So this question gets asked everytime the temp drops below freezing, in every forum. And there seems to be 30 diffrent answers every time it's asked.

What should you do to warm up the car? There's been all kinds of suggestions, that range from let it idle for 20mins to start it up and drive like hell till it warms up.

The most reasononable and consistant responce from people that (seem to) know what they are talking about seems to be to let it idle for 5 mins and then keep it under, say, 3k rpm's till it heats up but don't let it idle for more than 5 mins.

So what's the quickest most efficent way to start up the car that is the best for the engine?

 

Quickest most effective way is a gallon of gas poured under the hood followed by the throwing of a match. It should warm up in seconds.

 

ohhh partial answer.

"best for the engine" was in the original question and would not be fullfilled by using that method. Try again. :chuckles:

 

Run it until the RPM's go down.
True that's just saying that the header is hot, but the rest of the engine should follow directly after that.

 

Yeah...

Just start it until it's blowing enough warm air for you to get in your car and not freeze your ass off - so what, 3-5 minutes? Maybe on a completely frozen day 10?

The key is to use an oil that's going to be able to move in that type of weather when you first start up, not exactly how long you let it "idle" before you go drive it.

 

Turn car on, put in favorite CD, buckle belt, go.

 

I have a changer with 10cd's, starts playing as soon as it has power.... and it's one of those automatic belts. h:

 

when i lived in michigan i would let my car run for about 20 minutes, which was enough time to get dressed and eat a bowl of cereal, and then id hop in my car and it would be nice and toasty. but it was also an 82 buick regal.

 

I hate those automatic belt!

 

you still have a lap belt