I just received a My Ford magazine in the mail and on the last inside page a representative from Ford says the old myth of warming up your cars is a myth. The new Fords are ready to drive in around 5-10 seconds. I have a Brenspeed tune on my Granatelli CAI (soon to be FRPP CAI) and Brenspeed says to warm the car up about a minute or just long enough for the rpms to return to normal.

Do most of you warm up some or just start up and take off?

 

I don't wait to long, maybe 15- 20 secs or so.

 

Modern FI cars of all makes no longer require the warm up of years past. In the Carb days during warm up it was so dead rich that there was the risk of washing the rings out, but with today FI the fuel it so controlled that it does not happen anymore.

 

I'm paranoid. I let the car idle for about 1 minute before driving typically. Less if it's been driven that day. If it's been sitting in extreme cold and for a long period of time I'll let it idle for 2-3 minutes before I start driving.

It's true that your oil does not fully warm up until the car has been driven for 15-20 minutes. But whether it makes a tangible difference in lifetime on the engine? I doubt it. Most people beat the hell out of these cars and usually aren't planning on trying to squeak out 300,000 miles.

 

i wait until the rpms drop below 1k i doubt waiting will hurt you so why not just do it?

 

Riptide, I'd love to get 300,000+ miles on my Mustang. I have to say, Brenspeed makes sense to me by warming up the car until the idling rpms return to normal.

 

It might still hit 300K. Who knows.

 

I wait until the idle drops. It took about 30 seconds this morning, but usually takes under ten.

 

Yeah its pretty unnecessary to warm up new cars. The 5-10 seconds of idle is for the oil pressure to build up and get to the valve train.

 

I let it idle for about 5-10 seconds also before I go. In the winter I start up my car before I plug in the seat belt anyways, so by the time I finish buckling, I'm ready to roll.