Warming up your fit before you drive?

[Maybury86]

my last vehicle was a 99 turbo beetle and it said in the manual "drive your beetle when you turn it on, waiting for it to warm up is not needed and wastes fuel" so i was reading threw the fit manual and i couldn't find anything one way or the other. so does anyone know for sure if you should be letting it warm up? or if you shouldn't?

P.S. Beetle was on dino fuel and had 90k miles and engine still ran like a champ

[FitDEEZ]

well the GE has a little Blue minder light that is near the tachometer and says the car is cold i wait till it turns off b4 driving my car

[JDMxGE8]

I always warm up my cars before starting to drive.

[JDMxGE8]

Originally Posted by FitDEEZ

well the GE has a little Blue minder light that is near the tachometer and says the car is cold i wait till it turns off b4 driving my car

I do the same, but I wish our GE8s had conventional oil temperature gauges.

[PilotSi]

Just drive it slowly - if your engine warms up, but you don't drive anywhere, now your transmission and brakes are cold. It's okay to drive - but just do everything slowly for the first 10mins or so.

[Fitcious]

vtec every gear and brake as hard as you can on ever light you come across for the first 10 mins.

[Shockwave199]

WOW! That's extreme! I haven't gotten into seriously cold temps yet, but I don't wait for the temp light to go off. I let it idle for a minute or so, and then I drive evenly even while the light is still on. I think it goes off faster while driving than it would while idling. I'll probably idle a little longer proportionately to the cold temps. But I don't push the car hard for the first few miles, as much as I can help it.

Dan

[M4psycho]

This has been discussed thoroughly from last winter season...the more or less conclusion from most people was that you're pretty much wasting gas. If it's a real cold day, the oil should be through your engine within a minute or so, and you should start driving (otherwise you're idling and wasting gas and polluting ). Of course since the engine is still cold you should go easy on the acceleration for the first little while. Your car will warm up much faster when you're driving it than if you let it idle and "warm up".

[ThomP]

Originally Posted by FitDEEZ

well the GE has a little Blue minder light that is near the tachometer and says the car is cold i wait till it turns off b4 driving my car

Wow, that would be about 5 minutes in cool weather and more in cold winter A lot of time and fuel.

All recommendations I have read/heards said to start driving almost immediately but take it easy until the engine is warm. I once read that warming up idling (besides being extremely polluting) actually was bad for the engine as well.

Besides, in Denmark, idling for more than 1 minute (30 s in some cities) is illegal
I have a car heater that helps warm up faster during winter. I believe it is more friendly to the environment than idling (more efficient burn), but I must admit I don't know for sure. Anyway, it is sooo nice to get into a warm car with no ice on the windscreen in the morning

[doctordoom]

check this out 6 car care myths and mistakes - Myth: Wait, it's still warming up (3) - CNNMoney.com

[Vanishing Point]

Those in the colder climates should be considering the Honda engine block heater, it's about $45 dollars and will allow less time at warmup.

[mahout]

Originally Posted by Maybury86

my last vehicle was a 99 turbo beetle and it said in the manual "drive your beetle when you turn it on, waiting for it to warm up is not needed and wastes fuel" so i was reading threw the fit manual and i couldn't find anything one way or the other. so does anyone know for sure if you should be letting it warm up? or if you shouldn't?

P.S. Beetle was on dino fuel and had 90k miles and engine still ran like a champ

Give it about 30 seconds for the oil to be circulating well at fast idle, then drive easy, no hard acceleration or low rpm less than 1800 rpm and the engine wear will be minimized.
Waiting at idle til the temp lite goes off is not as good as driving smoothly. Idling at low temp increses wear and tear on the engine as rpm increases oil circulation; very important as long as you don't over do it.

[Mela_SC]

I'm from Germany where it really gets cold at times, and I don't know a single person who ever "warmed up" their car. It's just a waste of gas and polluting the environment.

[Uncle Gary]

I live on a residential street, in a small town. Typically, I start the car, back it out of the garage, let it idle while I close the garage door, get in and drive off down my street at about 20-25 MPH (rough pavement). I'll then have to wait for the light at the end of the street and turn onto Main Street (30 MPH speed limit). By the end of my street the blue light is out, and by the edge of town (2 miles), the car is warmed up.

Excessive idling during "warm-up" wastes fuel, and tends to contaminate the oil with unburned gas and condensation. The goal is to warm the engine quickly, and you do that by driving moderately. The oil is circulating by the time the "oil" indicator goes out.

[Red 05]

When I crank my car on a cold morning I just go easy on the gas and transmission for the first 5 minutes. I live about 200 feet from a busy two lane highway, so it's a short drive up to the road where I have to get up to 55 once I get on that road. Usually I leave in the morning when traffic isn't that bad, so I don't have to push it. I've never been told to let the car idle, so I don't.

[awptickes]

Until the "engine is cold" light goes off, I just try to keep the RPMs below 3k.

Idling an engine is probably the worst thing you can do to it while it's cold. Don't idle an engine to warm it up, it needs to be run.

[kenchan]

i dont sit there idling but i do drive gently until the temp light goes off.

in the winter time when i defrost the car, i have the car idling but it's not really for warming up the engine, rather defrosting the glass.

[gwh]

my mt 09 fit 181f is at full heat , blue light goes out at 128f

[IBJanky]

I just wait for a few seconds before driving. Just enough time to get the oil circulated in the engine.

myke

[wilcoholic]

I just drive the heck out of it as soon as I start the engine. Thats what I saw the hypermilers were doing... so I just copy them.