up the better. I mean if its really that bad for the car you could always get a remote starter. But It wouldn't wear out the car or anything like that.

 

Good practice, start the car cold, just drive slowly for a few minutes until the car comes up to temp and don't gun it either.

S

 

All I know is slowly rev the engine (only3000-4000rpms) and ur car will warm up faster without damaging anything. A friend of mine started hearing metal rattling that was coming from her engine because her engine wasn't able to warm up before she started driving (keep in mind she was on the highway within 2 min. of leaving the house). When she came to me, I gave her the same advice and she called me the next morning saying that she hadn't heard any more noises and the car warmed up twice as fast. Basically-always warm up ur engine before u leave and as stated by maximase86-don't gun it! The reason being - the oil hasn't reached the top of the engine until ur oil pressure gauge stops moving, and until that moment, u may as well not have oil in it.... No oil at the top means no oil around the pistons and they're the first thing to seize in an engine. Not saying that they will, but that's the damage that everyone warns u about when starting on a cold morning.....