Antimo12

How long do must of you warm the car up before you put it in drive?? If there is a morning where im late for work and in a rush, I may not have time to warm it up for 5 or so minutes before driving. I had an 01 dodge ram before this, and it was turn on and go, no warmup necessary...so this is obviosly very new and different to me...

Peregrine8

I don't warm it up much at all, usually 30 seconds or so and I'm off. Not sure why you'd need to do it for 5 minutes, the only time I warm it up that long is if I know I'm going on a very short trip (like across the street to the store) and want to avoid flooding.

Socr8tes

Doesn't the manual say that warming the engine up before driving is not necessary? I believe it's especially bad for fuel economy with rotary engines. Now shutting the engine off while cold is entirely different...

-S

Glyphon

hop in and go, no warm up time at all. driving is the quickest way to warm up the engine.

rx8wannahave

What he said, and what they said too. The best way to warm up an engine is to get it going but that does not mean you rev it high before it's at normal temp. I turn it on and the rpm's settle at about 1.7K and drops quickly (about 20 sec). Once it settles as about 1.3K...I drive off.

If I had to wait for 5min (meanwhile wasting gas) I would go nuts. Turn it on...give it about 15-20 sec's...and drive...no more waiting.

Rupes

I give it about 30 sec's. When I frist start the car it idle's at about 2k RPM. My rule of thumb is not to drive it until the engine is near 1.5k RPM at idle. Thats just me though, everyone will tell you different, but I don't think much more than a min or so is really needed.

RotrDoc

I agree with Rupes. Give it about 15 seconds for the revs to settle, then drive off easy.

rotten42

about 30 seconds and I'm off...I don't rev it hard until the temp is up.

rx8wannahave

Poor Atimo12...he was sitting in his car for 5 long minutes, lol...Atimo who told you to wait that long?

grapes

30 seconds is just about right, as someone mentioned driving the car is the best way to warm up quickly-also long warmups kill your mileage numbers faster than hell!!

Genesis

Even 30 seconds? I start and go...5 to 10 seconds max, never had any problems.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

just make sure you don't stall if you do a quick start-n-go :o

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

oh, and for me, in winter time i do let the car warm up a bit before driving off, at least until the temp needle start to move.

now that weather is warmer, i just wait til the rpm drops to 1500 and lower during startup, and drive off EASILY (keeping revs below 3000) until car reachs full operating temperature

Genesis

Good point Zoom...I tend to forget about cold weather starts, sry :o I'm sure that 30 seconds would be just about right to let the idle drop to 1500 before go.

spork

I usually let it sit for like 2 minutes. Mine usually starts at 2K (+/- .25) and then drops to 1.5K then drops to 1.25K then jumps back to 1.5K then back down to 1.25K then that's when I drive off. I think I'll just do what other people do and take off after 30 seconds. Maybe that'll save me some gas.

Tirminyl

No warm up. Just hop in, start it, and redline it a couple of time before you leave your home. :D Im joking.

No 8 for me but I always warm up the car for at least 1 minute before taking off. Even then it is 2.5-3k shifts for me (my normal driving anyway).

9G Redline

I used to warm mine up completely but noticed crappy mileage. Now I just let it warm up til the needle gets near the top of C and drive out slowly. Everyone knows cold oil doesn't protect as well as warm oil. To each their own.

rodmeister

Since I live in SoCal, I don't warm up at all during the day - my job starts in the afternoon so the car is almost never cold-soaked. Just start up and go within 10 seconds. I do avoid RPMS over 4k for a mile or two, never going WOT until the needle moves up to normal operating temp.

However at around 11PM when I start for home, I can feel the engine "straining" against the cold oil during the winter. I run the engine for a minute or until the engine RPMs stabilize.

Mikelikes2drive

Im pretty sure in the manual it addresses warmup and says 15 seconds... i think i remember reading that. but i usually wait around 20-30 seconds personally

rotten42

It usually takes me 30 seconds to a minute to get settled in the car anyway...get out the glasses, tuck the phone away...blah,blah, blah...I just let it idle hile I getr ready for my "mad max" run to work every morning.

Glyphon

here is what the owners manual suggests...

that said, i usually start the car, put my seatbelt on, grab my sunglasses or turn on the lights. that usually takes between 5-10 seconds. after that it stays under 3k until up to temperature.

rx-8_or_?

If it's cold in the morning, I wait until the revs drop from their initial high idle and I'm ready to go. It usually takes less than the amount of time it takes me to put on my seat belt and plug my headset into my cellphone, so I don't have to wait. Then I drive it relatively gently until it gets up to normal temperature, but the drivetrain still feels a little stiff at this point. After 2/3 miles we're all set, and that's when I hit the canyon on the way to work. Perfect!

nsxpowered

hahah.. if I remembered correctly the manual might have stated to warm the car up for 5 mins and I think that's where I think he got the number. Since you have an automatic, I would do the following. Start the car, let it idle for at least 30 seconds to ensure the oil is flowing throughout the engine. Then just put it on D and let it roll for 30 secs before easing on the accelerator. If you just idle it would take a very long ... actually unneccessarily long to warm the car up. If you drive it; it will warm up in 3 minutes.

Do not ever drive hard while it's cold or it will damage the engine. I believe that the engine design relies on the expansion of metal to properly seal / clearance of the rotors. Do a search, maybe I am full of crap.

Vertigo-1

iTrader: (3)

I let it run for about 30 seconds to let the juices get flowing. There's also a distinctive point where the engine note changes and turns over, which is when the RPMs drop down to 1.3k or so from the 2k or so it starts out at. At first startup, you don't really hear that rotary burble...it's after that turnover point when you can finally clearly hear that little "lurr lurr lurr lurr lurr" rotary idling sound. I LOVE that sound. :D

therm8

I let the revs come down to 1200ish, where it settles until warm. Then I keep the revs under 3750 until 5 minutes after reaching normal temp, to let the metal heat soak a bit. Don't want any leaking coolant in the future, from the bimetallic 'block' heating up too unevenly.