I drive a 2013 Fit, manual transmission. I shift by sound. When accelerating, I shift up when RPMs reach 3000. When decelerating, I have developed the habit of blipping the accelerator pedal to get 3000-4000 RPMs before engaging the lower gear. It's so automatic that I can't even remember whether I do this (1) while still in the higher gear, with clutch pedal down; (2) in neutral, with clutch pedal down; or (3) in neutral, with clutch pedal up. Maybe all 3, depending on whether I've been coasting in neutral before downshifting. This seems to have served me well in my last car (Tercel), which I never had to change the clutch or syncros on, and hardly ever the brakes (can't even recall if I ever did) before retiring it.

I've read conflicting information online about how long to drive gently for before driving with high RPMs. Some estimates ballpark the warmup time at 15 minutes -- that would be a pain, as it is half my drive. I have three questions about this.

(1) Is shifting up at 3000 RPM "gentle" enough?

(2) Is blipping the RPMs into the high 3x00's harmful?

(3) I hit th highway in less than 5 minutes, where I drive in the high 3x00's. Is this harmful? I don't drive erratically or with a high speed difference with the traffic in adjacent lanes, but I do drive in the high speed lanes. I don't look forward to being confirned to the slow-lane.

I used to think that, with the consistent viscosity of synthetic oil, 30 seconds of stationary warmup was enough (it's way more than required). But with what I've read, I'm wondering whether that warmup time is just to get moving, and whether I'm stuck having to stay in low RPMs for quite a while after that.

 

Stop worrying and drive your car!

When the cold motor indicator turns off, your car is warm enough to drive it normally. It's written in the owner's manual...

 

 

Thirding the "stop worrying and drive your car!" sentiment. Don't bounce it off the rev limiter when the "cold engine" light is still illuminated, but once it's off, using the whole rev range isn't going to hurt anything. It's plausible that some sustained "spirited driving" w/ redline runs can actually help remove carbon deposits on the pistons themselves. (Exception: On direct injection cars like the 3rd-gen "GK" Fit, this benefit is counteracted by an apparent increase in carbon build-up on the intake valves during high-rpm high-load operation due to valve temps getting into the "sweet spot" for carbon formation (just under 300 degrees Celsius)).

 

It seems like you're driving perfectly reasonably.

I say this because I'm pretty sure that's exactly how I drive as well.

 

@Frenzai: My car only has a cold coolant indicator, which typically turns off in 5 minutes. The oil temperature likely correlates, but I don't know how well. Plus, it's synthetic, which is more fluid when cold. My manual doesn't say anything how to drive when starting up in the cold....

@fujisawa: Up here in Ottawa, the car can sometimes sit in significantly sub-freezing temperature for a very long time. Waiting until the vent blows warm air is probably a good guess as to when to drive hard. I usually direct the vent down to dry out the rubber boot mat so it doesn't accumulate slush/water and run over onto the rug. BTW, I'm not just worried about ramping on to the highway, but the highway drive itself (around 3500 RPM) within 5 minutes of turning on the car.

@Jared592: About redlining the car to scrape away carbon....I have to look for that red line...will do so on tomorrow's drive.

@mike410b: Thanks for the vote of confidence and corroboration.

 

I'm in Montreal, so it is cold too!
Just start off easy until the blue indicator in the dash turns off (stay about half of the red RPM). The gradually give it more...
I still have a 2005 Accord and a 2000 Civic that were always driven this way, and still both of them are trouble free.
Just use your head and you'll be fine!

 

That's a 14 and 19 year old car. Says a lot. Thanks.