Hi,

how long should i warm up the car before i drive it?

 

Once the fast idol subsides, drive it. It is not recommended to let it sit and warm up, as many parts need to warm up that require movement. Just keep it in normal mode (not sport or sport plus) and under 4000 RPM until up to temp.

 

yep, what he said. I start the car, sit for maybe 10 sec tops, and I'm off. Once oil gets above~ 140 deg F or so, you should be good to go

 

IIRC the owners manual advises no warm up but to drive off immediately after engine start though keeping rpms down and load light until the engine is fully up to temp -- and this is not in the manual IIRC, which can take some time: 10 to 15 minutes depending.

However, my practice is to when starting the engine from dead cold to let the engine idle until the secondary air injection pump shuts off and the rpms drop to near their normal idle speed. During this time I note vital signs looking for any indication of pending trouble like for instance a low (or high) voltage reading which can indicate a battery or alternator problem.

Once the engine idle speed drops then after one last glance at the dash I'm off.

The engine is a bit more tractable with this bit of "warm up". I mean the engine is that bad cold but it is a bit easier to drive smoother -- both of my cars are manual cars -- and that's important from a wear and tear aspect.

And for my car with VarioCam Plus I believe this bit of idling and letting the engine warm up and its idle speed drop lessens the number of times the DME will switch from low lift to high lift and vice versa which reduces wear and tear on this system.

If the engine is hot to warm then I just drive away after engine start though I always scan the dash and verify vital signs are good to go before moving off.

 

According to the technicians at my dealer 140'F for the oil is not "warm" at all. The operating temperature should be at 180'F plus before getting into the higher rev ranges (over 6,000rpm). They did indicate that at about 165'F + you could start to enjoy Sport and Sport + though.

 

what's interesting to me is that the time from 140 deg F to 165 F is very short...matter of seconds. I'm usually over 4000 rpm above 140 deg F, but wait till I'm basically at 200 deg F to go > 6000 rpm.