nabbun

maybe it has to do with the cooling capacity of our cars and that it has nearly 7 quarts of oil.

i know my audi Q7 4.2 V8 takes about the same time to warm up like my IS 250 and that things got like 9 quarts of oil.

BlitzSix

That's a very interesting explanation, I didn't even think of it like that. The fact that it takes a lot of oil is a good point too, other cars I've owned definitely take less oil.

To those of you saying it takes way less than 20, how long are we talking here? Like 5-10? Or 15 ? And have you actually tested it or are you guessing? It would be great if we could get some actual exact numbers here so we can compare.

And about idling, I'm not saying that I idle the car for that long. I don't believe in idling heh, I usually just let it run 30 seconds - 1 minute and then take off VERY slowly, NEVER going over 3000 RPM until it reaches full operating temperature. Maybe on a REALLY cold day (I'm talking like -20 C aka -4 F) I'll let it run for 3 minutes or so but never really more than that. My point is definitely not that I have to let it sit and idle.

I'm just a bit concerned with it, because really I don't usually go on trips more than 30 minutes long. So in the winter, it's going to be at below "operating temperature" like 90% of the time. Is it healthy for the car? I know that cars generally like to be in their operating temperature... when they're warming up they're not running efficiently, etc. It may be a stretch as I'm no expert but is it even maybe bad for the car to be driven below operating temperature for such extended periods of time?

The other reason is that I don't like to romp on it until it's fully warmed plus 5-10 mins just in case, so on this car I find myself in "careful driving mode (not going over 3k)" like 90% of the time it's just kind of weird..

mikez

Yeah, usually for the first 50% of the journey I stay under 2k rev... but when the car is cold there is absolutely no torque at 2k revs so basically im driving under the speed limit constantly and people get hella pissed off lol.

The car in the beginning wont go above 3rd gear and at 40 mph I am pushing 2k rev, so a lot of get pissed off that I am doing 10 mph below the regular speed.

nabbun

it's fine to go to 3k w/o any problems with cold oil.

it'll warm up quick if u drive up the revs a bit more.

gc86

iTrader: (26)

yeah I agree, I baby the car for maybe the first mile or so than go freely to 3k which is how I normally drive around the city

IS-SV

That's what I was thinking (direct injection-related). Look at the compression ratio that only a direct injection engine could have without pinging.

Today long warmups are not considered to be desirable from a emission standpoint. But there are improved methods of reducing emissions even when cold now.

kmbartel33

If you look above of the thermostat housing there are 4 small hoses that bypass the thermostat. Those hoses though small circulate water through the engine helping keep the engine from heating up as most engines do in cold weather. Any kind of bypass of coolant will slow the process down.